2018 Round 21: The Team, Preview, Injury List

2018 AFL Round 21 COLLINGWOOD v BRISBANE Time & Place: Saturday August 11, 7:25pm EST Etihad Stadium Fox Sports 7:00pm EST Weather: Min 8 Max 13 Chance of rain 80%: 1-5mm Wind: WNW 12kph Betting: Collingwood $1.29 Brisbane $3.66

B: Brayden Maynard, Tom Langdon, Jack Crisp

HB: Sam Murray, Jack Madgen, Levi Greenwood

C: Travis Varcoe, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Phillips

HF: Will Hoskin-Elliott, Brody Mihocek, Jordan De Goey

F: Josh Thomas, Mason Cox, Jaidyn Stephenson

Foll: Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Steele Sidebottom

Int: Brayden Sier, James Aish, Chris Mayne, Adam Oxley

Emg: Callum Brown, Josh Smith, Josh Daicos, Sam McLarty

IN: James Aish, Jordan De Goey, Adam Oxley
OUT: Darcy Moore (hamstring), Callum Brown (omitted), Josh Daicos (omitted

COLLINGWOOD NEWS COLLINGWOOD V BRISBANE Collingwood has made three changes for Saturday night's big game against the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium. Jordan De Goey, James Aish and Adam Oxley have come into the side. A hamstring injury has forced Darcy Moore out of the team. Callum Brown and Josh Daicos have been omitted. De Goey returns after missing two matches due to a leg injury, while Aish is back for his first AFL game since suffering a knee injury against Richmond in round six. Aish has spent the past three weekends running around in the VFL. Oxley, meanwhile, has earned a call-up for his first AFL match since round 22, 2016. The rookie-listed defender has regularly been among the VFL Pies' best players in recent weeks. He was the travelling emergency for the AFL clash with the Swans in Sydney last weekend, then returned home and racked up 23 disposals and seven rebound-50s in the VFL game against the Box Hill Hawks.

AFL PREVIEW ROUND 21 COLLINGWOOD V BRISBANE AFL LAST FIVE TIMES R7, 2018, Collingwood 19.7 (121) d Brisbane Lions 18.6 (114) at the Gabba R10, 2017, Collingwood 18.21 (129) d Brisbane Lions 13.6 (84) at the MCG R8, 2016, Collingwood 20.23 (143) d Brisbane Lions 10.5 (65) at the Gabba R1, 2015, Collingwood 12.14 (86) d Brisbane Lions 11.8 (74) at the Gabba R21, 2014, Brisbane Lions 18.15 (123) d Collingwood 8.8 (56) at the MCG LADDER POSITIONS Collingwood: 6 Brisbane: 16 INJURY LIST Jamie Elliott (hamstring) – TBC Jordan De Goey (leg) – test Tyson Goldsack (knee / back) – test Jeremy Howe (concussion / corkie) – test Ben Reid (knees) Rupert Wills (hamstring) – test Flynn Appleby (hamstring) – 1-2 weeks Adam Treloar (hamstrings) – 5-6 weeks Darcy Moore (hamstring) – 3-4 weeks Kayle Kirby (medical condition) - indefinite Matthew Scharenberg (knee) - season Tim Broomhead (broken leg) – season Lynden Dunn (knee) – season Daniel Wells (foot) – season SUMMARY Collingwood should win well enough to sew up a finals berth, but this encounter has all the hallmarks of a danger game. The fast track under the roof at Etihad Stadium might well provide the ideal setting for the nothing-to-lose Lions to be the party poopers. The Pies have been challenged physically and mentally as a horrific casualty list and a series of formidable opponents have taken their toll, with the Woods winning just one of their past four games to jeopardise their spot in the top eight. Fresh in the memory is the exhilarating round seven clash between the clubs in which Brisbane almost upset Collingwood in a free-flowing shootout at the Gabba. The Lions have lost three in a row but two of them were by under a goal, and a big scalp on the run home would further vindicate the club’s bold new direction. AFL THE SIX POINTS Collingwood has won its past four games against Brisbane and seven of the past eight since 2011. The Lions last defeated the Pies in round 21, 2014. The Magpies are the fourth-highest-scoring team this season, averaging 92 points a game, while Brisbane is 10th with 84. Their previous clash in round seven at the Gabba was one of the highest-scoring games of the season, producing a combined 37 goals. Jordan De Goey booted five for the Magpies, who won by seven points, while Lewis Taylor kicked four for the Lions. The teams have played only once at Etihad Stadium – back in round eight, 2002, when Collingwood upset reigning premier Brisbane by three points. The Lions have lost nine of their past 11 games at the Docklands venue. Another Collingwood loss and it will be the first time since rounds 14-16 last year that the Pies will have lost three in a row. Meanwhile, the Lions’ losing streak stands at three. Collingwood runner Jack Crisp is the AFL’s second-best small/medium defender, according to the Schick AFL Player Ratings, rising to a career-best ranking of No.53. He is the seventh-highest ranked Magpie. IT'S A BIG WEEK FOR … Cameron Rayner With 30 seconds left in the clash with North Melbourne at the Gabba last round, Rayner favoured a ‘Stevie J’ snap instead of a regulation drop punt and missed a set shot that would have won the game for Brisbane. After the final siren, the Lions prodigy was inconsolable. This looms as an early test in what is expected to be a long and illustrious career. PREDICTION: Collingwood by 29 points