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Sunday football kicks off as the Brisbane Lions host the West Coast Eagles at the Gabba. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 1.10pm AEST.
First up, let’s talk about Tom Rockliff. I’m a huge fan of the Lions captain. At first it had mostly to do with the immense amount of fantasy points he can score, but the more I’ve watched him, the more my admiration has grown.
One thing that doesn’t get recognised about Rocky enough, in my opinion, is his competitiveness. Whether the game is on the line in the dying moments, or whether the Lions are getting smashed by ten goals, Rocky’s mentality is always the same – he’ll die before he surrenders.
So when Rocky copped a knee to the ribs in Round 1 and left the ground with a punctured lung there was a small part of me that found it hard to believe he could kept down for too long.
By mortal standards it was a four-week injury, minimum, more likely to be around six. Not for Rocky.
Here we are, a little over a fortnight later, and Rocky has been named to play after missing just two weeks of footy.
Is it an entirely smart decision? Is he ready to play? Will he still be in the squad when they run out on the field? Hard questions to answer at the moment – but what you can’t questions is Rocky’s competitive spirit. I reckon he’d play with just the one lung if they’d let him.
Anyway, enough gushing from me. How about the game? It promises to be a decent one as these teams are close to evenly matched at the moment.
Both have been wrecked by injury at this early point of the year. The Eagles are 10th thanks to a single win over Carlton, but have no illusions about where they’re at after being obliterated in the first half against Fremantle last week.
The Lions have no illusions about where they’re at either, given they’re dead last on the ladder.
The Eagles will head in the favourites, and it’s all because of one man – Josh J Kennedy. With Daniel Merrett still missing for the Lions, the Eagles spearhead looks like he could get of the leash and do some serious damage today.
To win, the Lions will need to control the ball through the middle of the ground, and reduce the number of opportunities Kennedy has to score goals. If they can win the midfield battle, it’ll go a long way towards giving them a fighting chance.
Prediction
I’ll tip the Eagles on this as, on paper, I reckon they’re the better team at the moment, and the Lions don’t really have anyone who can take advantage of their current injury woes in the backline. That said, I reckon this one could go either way.
West Coast by 18 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 1.10pm AEST.