FORM GUIDE??

Past five: Lions 1 – Saints 4

All matches: Lions 14 – Saints 11

The Lions and St Kilda will be fighting tooth and nail for a win this Saturday night despite the game having little influence in shaping the top half of the competition.

Both teams are coming off disappointing loses with the Lions going down by 9 points to Port Adelaide last Sunday and the Saints well beaten by Geelong.

The Saints sit in 16^th place with only Melbourne (17^th) and the winless GWS holding them up.

Tom Rockliff kept his stellar form rolling last weekend against the Power with 28 disposals and 6 tackles adding to his impressive run of games in the last month.

A returning Mitch Golby was eye-catching in defence collecting 23 disposals, while Joel Patfull had 9 marks and almost single-handedly kept the Lions within kicking distance in the final term against Port.

For the Saints, 23-year old Jack Steven continued to make people stand up and take notice with a 36-disposal performance in an otherwise disappointing game for the Saints.

Taken at number 42 in the 2007 national draft, the 180cm Steven averages almost 26 disposals a game this season second to Leigh Montagna who averages a hefty 27.9 disposals per game.  

SELECTION TABLE

Pearce Hanley makes a surprise return this week, a welcome inclusion for the Lions.

The Irish dynamo has missed only one week despite early calls he would be looking at close to a month out of the side with a fractured hand.

Joining Hanley is tough nut Ryan Harwood and Jesse O’Brien.

23-year old O’Brien has lit up the NEAFL with the Brisbane Lions reserves this season and will look to impress in his first AFL appearance for 2013.

Making way for Hanley, Harwood and O’Brien is Brent Moloney (general soreness), Ash McGrath (omitted) and Jack Crisp (omitted).

Brent Moloney suffered minor hamstring soreness in the latter stages of last week’s game against Port and with the Lions’ finals chances slender, Voss will manage his players carefully, allowing players, like O’Brien, the chance to gain some further experience at senior level.

For the Saints, Dylan Roberton and Sam Dunell come in while James Gwilt (knee) and Tom Hickey (omitted) will miss.

KEY MATCH-UPS

James Gwilt joined the likes of Sam Fisher and Sam Gilbert on list of quality Saints defenders out injured after the key backman suffered a knee injury against Geelong last week.

The Saints have named youngster Tom Simpkin to replace Gwilt at full back while Rhys Stanley was named at centre half back.

The duo, both 22, will likely go to Jonathan Brown and Daniel Merrett respectively.

The 191cm Simpkin and 200cm Stanley give up experience to the Lions forwards who have played, collectively, 329 more games than the St Kilda pair.

If Brown and Merrett are able to get on top of the game, it goes a long way to the Lions taking home the four points. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brent Staker pulls on the boots for the 150^th time this week and the Lions utility will be keen to get a win for his milestone game.

The co-host of hit LionsTV show Footy Fix, Staker has been instrumental in some big Lions’ wins this season, including a match-winning goal on the siren against Essendon in round 8.

The 196cm versatile big man can go forward or back and is the perfect go-to man for Michael Voss.

Despite the Saints poor win-loss record this season, there are some quality players donning the St Kilda jumper.

Leigh Montagna is a particular Saint who has caused headaches for the Lions in recent encounters.

The midfielder averages 30 disposals in his last four games against the Lions and with the likes of Hayes, Dal Santo and Steven joining Montagna in the middle, the Lions midfield will need to be on their toes to win the contests around the ground.

MISSING IN ACTION

Simon Black will miss another week as he tries to overcome an adductor injury, but is likely to return next week according to Lions coach, Michael Voss.

Stefan Martin and Brent Moloney are also very close to returning to the senior side as the duo recover from hamstring problems.

RECENT HISTORY

With Leigh Matthews at the helm, the Lions last got a win against the Saints in Round 9, 2008 with Jonathan Brown kicking 6 goals and the Lions winning by 46 points.

It’s been tough going for the Lions in recent times, with the last four games going the Saints way by an average of 14-points.

Michael Voss is yet to record a win against the Saints as Senior Coach and will be keen to break the hoodoo with a win this weekend.

Jack Redden averages 22.3 disposals and a staggering 9.7 tackles in his three games against the Saints while Lenny Hayes, who averages 29.7 disposals in his last three games, is second only to Leigh Montagna (30).

Simon Black, who will miss this week’s game, is the highest disposal getter for the Lions averaging almost 28 possessions in his last four games against St Kilda, while Tom Rockliff (23) is the highest average possession getter of those named in this week’s team.

Recent history will go out the window this Saturday night as Michael Voss looks to turn the Gabba into the fortress that it once was and watch his team hopefully prosper over an unpredictable St Kilda, a team that has so far eluded the Brisbane Lions coach. 

The Bounce: Saturday, August 3 at 7:40pm (local time) at The Gabba.