IN OUR new series, we take a look at a potentially exciting AFL Women’s head-to-head set to take place over the weekend, and how the match-up may transpire on game day.

Note: The match-up of course subject to the selection of both players in their respective sides.

This week’s match up is a little different. It is not between two players, it is between two clubs.

Melbourne is set to host Brisbane down at Casey Fields in the final game of the round, and these two are many people’s predictions to make the Grand Final, so to spice things up this week we are going to take a look at these two clubs as a whole and how they stack up

So far this season, Brisbane has dismantled all that have come before the Lions, recording three impressive wins by three impressive margins. The Dees on the other hand are undefeated too, but because of some inaccurate kicking have not quite put the margins on the board that the Lions have.

These two teams play very different styles of footy.

Brisbane is more of a kicking side than a handballing side. The Lions like to kick both long and short down the line, and often do so with rather pinpoint accuracy. This has resulted them being plus-118 on kicks this far this season, compared to only plus-4 on handballs.

Melbourne on the other hand is quite the opposite. They like to handball their way out of a contest and into space as opposed to kicking. This has resulted in the Dees currently being plus-98 in handballs so far this season, compared to minus-15 on kicks.

Both sides are among the most efficient inside 50 in the league this season so far, currently sitting number one and number three in the category.

Brisbane is winning both the hitout duel (+24 to +6) and the overall clearance duel between the teams (+10 to -10), but Melbourne is slightly better in centre clearances specifically (-6 to Brisbane vs Melbourne’s -3) so the key for the Dees will be to win those centre clearances and keep it out of the hands of that talented Brisbane midfield.

Many of the stats do point in Brisbane’s favour, but there is one factor that cannot be measured but is sure to have an impact – the venue. Casey Fields has a notorious reputation for a reason, and the wind down there is sure to play a part on the game.

But regardless of all those factors, the fans are set for a treat to round out round four as this is going to be a cracking match, and perhaps a Grand Final preview.