The third game on Saturday for AFL Round 3 is between Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions. The match is to be played at Metricon Stadium with the opening bounce set to commence at 3.40pm with home team Gold Coast Suns currently holding favouritism in the market. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions.
Round: Round 3, Saturday April 5, 3.40pm
Stadium: Metricon Stadium
Weather: 29° Shower or two.
Preview:
The Suns take on the Lions this weekend in a South East Queensland derby, Saturday, 3.40PM at Metricon Stadium. The Suns will go into this match as slight favourites, with the Gold Coast outfit growing up to become something of a force in the AFL. A number of Suns players are performing well at the moment, including Dion Prestia, Jaeger O’Meara, David Swallow, and of course, Gary Ablett. If all these names can put in big games on Saturday, the Lions might find themselves in trouble.
The Lions are in with a chance, however, and may be boosted by being QClash underdogs for the first time ever. While the Brisbane side have suffered two losses against Hawthorn and Geelong in the first two rounds, a win against the Suns is definitely within their grasp. Brisbane have only lost the first three matches of a season once since 1998, and will not want to start the 2014 season the same way they started the 2011 one.
Teams:
Gold Coast Suns:
B Rory Thompson, Matthew Warnock,Greg Broughton
HB Steven May, Clay Cameron, Trent McKenzie
C Matt Shaw, Gary Ablett, Jarrod Harbrow
HF Aaron Hall, Tom Lynch, Danny Stanley
F Kade Kolodjashnij, Sam Day, Brandon Matera
FOLL Tom Nicholls, Jaeger O’Meara, Dion Prestia
I/C David Swallow, Sean Lemmens,Michael Rischitelli, Luke Russell
EMG Alex Sexton, Karmichael Hunt, Jeremy Taylor
IN Luke Russell, Matthew Warnock
OUT Charlie Dixon (Adductor),Timmy Sumner (Omitted)
Brisbane Lions:
B Daniel Merrett, Jordan Lisle, Justin Clarke
HB Daniel Rich, Joel Patfull, Jed Adcock
C Pearce Hanley, Brent Moloney, Josh Green
HF Dayne Zorko, Michael Close, Tom Rockliff
F Trent West, Jonathan Brown, Sam Mayes
FOLL Matthew Leuenberger, Jack Redden, Marco Paparone
I/C Ryan Lester, James Aish, Mitch Golby, Lewis Taylor
EMG Jackson Paine, Rohan Bewick, Ryan Harwood
IN Tom Rockliff
OUT Rohan Bewick (Omitted)
News:
He’s the AFL’s best player so limiting Gary Ablett’s influence is crucial to Brisbane’s chances against Gold Coast on Saturday.
Lions coach Justin Leppitsch doesn’t think it’s quite that simple however.
There’s no doubt that dual Brownlow medallist Ablett is a key player any time the Suns take to the field.
But Leppitsch thinks there’s a danger of focusing too much on the Suns’ skipper when they also boast young midfield talent such as Dion Prestia and last year’s AFL rising star Jaeger O’Meara.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen but they’ve actually got some pretty decent kids that run around in there,” Leppitsch said.
“He doesn’t even lead their score involvement. He is a great player but there are some other players we have to watch out for. You can fall into a bit of a trap just looking at Gary.”
After defeats to Hawthorn and Geelong in their opening two fixtures, the Lions head south as underdogs for the first time in the history of clashes against Gold Coast.
The return of Tom Rockliff from a one-game suspension is a boost to the Lions.
The Lions’ vice-captain was banned after an off-the-ball hit on Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell in round one but Leppitsch doesn’t think he needs to tell Rockliff to tone done his aggression.
“We saw on the weekend there was two other players who got suspended for the same thing,” he said.
“It’s as much the competition saying those sort of little niggles aren’t on any more rather than Tom belting someone or doing something that was really callous.
“It was as much a misjudgment more than anything.”
