FORM GUIDE
The Brisbane Lions headed into Round Six on the back of five consecutive losses with many questioning where their next win was going to come from. St. Kilda had started the season better than many predicted and the general consensus was that they should pick up another win against the only winless team at that stage of the season.

In a tight, tough and often scrappy affair in windy Wellington the Lions finally broke through for their maiden win of the 2014 season. The Lions skipped out to a 32-point lead early in the game and the Saints worked their way back into the contest for the duration of the match to set up a nail biting finish at Westpac Stadium.

The Lions dug deep and hung on for a vital win giving the Club some much needed confidence moving forward. After a very tough start to the year for the Lions a win is the perfect tonic, particularly for the young players who have now tasted their first success in a Lions jumper.

The Lions now hold a 1-5 record leading into Saturday night’s game at the Gabba.

The Sydney Swans have had a very up-and-down start to the year after a first up loss to GWS in Round One. They played Melbourne last weekend on Saturday night for a win, which has now levelled their season at 3-3 and leaves them on the precipice of jumping into the top eight for the first time this year.

The Swans have an imposing recent record over the Lions, having won 15 of their past 17 encounters with the Lions dating back to Round 18 in 2004.

TEAM SELECTION
The Lions make one forced changed to the winning side from Round Six, with Pearce Hanley going out with a back issue and Rohan Bewick coming back into the senior side after a good performance in the NEAFL last week in Mackay.

They say not to change a winning formula and Lions Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch has stood by the team that got the win last week. The Lions managed to add almost 500 games of AFL experience to their line-up last week and it gives Leppitsch some additional leaders out on the field for a team that is still very young and inexperienced.

Sydney has not yet been able to field their best team at any stage so far this season and that continues again this week at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Prized recruit Lance Franklin will miss with a knee injury sustained last week against Melbourne and Lewis Roberts-Thompson has been omitted. Coming in to replace them is Sam Reid providing a tall target down forward and Brandon Jack who provides run and carry whether playing forward or in the midfield.

KEY MATCH-UPS
The Swans have gone for a reasonably small starting forward line with only Adam Goodes and Sam Reid providing any real height around an army of small forwards at their feet.

Justin Clarke, Joel Patfull and Darcy Gardiner will likely find themselves opposed to one of these two players throughout the night and they have Daniel Merrett to also call upon on, who has been named up forward alongside Jonathan Brown.

The small forwards of Sydney are all dangerous in front of goal. Both Harry Cunningham and Luke Parker have kicked bags this season and we have seen the quality from Lewis Jetta and Ben McGlynn over a number of seasons. Tom Cutler and Jed Adcock will have their hands full and will need the support of their midfielders as the night wears on.

Sam Mayes lining up on Lewis Jetta at the opening bounce should be an interesting match-up with Mayes the taller of the two players but Jetta having the leg speed. Both are goal kickers on their day so Mayes will want to try and drag Lewis as far forward as possible and away from the confines of the Swans forward fifty.

The Swans have a solid Premiership winning midfield but have been inconsistent in their performances this season. Daniel Hannebury, Kieran Jack, Josh Kennedy and Jarrad McVeigh make a formidable combination at the feet of Mike Pyke.

The Lions starting centre square combination, consisting of Tom Rockliff, Jack Redden and Ryan Lester will confront the Swans midfielders. They will be well supported by Andrew Raines and James Aish named on the wings.

Raines had a good game in New Zealand last week and gives the Lions a great option to play a shut down role should any of the aforementioned Swans players start to find too much space and possession. However, Leppitsch has hinted that he’s earmarked a more attacking role for Raines this season.

The duel between Pyke and Trent West will make for absorbing viewing as West has been in good form since carrying the ruck duties on his own since the injury to Matthew Leuenberger earlier this season. The Swans have included a second ruckman in Tom Derickx and the Lions may even use Merrett to pinch hit at some stage to give West a break when required.

The half backline is where plenty of the Swans forward thrust starts from through Nick Malceski and Rhyce Shaw. It is imperative that Dayne Zorko and Josh Green make the most of their opportunities in front of goal and if possible drag both Malceski and Shaw as far forward as possible to lessen the impact of their run and carry through the centre of the ground.

It is also important that all Lions midfielders and small forwards rush the possession of Malceski and Shaw as much as they can so as to prevent their potency of delivery into the Swans forwards.

Jonathan Brown will lead the forward line and will see Ted Richards start on him and may also at some stage find himself opposed to Heath Grundy. Brown kicked a clutch goal right on the three quarter break last week and appears to be getting better with each outing this year after an interrupted start to his pre-season.

The Lions have gone with an all running interchange with James Polkinghorne, Nick Robertson, Rohan Bewick and Lewis Taylor in preparation for what may turn out to be a wet game after overnight showers every night this week in Brisbane with the forecast of more to come.

MILESTONES

During the week, James Aish was awarded the NAB Rising Star nomination for his efforts in Round Six against the Saints. Aish gathered 25 disposals, took 8 marks and laid 4 tackles to go along with a classy left foot snap for a goal.

Aish comes with a long football pedigree from South Australia and arguably put in his best performance for the Club to date. He spoke to the media about developing his inside game to go with his undoubted talent when receiving the ball in space and it is something that all Lions members and supporters should be excited for when looking to the future.

From a Sydney perspective Rhyce Shaw will celebrate his 200^th AFL appearance at the Gabba after starting his career at Collingwood. He has admitted in interviews during the week that maybe his attitude was not all that it could be during his time at the Magpies but that he had grown and matured since moving to Sydney.

The crowning moment of his move to the Harbour City was the 2012 Premiership win against Hawthorn, which was made all the sweeter after playing in a losing Grand Final in 2003 against the Brisbane Lions.

A ONE-SIDED RIVALRY
As mentioned earlier the Swans have an impressive record against the Lions in the past decade.

Since losing to the Swans in Round 18 in 2004 the Lions have recorded two wins against the Swans both coming back in 2009 and a draw in Round 20 in 2007. It is fair enough to say that the Swans have a hold over the Lions and will be short priced favourites to continue on their winning ways.

The Lions may find hope in other clubs that have managed to break their own hoodoos this year in the form of North Melbourne, GWS and Port Adelaide.

Starting with North Melbourne they managed to beat Sydney for the first time in nine attempts and also had their first win at the SCG since 2004.

North Melbourne continued with their hoodoo breaking efforts in Round Six on ANZAC Day when they beat Fremantle in Perth for the first time since Round 15 in 2007.

Port Adelaide broke a long-standing hoodoo against Geelong last Sunday, beating the Cats for the first time in ten attempts.

GWS set the tone for a season of unpredictability when they managed to defeat Sydney in Round One ending a run of four very uncompetitive losses in the process against their cross-town rivals.

The Lions have a chance to break a poor decade of performance against the Swans and it may just be coincidence that the Swans were involved in two of the results mentioned.

LIONS RESERVES
The Lions reserves played the Swans reserves in Mackay on ANZAC Day in Mackay and almost came away with the win. Ultimately they fell one point short in tough windy conditions and a soggy ground underfoot.

It was a great turn around from their earlier clash this year when the Swans reserves smashed the Lions reserves by 54 points.

Zac O’Brien was the stand out player for the Lions and was well supported by Mitch Golby, Rohan Bewick and Ryan Harwood at various stages of the match.

Ultimately it was a lack of accuracy that cost the Lions who managed to kick 4.13 after quarter time to leave them agonisingly short at the final whistle.

The Lions reserves have the week off with the bye and will see action again in two weeks’ time when they face the Southport Sharks on the Gold Coast.

VICTORIAN VIEWERS
Melbourne-based Lions fans are encouraged to watch Saturday night’s game together LIVE on the big screen at The Oxford Scholar Hotel.

Find out more details here