Sunday’s AFL Round 5 will consist of two matches with the first of them being between Brisbane Lions and Melbourne Demons with the game to be played at the Gabba. The opening bounce is set to commence at 3:15pm local time with the home team Brisbane Lions currently holding long odds on favouritism in what is likely to be a very one sided match. View our live scores, odds and results of the game between Brisbane Lions and Melbourne Demons.
WHERE AND WHEN: Gabba, 3:15 PM April 28, 2013
Opening Odds:
Brisbane Lions $1.19 vs Melbourne Demons $5.00 at Sportsbet Australia
Brisbane Lions $1.18 vs Melbourne Demons $5.00 at Luxbet Australia
Preview:
The Brisbane Lions play Melbourne this weekend, with Brisbane still not living up to the expectations of their pre-season form. The Lions were just plain bad last week, and will be keen to prove themselves at home against Melbourne. Melbourne have managed to turn their season around from a bad start, winning impressively last week against GWS as they kicked their highest score ever in a quarter, coming back from a 19-point three-quarter-time deficit. While the Lions will start as favourites, this looks like a tight match.
Teams:
Brisbane Lions:
B: Jed Adcock, Daniel Merrett, Elliot Yeo
HB: Joel Patfull, Justin Clarke, Mitchell Golby
C: James Polkinghorne, Brent Moloney, Sam Mayes
HF: Marco Paparone, Jonathan Brown, Rohan Bewick
F: Josh Green, Aaron Cornelius, Dayne Zorko
Foll: Matthew Leuenberger, Andrew Raines, Jack Redden
I/C from: Sam Docherty, Billy Longer, Ashley McGrath, Patrick Karnezis, Ryan Lester, Jack Crisp, Tom Rockliff
IN: James Polkinghorne, Aaron Cornelius, Patrick Karnezis, Ryan Lester, Billy Longer, Elliot Yeo, Jack Crisp, Justin Clarke
OUT: Pearce Hanley, Daniel Rich, Stefan Martin, Ryan Harwood, Niall McKeever
Melbourne Demons:
B: Jack Watts, James Frawley, Dean Terlich
HB: Jack Grimes, Tom McDonald, Colin Garland
C: Jack Trengove, Colin Sylvia, Sam Blease
HF: Rohan Bail, Cam Pedersen, Jeremy Howe
F: David Rodan, Max Gawn, Shannon Byrnes
Foll: Mark Jamar, Michael Evans, Nathan Jones
I/C from: Jordie McKenzie, James Strauss, Daniel Nicholson, Luke Tapscott, Aaron Davey, Jake Spencer, Matt Jones
IN: David Rodan, Jordie McKenzie, James Strauss, Jake Spencer, Sam Blease, Daniel Nicholson
OUT: Mitch Clark, Neville Jetta, Jack Viney
Lions feel major AFL heat with Rich blow
Brisbane will be forced to run their horrifying AFL gauntlet minus their most influential midfielder with vice-captain Daniel Rich ruled out for eight weeks.
Scans revealed Rich broke his shoulder blade in a training collision on Wednesday in a huge blow to the struggling Lions who are already feeling the pinch in their injury-hit on-ball stocks.
Just a month after they were crowned pre-season champions and looked a club on the rise, the Lions are 1-3 and coach Michael Voss is under mounting pressure.
Sunday’s clash with Melbourne at the Gabba is a crucial must-win for Voss as a scary eight-match run follows against legitimate top-eight contenders.
They meet premiers Sydney, West Coast, Essendon, Carlton and Collingwood before their bye and then Fremantle, Geelong and Hawthorn before some respite with a second derby with Gold Coast.
Rich might be due to return to play the Cats on June 23 at the Gabba but their season could well be over by then.
Fellow vice-captain Tom Rockliff described Rich’s injury as a massive blow to the Lions, especially with Claye Beams (knee) and Jared Polec (ankle) also sidelined, and Simon Black slowly working his way back to fitness.
“Obviously he’s been one of the core of the midfield group and for him to go down is disappointing for him,” Rockliff said.
“He’s a key part to our group and to not have him there for six to eight weeks is going to hurt but we’ve got to cover him and look at different ways to go about our business.
“We just have to deal with it now; you can’t dwell on it so much.”
Rockliff called on the Lions’ established players to turn the season around following their insipid 63-point loss to North Melbourne, and relieve the pressure on Voss.
“The core of this group has really got to stand up now,” he said.
“Enough’s been said now. You can talk the talk but we haven’t walked the walk.
“It comes down to the senior group and the core 10, 12 blokes out there on the weekend. It’s for us to lead the way and those younger blokes to follow – not us follow them.”
Rockliff admitted the players felt the burden of delivering for their coach, who is off contract at the end of the season.
“You feel for him a little bit; it’s not so much his doing,” he said.
“We’re the ones that go out there and perform on the big stage.
“Unfortunately at the moment, we’re not standing up to that.”
