The Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns will meet in a dramatic Q Clash as the Suns look to take their first step into a new era post Rodney Eade.
Brisbane, their cross-state rivals, have been in reasonably good form lately for a team on the bottom of the ladder. Of the four wins they’ve had this season, three of them have come in this second half of the year, but their improvement has been visual beyond the numbers as well. They’ve pushed teams harder even if they haven’t gotten the result, with last week’s 14-point loss to the Bulldogs a good indication of their progress. If they notch another two wins before the end of the year, there’s every chance they could still avoid the wooden spoon.
Gold Coast on the other find themselves in a position they never have before – using a caretaker coach after sacking Rodney Eade during the week. Dean Solomon has stepped up to be the third man to lead Gold Coast as a senior coach and will fill in the remaining games of the year. The Suns have lost their last five matches in a row and seven of their last eight. They’re in a pretty sorry state. There’s really no hope of escape from the bottom four at this stage, and everyone at the club will be thinking much more about 2018 than they are the here and now.
Brisbane have lost Alex Witherden to a hamstring and dropped Josh Schache, they have Sam Mayes and Michael Close coming in.
The Suns have dropped Jarrad Grant and Mitch Hallahan and lost their two biggest stars, Gary Ablett and Tom Lynch, to injury. David Swallow is back, as are Jarryd Lyons, Ben Ainsworth and Callum Ah Chee, all of them potentially handy inclusions.
The last eight matches in a row between these sides have been evenly split with four wins apiece. With no Ablett and Lynch, Gold Coast are just out of hope – it may be a a surprise to a few but we really like Brisbane to win by 40+ at $3.75 – excellent value.
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