BY BRAD KLIBANSKY
BRISBANE have been dealt a blow on the eve of their round ten clash with Richmond, with gun midfielder Luke Power ruled out through injury.
Lions coach Leigh Matthews said Power is still suffering from a thigh injury and didn’t travel with the team.
He is expected to be replaced by one of Scott Harding or Joel Macdonald, who travelled with the team as emergencies.
BY BRAD KLIBANSKY
BRISBANE Lions coach Leigh Matthews has labelled this week an “anti- Eeyore” around the club, after the Lions’ 33- point loss to Collingwood on Saturday night.
Eeyore is a character from the book series Whinnie- the- Pooh and is described as a pessimistic, gloomy, old and depressed donkey, traits Matthew’s hopes the Lions keep distance from.
As reported on SEN, Matthews said: “This will be an Eeyore free week. Monday morning means a new week, the sky is blue and we will start nil- all against Richmond.”
BY BRAD KLIBANSKY
THE BRISBANE Lions have layed down the law, encouraging former triple- premiership full- back Mal Michael to sue his former club or shut-up.
As reported in today’s Age, Lions’ chief executive Paul Bowers launched a stingy attack last night saying that Michael would not have a legal leg to stand on if he pursued the $50,000 to which he felt entitled.
“Mal’s said he’s been planning to sue us for some time … and I just wish he’d either get on with it or just stop. If he wants to sue us we’d vigorously defend it,” Bowers said.
The Bombers and Lions play this Saturday at the Telstra Dome in what is expected to be a fiery encounter.
BRISBANE Lions coach Leigh Matthews says yesterdays meeting between the AFL and the West Coast Eagles was nothing more than “window dressing”.
Matthews said the league could have sent an email or a letter to the Eagles to deal with the issues discussed yesterday, but instead they chose to hold a meeting the Lions coach decsribed as nothing more than “a public relations exercise”.
The Brisbane Lions coach also asked why the AFL wouldn’t use the “Bringing the game into dis-repute” charge on Ben Cousins just as they used it on him back in 1985 when he had an on-field altercation with Geelong’s Neville Bruns.
Matthews believes Cousins, who arrived back in Perth today, should be suspended from the game for a minimum of twelve weeks for his alleged drug abuse.
MIKE “Magic” McLean from Triple M Football chooses his top five from round four.
1. Kangaroos - Smashed all week for off-field issues and written off as a non-competitive unit on-field, the Roos were fantastic against the Brisbane Lions. The Lions form was far better than the Kangaroos but the Roos committment was first rate and they showed the Gold Coast community what the club is famous for.
2. Robert Murphy - A knee injury took him out of the game last year and his first couple of games this year made you wonder if we would ever see the sublime Murphy skill again. Our fears were allayed on Friday night as Murphy turned in a classy second half performance to ice the Doggies cake against the Tigers.
3. Essendon - Many thought the Bomber bubble would burst after their second half fade-out against Carlton. However they showed they are a real threat by diposing of St. Kilda on Saturday. The Saints are seen as a quality outfit so for the Bombers to knock them off so easily is a very good sign for Kevin Sheedy and his team from Windy Hill.
4. Josh Mahoney - Has always been a strong performer for Port at home but very rarely fires a shot away from AAMI Stadium. On Saturday against Collingwood at the MCG Port trailed at three-quarter-time and needed someone to step up - enter Mahoney who had a slashing final quarter having eight quality possssions and laying some solid tackles in the wet.
5. Adelaide - While Melbourne and to a lesser extent Richmond are being let off the hook because of injuries no side has an injury list as bad as the Crows. After round one when they were beaten by Essendon they were gone - but three weeks later they have wins over the Dogs, Port and Sydney. This is a very good footy team that is only going to get better as the season goes on.
Apologies to - Brendon Lade, Paul Haselby and Hawthorn
Must do better - Richmond, Geelong and Brisbane Lions
People often wonder why I love sport so much, especially football of all codes. My one true love though is football of the round-ball variety and it’s not just because I love the game. It seems to have the ability through it’s sheer popularity and deep history, among other things, to offer up moments that just make me smile, like when Barcelona PAID UNICEF for the honour of wearing their name on the Barca shirt. (Barca had never had a shirt sponsor previously).
Today there’s a little item in The Guardian written by David James, currently a keeper for Portsmouth. Even though he used to drive me crazy with his ‘Calamity James’ antics when he played for Liverpool, he has always struck me as someone with half a brain, which sometimes seems like a rare commodity for a footballer. In his item he addresses the last great taboo of English football - the gay player. He points to the hypocrisy of some of the players, the nastiness of gossip and the media and wonders when and in what environment will a player finally be able to come out and be allowed to continue to play football, not suffer the same fate as the only player to have come out, Justin Fashanu.
