Who: Essendon vs. Brisbane Lions
Where: Marvel Stadium
When: Saturday May 2 at 12:35pm AEST
Gates Open: 10:45am AEST

Weekly Notices

Lions Shop → open 9:30am-12:30pm at Lions Shop Melbourne 737 Bourke Street (Cnr Village St and Fishplate Lane). About a 5 minute walk from Marvel!

Tickets

Tickets → Tickets are still available to purchase here. Members have General Admission scan access to Essendon V Brisbane Lions at Marvel Stadium. A Lions GA Supporter Bay is available on Level 3 between Aisles 25-26, subject to capacity.

MemberHQ → MemberHQ enquiries from 10:45am to end of Quarter Time at Gate 5 ticket office Marvel Stadium

Around the Grounds

View our Marvel stadium map!

Food & Entertainment →  Read the food and beverages options here. Please note: Marvel Stadium is a cashless venue.

How to get to Marvel Stadium

Address → 740 Bourke St, Docklands VIC 3008

Train → Walk from Southern Cross Station via the pedestrian bridge to Marvel Stadium. It's around a four-minute walk. If you’re coming from outside Melbourne, V/Line services will take you to Southern Cross Station.

Trams → Trams run to Marvel Stadium from LaTrobe Street and Harbour Esplanade. They also stop in the CBD on Spencer Street, Bourke Street and Collins Street and all are a short walk to the venue. Visit Public Transport Victoria for more information.

Bus → The bus terminus is at Southern Cross Train Station and services airport transfers as well as routes across country Victoria. Marvel Stadium is a short walk across the Bourke Street pedestrian footbridge from the bus terminus.  

Car → Marvel Stadium has car parking available for pre-booking here. Enter via the car park entrance on your booking or via car park entrances from Bourke Street and Wurundjeri Way. Please note, the car park has a height restriction of 2.1 metres. View the Marvel Stadium map here.

Walking → An elevated, 20-metre-wide pedestrian footbridge connects Marvel Stadium to Southern Cross station and the intersection of Spencer and Bourke streets.

Other Helpful Links → Brisbane Lions vs. Essendon Event Guide | A-Z of Marvel Stadium | Accessibility Information

How to Watch Brisbane Lions vs. Essendon

Watch → Stream live on Fox Footy or Kayo from 12:30pm or watch free-to-air on a delay on 7plus and 7mate from 2:30pm AEST.

Last time we met

GOALS
Brisbane: Lohmann 3, Morris 2, Wilmot, Rayner, Hipwood, Gardiner, Fletcher, Cameron, Ah Chee, Answerth
Essendon: Wright 2, Caddy 2, Martin 2, Setterfield, Gresham, Goldstein, Durham, Caldwell

BEST
Brisbane: McCluggage, Ashcroft, Berry, Lohmann, Fletcher, Neale
Essendon: Martin, Caldwell, Merrett, Roberts, Redman, Caddy

INJURIES
Brisbane: Nil
Essendon: Durham (ankle)

SUBSTITUTES
Brisbane: Deven Robertson (replaced Levi Ashcroft in the fourth quarter)
Essendon: Elijah Tsatas (replaced Zak Johnson in the fourth quarter)

Crowd: 26,441 at the Gabba

For Brisbane, it meant a second convincing win on the trot and a fifth in six matches. It resigned Essendon to a second straight damning defeat on the back of last week's Anzac Day debacle, with injuries to Jye Caldwell (ankle) and Saad El-Hawli (collarbone) rubbing salt into an already gaping wound.

It was a contest that had a stench about it almost immediately, as Brisbane rattled off six of the first seven goals without breaking sweat to carve open a commanding advantage early. Such was the ease in which the Lions broke clear, they took 52 marks and had 51 more disposals in the opening term alone. 

BOMBERS v LIONS Full match coverage and stats

But the fact Brisbane also had five more tackles to half time was the even bigger indictment on Essendon, given the vast disparity in possession numbers, with the lack of Bomber intensity overshadowing the multitude of skill errors as the Lions' lead swelled to 33 points by the main break.

Essendon, to its credit, had stemmed the bleeding through a scrappy second term. But the fear was when Brisbane did click back into gear, the margin would become gruesome. Indeed, that concern came to fruition when the Lions poured on six straight goals to begin the third term to break the Bombers' backs.

The margin stretched to as much as 69 points amid that third quarter onslaught, enough to ensure that the only thing Essendon had to play for in the final term was pride. Fortunately, it salvaged some of that by more than doubling its goals output in the last term alone.

It just couldn't halt Brisbane's scoreboard impact at the other end as Morris and Lohmann added late ones to match Bailey's tally, keeping the margin big enough to make sure the Lions got a handy percentage booster to match a win-loss record that is improving by the week.

Cox makes AFL return after 630 days out
It might not have been Essendon's day, but seeing Nik Cox back on the field was certainly a positive for the Bombers. Having not played for 630 days amid concerns he might never suit up again due to a series of concussions, Cox made a successful return to AFL action. Playing predominantly forward, he nailed Josh Dunkley in a big tackle midway through the second term and kicked a late goal from an uncontested mark inside-50 to highlight his afternoon. Essendon will hope Cox can reestablish himself as a senior regular across the rest of the season.

ESSENDON      1.3      4.8       5.11     11.13 (79)
BRISBANE       6.2      10.5     17.8      22.11 (143)
 
GOALS
Essendon: Caddy 3, Wright 2, Blakiston, Edwards, Merrett, Robey, Langford, Cox
Brisbane: Bailey 4, Morris 4, Lohmann 4, Rayner 2, McKenna 2, Cameron 2, Neale, Wilmot, McCluggage, Reville
 
BEST
Essendon: Wright, Merrett, Caddy, Durham
Brisbane: Bailey, Wilmot, W.Ashcroft, Zorko, McCluggage, Andrews
 
INJURIES
Essendon: Caldwell (ankle), El-Hawli (collarbone)
Brisbane: Gallop (concussion)
 
Crowd: 31,595 at Marvel Stadium