Lions still a tall order: McIntosh
DESPITE a glaring weakness in the Brisbane Lions' ruck division, North Melbourne's Hamish McIntosh knows he must go well beyond beating his direct opponent at Docklands on Saturday.
Injuries have left key position player Mitch Clark and utility Jared Brennan to shoulder the ruck, while North has a string of options with McIntosh, back-up Todd Goldstein, acting captain Drew Petrie and full-forward David Hale.
McIntosh said his coaches and teammates had discussed the importance of midfield pressure more than the ongoing danger of key forwards Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw.
Brown and Bradshaw have combined for 22 goals in their last two games against the Roos.
"They have a quality midfield with (Simon) Black, (Luke) Power, (Jed) Adcock and a few other guys through there," McIntosh said.
"If they get the ball out of the middle and hit up Bradshaw and Brown, there's not a lot our defenders can do.
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