1. Dayne & Dayne
Sounds more like a law firm than a couple of footballers, but Brisbane’s dynamic duo have been in tip-top form lately and the success or not of the Dogs’ decision on how to limit their influence could have a major impact on who’s singing the song on Saturday night and who isn’t.
The Dogs have tagged more regularly this season than they have in the past, which Luke Beveridge put down to ‘our mix and our makeup’ in Tuesday’s press conference.
But who is the target? Dayne Zorko was everywhere against the Pies on the weekend, but fellow Dayne, of the Beams variety, was good too and is a potential game breaker.
A couple of big decisions await. Watch this space.
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2. The skipper
From Ballarat to Melbourne, it was easily the week’s most talked about hip.
Both Chris Bell and Luke Beveridge said if it got through training on Thursday Marcus Bontempelli would be picked, and that’s what’s happened, which is good for the Dogs and probably not so good for the Lions.
The 22-year-old will again skipper the side in Easton Wood’s absence, but the big question is where he’ll play?
In the Round 6 win over the Blues he picked up a season-high 30 touches playing mostly midfield, but with Tim English out and Tom Boyd likely to be carrying the ruck load, we might see Bont in front of goal a bit more.
He’s too good to not kick a bag sooner rather than later, so here’s hoping it’s this week.
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3. The magnificant Jack Macrae
Do you think Jack Macrae’s been enjoying reading the papers lately?
He’s been called the competition’s most in-form midfielder and on Monday the Herald Sun asked on whether he was the best player in the AFL on the back of his second straight 40 possession performance at Mars Stadium.
Granted, they were talking about his Supercoach numbers (he’s now in first place ahead of Max Gawn), but there’s no doubting the 23-year-old has found an extra gear this year.
The bad news for Brisbane is he also has a good record against the Lions, averaging 32 touches per game since 2014.* He even had a career high in hitouts (2) against them a couple of years ago, so there’s that.
*This doesn’t include the final round of 2015 where he had 15 touches because it would have ruined the argument.
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4. Fight Club
It could be a season defining four weeks coming up for the Dogs.
The next month looks like this: the Lions this weekend, then the Crows in Adelaide, followed by Collingwood and Melbourne back at Etihad.
And Brisbane, who were good last week, will be desperate to register their first win of the season on Saturday, so despite their ladder position it would be unwise to take it this one easy.
So, don’t be fooled by the Fox Sports 3 scheduling, there’ll be a bit in this one, and wherever you sit on the ‘state of the game’ stuff, you’ll be getting a good old fashioned street fight if you tune in.
Is it Saturday yet?
