Brisbane Lions

Season to date:
The Lions were sitting seventh on the ladder after round 11 on the back of a four-game winning streak. But seven of their next 10 matches were to end in defeat, among them slender losses to Melbourne, Richmond and North Melbourne. And last week Carlton stunned the Brisbane side with a six-point comeback win at the Gabba, a result which ended Leigh Matthews' side's finals hopes. The Lions are 10-11, tenth on the ladder and on 40 points.
 
Recent form:
Round 17 Brisbane Lions 16.18 (114) lost to Richmond 18.9 (117)
Round 18 Brisbane Lions 11.18 (84) lost to North Melbourne 13.14 (92)
Round 19 Brisbane Lions 5.11 (41) lost to Hawthorn 16.14 (110).
Round 20 Brisbane Lions 13.12 (90) d Western Bulldogs 10.19 (79)
Round 21 Brisbane Lions 16.13 (109) lost to Carlton 18.7 (115)
 
Last time out:
Brisbane Lions 10.11 (71) lost to Sydney Swans 13.10 (88), round 3, 2008 at the Gabba.

Led by a best-on-ground Ryan O'Keefe, the Swans were too good for the Lions downing the home side by 17 points at the Gabba.

The Swans held two- to three-goal leads at each break and despite matching the Swans in the final quarter with three goals the Lions weren't able to drag themselves back into the contest.

O'Keefe, with 27 possessions and two goals, led the way while Brett Kirk's tagging roles on Simon Black and Luke Power kept the Lions' danger-men quiet. Craig Bolton, conceding 5cm in height, matched up on power forward Jonathan Brown and restricted the big Lion to just one goal.

For the Lions, the impressive Daniel Bradshaw finished with five goals while young Jed Adcock was busy with 21 touches.

The two sides also played earlier this year in the NAB Cup challenge, where the Lions defeated the Swans at Canberra's Manuka Oval 14.13 (97) to 13.9 (87).

The venue: The SCG
The first time these two met on this ground was 1998 and the Swans won by 38 points.

Overall, it's 4-4 between these two at the venue, with the Lions 3-2 from the last five encounters on this ground.

The coach: Leigh Matthews
In his tenth season as club coach, Lethal needs little introduction with three flags (2001-03) and a fourth straight grand final in 2004 (a loss to Power). As coach at the club, he's 267-185 and eight draws.

Strengths:
Brown (70 goals) and Bradshaw (73) have carried the load for most of the year in the forward 50 while premiership players Luke Power (25 possessions per game) and Simon Black (26) have shown why they are still so valuable to the side. Young Bradd Dalziell (27) is a great prospect across the midfield.

Missing in action:
Key players Ash McGrath (quad), Nigel Lappin (achilles/retired), Mitch Clark (quad), Josh Drummond (thigh) and Matthew Leuenberger (knee) are all missing for the Lions.

The key: intensity
The Swans have lacked that killer instinct in recent weeks as their finals hopes hung by a thread. But with results going their way and a final to look forward to next week, they should be desperate to win the footy against a side that has nothing to play for but pride. Paul Roos has said he may play a number of youngsters to give key players a rest. This should inject some badly needed run into the side as they look to hit the in-form Barry Hall.

The young gun: Bradd Dalziell
Last week the 21-year-old was awarded the round 21 NAB AFL Rising Star nomination. The midfielder has been a ball-magnet since debuting in round 16 and amassed 32 disposals in a losing side against Carlton last time out.

The questions:
Will the Lions' hollow feeling after losing their chance of finals footy translate into an easy win for the Swans?

Can the Swans use this game to build some confidence ahead of their sixth-straight finals campaign?

How many youngsters will both coaches play?

Can Barry Hall outscore Jonathon Brown and/or Daniel Bradshaw?

Did you know?
The Swans have twice restricted the Lions' attack to just 6.4 (40) in the last three years – the club's record lowest tally against Sydney.