All matches since 1997: Lions 14 – Cats 11

Last 5 games: Lions 1 – Cats 4

At this venue: Lions 5 – Cats 6

With finals now a possibility for the 10th placed Lions, this game against Geelong becomes a Grand Final of sorts for the boys from Brisbane.

After playing arguably their best half of football in last week’s clash against the Bulldogs, the Lions then proceeded to play one of their worst, with the Dogs coming frightfully close to recording a massive upset after trailing by 50 points at half time to eventually lose by just seven.

Tom Rockliff’s name keeps popping up as the Lions’ most damaging player and he delivered again last week with 33 disposals in a best on ground performance that should see him come very close to winning the 2013 Club Champion award.

Dayne Zorko also showed remnants of his explosive 2012 season, kicking two outstanding goals in succession and collecting 18 disposals.

The Cats have been in cracking form in recent weeks after dropping games to North Melbourne and Adelaide in a mid-season lull.

They showed exactly how good their form is with a Steve Johnson-led 44-point demolition of Sydney last Saturday.

Johnson has been unstoppable in his 15 games this year with the star on-baller averaging almost 30 disposals and an impressive five tackles per game.

Geelong’s ability to use every player on the ground was highlighted last week’s game in which 12 players had 20 or disposals and finished with 84 more disposals than their highly fancied opponents.

SELECTION TABLE

Brent Moloney is to return for a final tilt at an unlikely post-season entrance for the Lions, with Jordan Lisle and Sam Michael also coming into the side.

Lisle will attempt to fill the void left by the injured Daniel Merrett, while 20-year old Sam Michael can go forward as well as provide some relief for Matthew Leuenberger in the ruck.

Sam Docherty and Marco Paparone have both been omitted.

The Cats have only one change with Trent West coming in for Nathan Vardy, who has been rested.

KEY MATCH-UPS

Geelong have been using their handball and run through the corridor to rise to the top half of the competition and remain there since 2007.

Their midfield comprised of the likes of Joel Selwood, Jimmy Bartel, Paul Chapman and Stevie J have been one of the reasons for their ongoing success, and if last week’s game by the Lions is anything to go by, it seems that the young Brisbane midfield may just have the make up to emulate the dynamic of the largely successful Cats’ on-ball contingent.

Their quick movement through the middle of the ground is what gave the Lions their phenomenal come-from-behind win against the Cats earlier in the year, in which they came from over 60-points down to win with an Ash McGrath goal after the siren, and it’s this midfield precision that could see them make an unlikely finals appearance this season.

If they can somehow find an avenue to goal without Daniel Merrett and Jonathan Brown, you can expect the midfield duel to be an exciting one with Matthew Leuenberger likely to give the Lions first use of the footy.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brent Moloney’s return to the senior side will be welcomed by the Lions with the former Geelong player playing a major part in Brisbane’s upset win over the Cats in round 13.

Moloney kicked four goals to go with his 22 disposals in that game and after playing all his TAC Cup and two years of AFL down at Skilled Stadium, expect the tough-as-nails midfielder to have a few hometown tricks up his sleeve come Saturday.

The last time these two teams met at Skilled Stadium (in Round 17, 2010), Joel Selwood had 41 touches, 10 tackles and 9 marks in a unbelievable performance by the hard nut on-baller.

The scary thing for the Lions is that the Cats’ skipper has only improved since then and will need to be closely watched by Andrew Raines if Brisbane want to keep a proven match winner from taking the game out of their hands.

MISSING IN ACTION

Crowd favourite Daniel Merrett will miss the rest of the season after fracturing his fibula in last week’s win over the Bulldogs. The Lions swingman will be sorely missed this week as they try to give themselves every chance of moving into September.

RECENT HISTORY

As any opposition club knows, Skilled Stadium is a tough fortress to conquer and the Lions are no different to the multitude of other clubs who have struggled to compete with the evergreen Geelong outfit.

The Lions have won only two of the last eight encounters between the two teams and haven’t won in Geelong since Round 6, 2003.

The Lions do have a slight advantage over the Cats having won 14 of 25 games since 1997, as well as getting over the top of them the last time they met.

Geelong haven’t lost at Skilled Stadium in their last 13 games it is the sheer difficulty of facing Geelong at home that will leave the Lions needing to play their best football of the year to give themselves a chance at winning a spot in this year’s finals.

The Bounce: Saturday, August 31 at 2:10pm (local time) at Skilled Stadium

Lachlan Dyson is a regular contributor to lions.com.au. You can follow him on Twitter: @lachlandyson