BRISBANE and Richmond go head-to-head this afternoon for the second available spot in the AFL Women’s Season 7 preliminary finals. We take a look at the clash and preview what might happen in the contest, with the Lions finishing minor premiers, but the Tigers being the other side to defeat the Lions this year.

FORM

Brisbane has been one of the in-form teams of the competition so far this season. The Lions have only lost the one game for the year, and have for the most part looked very hard to beat.

Richmond on the other hand is one of the most improved sides of Season 7. After a frustrating start to the year, the Tigers went on a run of seven straight wins before drawing with North last weekend.

HISTORY

The historic ledger between the two sides is dead even heading into this afternoon’s clash, with both sides having beaten the other once in the past. However crucially for Richmond, the Tigers are the only side to have beaten Brisbane all year but this is the first time the Lions have hosted the pair.

INJURY LIST

Thankfully for both clubs, their injury lists are pretty short at the moment. For Brisbane, its only injury concern at the moment is Zimmorlei Farquharson, who is still a few weeks away from returning from a finger injury.

Meanwhile for Richmond, Maddie Shevlin came off the injury list this week and is back in the team, while Sarah Hosking and Jemima Woods should not be too far away from a return.

TEAMS

Brisbane

B: S.Campbell 20 P.Monahan 11  
HB: B.Koenen 3 N.Grider 10 J.Ellenger 5
C: O.O’Dwyer 9 E.Bates 1 S.Conway 12
HF: C.Hodder 21 D.Davidson 14 I.Dawes 17
F: J.Wardlaw 30 G.Bodey 15
Foll: T.Hickie 2 C.Svarc 25 A.Anderson 18
I/C: K.Lutkins 13 D.Heslop 23 T.Smith 31 M.Pauga 27 R.Svarc 29  

Emerg: L.Pullar 24 L.Yoshida-Martin 19 S.Webb 4

Richmond

B: R.Miller 15 L.Graham 18  
HB: E.Sheerin 31 K.Cox 17 L.McClelland 16
C: T.Lavey 37 E.McKenzie 22 M.Shevlin 35
HF: K.Brennan 3 M.Brancatisano 5 J.Hosking 11
F: C.Wakefield 8 S.Reid 25
Foll: G.Seymour 28 M.Conti 4 G.Egan 2
I/C: B.Lynch 20 P.Kelly 14 M.Macdonald 38 K.Dempsey 19 E.Yassir 27  

Emerg: S.D’Arcy 12 M.Kiely 13 K.Jacques 10

KEY PLAYERS

Just like it was in Round 5, the midfield battle is going to be an entertaining one to watch. On one side of the equation you have Orla O’Dwyer, Emily Bates and Ally Anderson, facing off against Monique Conti, Grace Egan and Ellie McKenzie.

In terms of forwards, it really is going to be the battle of the talls, with Katie Brennan and Courtney Wakefield up one end, and Jesse Wardlaw and Dakota Davidson up the other.

PREDICTION

It will be a fascinating clash. Their Round 5 match had many momentum swings and it was not clear who was going to win for much of the day. However, there are a number of factors different this time around that should see a Brisbane win.

Brisbane is at home this time, and the Lions are a hard team to beat at home, and the travel is no doubt going to take a toll on the Tigers. Brisbane also has plenty of experience in finals, while Richmond is in its first finals series. It is a totally new standard in finals, so you cannot underestimate the advantage finals experience will have.