Starved of alternatives as a lot as success on the MCG, ladder-leading Brisbane count on to be welcomed again by the “best version” of Melbourne.
The defending AFL premiers crashed to a few straight losses after a 10-game unbeaten romp to start the season, surrendering high spot to the Lions earlier than their blockbuster assembly on Thursday.
It’s going to be the Lions’ first recreation on the conventional grand closing venue because the first spherical of 2020, when COVID-19 compelled the season to a grinding halt.
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And it is proved a difficult observe for the premiership fancies, who have not gained of their final 9 visits.
“It was a weird game; an empty MCG, it just didn’t feel right,” Lions coach Chris Fagan recalled.
“There’s been all these alleged hoodoos we’ve been able to overcome, this is just another one.
“Hopefully we will do it, nevertheless it’s a 50-50 guess in the mean time, they are a good aspect.”
Melbourne beat the Lions in the finals last season and looked untouchable across the first two months of the season.
But three straight losses before the bye and now the loss of captain Max Gawn to an ankle injury has changed the landscape of the league.
“Groups have peaks and troughs, irrespective of how good you might be,” Fagan stated.
“They have been up for an extended, very long time so they might have welcomed the break and we’re just about anticipating the most effective model of Melbourne.
“That’s what good teams do, they bounce back.”
Brisbane have a 3-2 file over the past 5 weeks, grinding out necessary wins towards GWS and St Kilda with out key personnel.
This week that features captain Dayne Zorko (hamstring) who will probably be changed by debutant Jimmy Tunstill, taken forty first in final 12 months’s draft.
Darcy Gardiner, who was hospitalised after their win over the Saints with fluid in his lungs, can even miss the conflict.
Fagan hesitated when requested how he gauged his personal staff’s well being in respect to peaks and troughs, declaring this season essentially the most even he’d ever seen within the AFL.
“When you don’t win easily people tend to look at you and say ‘you’re not going all that well’,” he stated.
“But who wins easily every week? It’s a tough comp.
“I discover it exhausting to evaluate. I believed we had been actually good towards St Kilda … fought fairly effectively over in Perth (in a loss to the Dockers).
“It’s a hard question to answer, you’ve just got to keep trying to get wins at this time of the year and (hope that) whatever your best form is, it appears at the right time of the year.”
Melbourne have recalled All-Australian defender Steven Could after he served a club-imposed ban for brawling with teammate Jake Melksham.
Sam Weideman additionally returns, with Luke Jackson to guide the ruck within the absence of Gawn.
