Okay but seriously.... how is it Round 19 already!?
Only six weeks of the home and away season remain and clashes don't get much bigger than this one! Third vs fifth, us vs the Cats at a sold out Gabba, what more could you want!
As always, data = collated, energy = exerted, reading = essential.
Let's get to work!
Last time we met
We don't really want to talk about the Prelim so we're going to talk pre-season instead!
Here's some nice things the AFL said about our pre-season win last time we played the Cats:
"Gun draftee Will Ashcroft and prized recruit Josh Dunkley were outstanding for Brisbane in its commanding win over Geelong on Thursday night, as the Lions avoided some injury scares.
The revamped Lions midfield could hardly have been more impressive after a slow start, leading the home team to a 13.13 (91) to 6.9 (45) triumph at Brighton Homes Arena.
Dunkley put his head into every contest and was at the bottom of most packs, finishing with 31 disposals and seven tackles in front of a strong home crowd.
Ashcroft, taken with pick No.2 in last year's NAB AFL Draft, got better and better as the night wore on, clean with his hands in traffic and quick with his decisions to finish with 26 touches.
The son of former Lions triple premiership player Marcus was used on the wing, at half-forward and primarily in the midfield.
There was a lot to like about the Lions' performance, with newly-appointed co-captain Lachie Neale (31) and vice-captain Hugh McCluggage (28) influential, but it was the speed of ball movement that really caught the eye."
Be excited about
Josh Dunkley's Return
Not going to lie, two weeks without Dunks felt like forever but we're very excited to have our contested beast back.
Don't know if you've ever seen Geelong players up close but there's some big boys running around in those hoops so Dunks' defensive pressure and work around the contest will be crucial for us.
After inking a new deal to see him at the Club until at least 2025, Cal Ah Chee also returns to the lineup.
Cal impressed with his work rate and efforts against Richmond before he suffered a concussion.
But the moral of this story, be excited about these two!
Match-ups we're keen for
Ben Hudson vs Patrick Dangerfield
In an exclusive 'Kick Ons' moment, Lions admin can reveal that our VFL Head Coach, Ben Hudson once told Patrick Dangerfield that he "would eat him" during an on-field sledging match in Huddo's playing days.
Hudson has revealed that Dangerfield failed to mention a number of adjectives used in the back and forth, and that it was all in jest.
Got to love Huddo! Let's get to the real match up now!
Harris Andrews & Jack Payne vs Tom Hawkins & Jeremy Cameron
It's the battle of the tall timber in our defensive half this week.
The Geelong spearheads in Hawkins and Cameron are in form and always dangerous, and who better to stop them than Chief and Payney!
Our Co-Captain is right up near his dual All-Australian form, while our plane loving Jack has come in leaps and bounds this year, showing he can shut down the competitions most dangerous forwards.
If our key defenders can minimise Hawkins and Cameron's impact, it'll go a long way towards us coming out on top!
