Preview Lions v Dogs Saturday March 7 @ 6.35pm AEST

Section 5 · Mar 1, 2026

Lions v Dogs Saturday March 7 @ 6.35pm AEST

More preview writers are needed. If you have not done it before, no worries just have a go in your own style.
Put your name down and choose a round in the “Preview Writers for 2026” thread

2025 premiership flag unveiling: Time be seated by 6.00pm according to email
Being a Saturday game those not attending can only watch live on Kayo or Fox

Results v Dogs since 2022 – Lions 4 wins (Gabba x 2, Norwood, Marvel) to the Dogs 1 win (Marvel)
Preseason AAMI series Lions by 25 over Suns. Dogs by 44 over Hawks.

How exciting is it for us AFL footy nuts to get season 2026 underway
As usual, it was a long preseason. During this time, we lost and gained a few players

The Lions have a reasonably healthy list, but Drapers' first Lions game is unlikely this Saturday. We have a stupid bye in round 2 but that may help decide Drapers return date. Could be against the Saints in round 3. That's only missing 2 games but actually 3 weeks to get the injury right.

Below is my starting 23. Picking those last few spots is the hard part.

B: D.Zorko, D.Gardiner, R.Lester

HB: D.Wilmot, H.Andrews (c), N.Answerth

C: J.Berry, H.McCluggage (c), L.Ashcroft

HF: C.Cameron, T.Gallop (R/R), Z.Bailey

F: C.Rayner, L.Morris, L.McCarthy

FOLL: D.Fort, J.Dunkley (c), L.Neale.

I/C: K.Lohmann (F), O.Allen (F), W.Ashcroft (M), J.Fletcher (D), B.Reville (W/D/F).

Marshall and Coleman are unlucky. Either or both could easily be named over someone i have listed. Answerth may not even be available.
It would be unusual for the Lions not to play a big import like Allen, at least early on.
I don’t think the first game of the season is a good time to debut a young ruck. Both CC and ZZ showed they are capable at AFL level.

The number one team in 2025 for average goals scored is the Dogs (16.0) with Lions 7th (13.2)
What's interesting is the only time the Dogs beat us since 2022 was when they scored just 67 points at Marvel. Ugle-Hagan kicked 5 of their 10 goals.

Dogs have quite a few good players, but the Lions bottom 7 are a better quality than the Dogs.
The Lions have quality players that know the game plan to fill the holes left by grand final players Starcevich, Ah-Chee and McInerney.

There is no reliable 2026 form to go on, and round 1 (or OR) is always a hard contest by all the teams

Now some not great news. Lions have won only 2 of our last 6 first games of the season.
Won: 2025 v Swans (A) but that game was delayed a week. 2022 v Port (H)
Lost: 2024 Blues 1 point (H), 2023 Port 26 (A), 2021 Swans 31 (H), 2020 Hawks 28 (H)

Charlie being up and about is a big positive. Neale, Dunkley, McCluggage & Will Ashcroft just cruising and Levi looking to improve to catch his brother.
Reville looks just as solid in defense as elsewhere.
McCarthy had a few solid preseason games in defense and will be able to play their if needed instead of Answerth.
I would go with McCarthy over Brain
However, McCarthy reminded selectors last week just how good he is at that forward role.

Being the first game of the season i won't go into comparing the Lions to Dogs players or how forwards/defense/midfields match up.
I will leave that for posters to discuss.

Crowd numbers will be interesting.
Only 29,039 turned up for our Dogs Friday night clash in round 19. Opening round in 2024 v Blues drew 33,367.
Just had a look on Ticketmaster tickets available but not all that many.
It is expensive to go to AFL and sit in the back row. Adult price $92 to $111

Lions by any margin will be a good result, but a 19+ point win will ease the stress level some.

M Malice · Mar 1, 2026

Expecting a cracker of a game Saturday night, I'm bullish on the Dogs this season, Lions by 25 though with The OA to kick 4.

Elixuh · Mar 1, 2026

Should be a good game from a viewing perspective. Good test first up.

martinson · Mar 1, 2026

Rightfully so I suppose but I sense a bit of smugness emanating from our supporters , especially when it comes to assessing the woes of other teams.

We were there once.

Enjoy every minute of this era. Our depth is insane, we're really good etc etc. , another 5 years in it ?

We don't sense any of that coming from within the club and that being so we win this by 5 goals with our insane depth and overall talent.

I see some scribes have been nominating Darcy as the best player in the game. I thought you had to have a significant body of work before being nominated as the best at anything but maybe he's another Ablett , Carey or whatever. But I don't think so.

Grasshopper17 · Mar 1, 2026

Huge game. Dogs look up and about. If the rumours are true and they've gone to school on their defensive method over the summer, scoring could be hard work on Saturday night.

I rarely ever do this but this is the team I'd go with:

B: Darcy Gardiner, Ryan Lester, Darcy Wilmot
HB: Dayne Zorko, Harris Andrews, Keidean Coleman
C: Jaspa Fletcher, Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry
Foll: Darcy Fort, Josh Dunkley, Lachie Neale
HF: Charlie Cameron, Logan Morris, Ty Gallop
FF: Cam Rayner, Oscar Allen, Kai Lohmann

Interchange: Will Ashcroft, Levi Ashcroft, Zac Bailey, Bruce Reville, Sam Marshall/Cody Curtin

Emergencies: Sam Marshall/Cody Curtin, Zane Zakostelsky, Lincoln McCarthy, Daniel Annable (will there be 3 emergencies or 4?)

As much as I think Noah is in our best 23 I can't possibly see us selecting him in the AFL team on the back of one VFL scratch match. And nor should he be. So it will be up to Wilmot to lock down on whoever is the most dangerous Bulldogs small forward as needed.

I think there's a bit of recency bias among those plumping for Zane over Cody. Yes he was pretty good against Gold Coast but looked all at sea against Carlton. Let's see him put multiple weeks of good form together. As Cody has done.

Curtin v Marshall is more about the 2 rucks vs 1 ruck debate, plus how many tall guys we think the Bulldogs might roll with. We probably lose a bit on the endurance front with Cody, which says more about Sam than Curtin. But we'd gain a heap in physical presence and forward pressure, which I think the coaches would have really loved about the way he's played this year so far.

It might even allow us to triple- or even quadruple-team Tim English, with Fort, Curtin, Gallop and Allen all playing a role, and force Sam Darcy into the ruck to give English a spell, and taking him out of their forward line.

I think I just talked myself into Cody Curtin

No room even in the emergencies for

Conor McKenna (probably need to see a little bit more willingness to put his body on the line);
Will McLachlan (needs to understand it is more important to be reliable than remarkable);
James Tunstill (liked what we saw from him on Thursday night, couldn't have done much more with his limited minutes, just needs more game time and probably a bit more polish); or
Shadeau Brain (just need to see consistent application across a full game from him I think)

It's not a bad position to be in given we also still have a few blokes on the long term injury list.

Still feel like we will take at least a few weeks to bed our new guys into our style of play. From what I've seen/heard about our upcoming opponents, I have a feeling being 1-2 after 3 games will be a commendable effort.

Paul Mac · Mar 1, 2026

Looking forward to it. Our group of 5 are heading up by plane Saturday Morning. Bring it on.

Grasshopper17 · Mar 1, 2026

Also...

Start thinking up some more good cyclone names folks. This forecast is worsening by the day...

Do we share a bye with the Bulldogs?

Section 5 · Mar 1, 2026

I think the surprise selection may be to go without a lockdown defender if Answerth is not available
We rely on team defense anyhow and that will give us more attacking defenders down back than any other side.
I think Reville could do a decent enough job if Answerth is unavailable
This could backfire of course but it's something no other team would try early in the season.

A safeguard being McCarthy is named in the team playing his usual pressure forward role.
If it becomes an issue, then move McCarthy to defense with that job in mind.

I have Answerth over Reville over McCarthy over Brain then? Don't really want McKenna back in defense

Noticed in the only practice session i attended Torrent was back training with defenders. It could have only been for that session, but we do need another lockdown defender in the VFL in case ones needed.

Mr Ripper · Mar 1, 2026

Grasshopper17 said:
Also...

Start thinking up some more good cyclone names folks. This forecast is worsening by the day...

View attachment 2539102

Do we share a bye with the Bulldogs?

This is why bringing the season forward for round zero is daft; if it isn't 32 degrees and 95% humidity, it's monsoonal rain. Play it in late March and finish the year off mid-October.

Grasshopper17 · Mar 1, 2026

Mr Ripper said:
This is why bringing the season forward for round zero is daft; if it isn't 32 degrees and 95% humidity, it's monsoonal rain. Play it in late March and finish the year off mid-October.

And start preseason after Christmas.

I do believe we've found David King's BigFooty account folks.

troppo · Mar 1, 2026

Will we be forced to play Harris on Darcy? He is probably the only one that has the size and reach to compete with Darcy but then we lose his intercept marking if he plays a negative role.

Nathan Barley · Mar 2, 2026

Danger game

Elixuh · Mar 2, 2026

I’m dedicating a lot of this week to practicing my team selection melts. Feel a bit rusty.

M Malice · Mar 2, 2026

Elixuh said:
I’m dedicating a lot of this week to practicing my team selection melts. Feel a bit rusty.

I could never understand why we didn't give Ely Smith a crack, he was the big bodied mid who would of started with his back towards goal that we were crying out for for years, still miffed by it.

Same goes for Jarrad Jansen.

Dalions · Mar 2, 2026

Doggies will be hard to beat, Swannies will be hard to beat.
Need to atleast get 1 of them.
We will need to be on defensively in both games to start the year and particularly through the midfield where we have been beaten quite easily at times through the pre-season games, too many times the ball getting out the front of stoppage too easily.
We tighten that up and we get the win.
Go Lions

Looking forward to the game, should be a cracker to start the year.

Dalions · Mar 2, 2026

Elixuh said:
I’m dedicating a lot of this week to practicing my team selection melts. Feel a bit rusty.

With such a deep list, I can only think of one player that would cause a melt if left out and that would be Harris Andrews.

martinson · Mar 2, 2026

I've followed the pre season closely and have 26 players who are non negotiable selections.

So the club had better get this right or I'll be filthy if we drop this game due to poor team selection.

M Malice · Mar 2, 2026

Dalions said:
With such a deep list, I can only think of one player that would cause a melt if left out and that would be Harris Andrews.

What about Zork's? Poor old fella looks like he needs a rest already.

Elixuh · Mar 2, 2026

Dalions said:
With such a deep list, I can only think of one player that would cause a melt if left out and that would be Harris Andrews.

That’s a very half glass empty way of looking at it. With 30+ players in our effective senior depth, so many players to melt about missing out!

MSB ROYS · Mar 2, 2026

Nathan Barley said:
Danger game

I thought that this was the GF!

KissKiss · Mar 2, 2026

troppo said:
Will we be forced to play Harris on Darcy? He is probably the only one that has the size and reach to compete with Darcy but then we lose his intercept marking if he plays a negative role.

Probably the only option tall and strong enough to play on Darcy. Just important to stop his run at the ball and not let him get into position. Hes too tall to stop otherwise

MSB ROYS · Mar 2, 2026

LoL, so much rain again. The AFL really know how to schedule games.

Bucking Beads · Mar 2, 2026

I am so sick of rain.

M Malice · Mar 2, 2026

Section 5 · Mar 2, 2026

Log In or Create New Account

Rd 6 + Club Forums »

Preview Lions v Dogs Saturday March 7 @ 6.35pm AEST

Norm Smith Medallist

Namaste

See you on the 9th green at 9

Brownlow Medallist

Gimmick poster

Club Legend

Gimmick poster

Norm Smith Medallist

Pink-cheeked and robust

Gimmick poster

Team Captain

Brownlow Medallist

See you on the 9th green at 9

Namaste

Premium Platinum

Premium Platinum

Brownlow Medallist

Namaste

See you on the 9th green at 9

Premium Platinum

Norm Smith Medallist

Premium Platinum

Brownlow Medallist

Namaste

Norm Smith Medallist

Similar threads