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[VIDEO] Essendon Bombers vs Brisbane Lions, highlights: AFL live scores, blog

24th May, 2015
Time: 1:10pm (AEST)
Venue: Etihad Stadium

Teams

Lions
B: Darcy Gardiner, Justin Clarke, Jed Adcock
HB: James Aish, Marco Paparone, Harris Andrews
C: Lewis Taylor, Dayne Beams, Daniel Rich
HF: Dayne Zorko, Daniel McStay, Allen Christensen
F: Josh Green, Matthew Leuenberger, Mitch Robinson
FOL: Stefan Martin, Tom Rockliff, Jack Redden
IC: Rohan Bewick, Claye Beams, Nick Robertson, Tom Cutler, Liam Dawson, Ryan Lester, Mitch Golby (Three to be Omitted)

Bombers
B: Michael Hibberd, Cale Hooker, Mark Baguley
HB: Michael Hurley, Dustin Fletcher, Martin Gleeson
C: Brent Stanton, Jobe Watson, Adam Cooney
HF: Jackson Merrett, Patrick Ambrose, Dyson Heppell
F: Zach Merrett, Jake Carlisle, Joe Daniher
FOL: Tom Bellchambers, Brendon Goddard, Jake Melksham
IC: Travis Colyer, Courtenay Dempsey, Ben Howlett, Paul Chapman, Orazio Fantasia, Shaun Edwards, Shaun McKernan (Three to be Omitted)
12 Essendon players will miss the 2016 AFL season. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
24th May, 2015
84
2861 Reads

After an abysmal start to 2015, the Brisbane Lions have strung together two straight victories, and they’ll be full of confidence when they travel to Etihad Stadium to take on the Essendon Bombers. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 1:10pm (AEST).

The Bombers have been inconsistent at best this season, but they were improved last weekend in an 11-point loss to the Kangaroos. That loss dropped them to 3-4 on the season, and they’ll need to find form sooner rather than later if they want to play finals in 2015.

The Lions were arguably the worst team in the AFL over the first month of the season, but back-to-back wins over the Blues and the Power has them off the bottom of the ladder. If they could get a win over Essendon in this match, finals would all of a sudden become a real possibility for the Brisbane club.

The Bombers have been forced to make two changes for this match, with Jason Ashby missing with a shoulder injury, and Kyle Langford suffering a quad injury. This gives them an opportunity to bring in some of their other injured guns though, as Adam Cooney, Jake Carlisle and Paul Chapman are all ready to return this weekend. Orazio Fantasia and Shaun Edwards have also been named in the extended side.

The Lions have made no changes to their winning formula from last weekend, meaning that key defender Daniel Merrett is still not ready to go. Rohan Bewick, Claye Beams and Liam Dawson have been named in an extended side.

It was the midfield that fired for the Lions last weekend, and if they can get another great performance from their engine, they’ll be well on their way to a victory over the Bombers. For the Bombers, they’ll just be looking for continued improvement, and a win over the Lions will set them up nicely for the remainder of 2015.

Prediction

The Lions were one of the better sides last weekend, but I think the Bombers will be up for this one. With key returning players, the Bombers should have too much class.

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