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With the Easter long weekend upon us, a big round of footy starts off with the Thursday night clash, with Brisbane Lions playing host to Carlton at the Gabba in a matchup of two first-round winners. Join us for live scores and commentary from 7.40pm AEST.
Brisbane last week enjoyed their first win at the MCG for a few years, as they comfortably defeated a lacklustre Melbourne.
Ten years after his Brownlow win, Simon Black was back to his magnificent best, and his work in the midfield will be pivotal to the Lions’ chances. Rising youngster Tom Rockliff was another standout with his work on the forward line.
Carlton were frustrated for three quarters by Richmond in last Thursday night’s match, with only a kick in it early in the last term before the Blues powered away late in the game to blow the final margin out. The drive of Marc Murphy through the midfield was instrumental to Carlton’s win.
The contest for first use of the footy will be worth watching. Carlton’s Matthew Kreuzer and Brisbane’s Matthew Leuenberger dominated the rucks in their games last week; and the winner of that contest may well be pivotal to the chances their team is able to create.
Brisbane will have a more rushed build-up to this game, with only a five-day turnaround after playing last Saturday. In contrast, the Blues will have had a full seven day break, a big advantage for a side that showed last week one of their key attributes is their better endurance.
On the other hand, the Lions will enjoy home ground advantage, on their familiar Gabba turf. The Brisbane ground has been an unhappy place for the Blues over the last decade.
For Brisbane, Jesse O’Brien replaces Sam Sheldon in the selected side. Carlton have made no changes from last week.
Carlton will go into the game as warm favourites. But as we all know, upsets can and do happen. And particularly with the travel factor, this is a danger game for the Blues.
Join us live from 7.40pm AEST tonight for a live call of the game. Enter your comments and observations here, in a game that promises to get the long weekend off to an exciting start.
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