OUT: Amon Buchanan, Broc McCauley
NEW: Jared Polec (Woodville West Torrens)

Media coverage
Television: Fox Sports 1
Radio: afl.com.au, 1116 SEN, ABC 774, Triple M Brisbane, NIRS

Form
Melbourne: D, L
Brisbane Lions: L, L

Ladder position
Melbourne: 13^th
Brisbane Lions: 15^th

Head-to-head
Played: 18
Melbourne: 8 wins
Hawthorn: 10 wins
Drawn: 0

At this ground
Played: 5
Melbourne: 3 wins
Hawthorn: 2 wins
Drawn: 0

Last time they met
Round 18, 2010: Melbourne 11.8 (74) d Brisbane Lions 9.10 (64), Gabba

Recent streak
Melbourne has won its previous two matches and three of its past four against the Brisbane Lions

Milestones
-

Injury list
Melbourne: Robert Campbell (achilles) - 6 weeks, Cameron Johnston (ankle) - test, Colin Garland (knee) - test, Jordie McKenzie (groin) - 4 weeks, Tom Scully (knee) - 3 weeks

Brisbane Lions: Callum Bartlett (knee) - indefinite, Jonathan Brown (face) - 8 weeks, Jamie Charman (achilles) - indefinite, Xavier Clarke (knee) - indefinite, Josh Drummond (quad) - 1 week, Matt Maguire (quad) - 2 weeks, Bart McCulloch (quad) - 3 weeks, Brent Staker (knee) - indefinite

Summary

Players to watch
Melbourne: Luke Tapscott
Despite just two matches to his name, Tapscott has become an important part of Melbourne’s line-up. His penetrating kicks and ability to hit targets, combined with his hardness at the ball, has already impacted the Melbourne side. He can also find the footy, as evidenced by his 23 touches against Hawthorn last round.

Brisbane Lions: Simon Black
One of the game’s most decorated players has started the season in fine form, accumulating 58 disposals in the opening two rounds, including 31 against the Bulldogs last weekend. Despite being in the latter stage of his career, the 32-year-old remains in the elite bracket and is still one of the most dangerous clearance players in the competition.

Match-up to watch
Rohan Bail v Simon Black
Bail has already had an opportunity on Black this year, having run with him in the NAB Challenge clash at Visy Park. The 22-year-old was one of Melbourne’s best last round. Daniel Rich also poses a threat with his damaging left-foot, so don’t be surprised if Bail also runs with him.

How’s stat?
This is just the third time Melbourne and Brisbane Lions have met at the MCG since 1999. The Demons defeated the Lions in 2008 and 2010 at the ‘G.  

Memorable match
Round 5, 2010: Melbourne 15.13 (103) d Brisbane Lions Hawthorn 7.11 (53), MCG
The Demons smashed took on the then second-placed Lions and ended up smashing them by 50 points. It was Melbourne’s third win in a row. Leader Brent Moloney shone with 31 disposals and received three Brownlow Medal votes. Defender James Frawley, midfielder Nathan Jones and first-year Demon Jack Trengove also impressed. Aaron Davey, Ricky Petterd, Colin Sylvia and Trengove all kicked a couple of goals; Brendan Fevola booted four for the Lions.  

Foot in both camps
(including Melbourne, Fitzroy, Brisbane Bears and Brisbane Lions)
Bill Adams, Fred Backway, Stuart Cameron, Bruce Campbell, Robert Carroll, Len Catton, Colin Cox, Darryl Cox, Archie Dickens, Dale Dickson, Arthur Ferguson, Fabian Francis, Audley Gillespie-Jones, Tony Hirst, Fred Howard, Travis Johnstone, Tom Kavanagh, Dick Kennedy, Wayne Lamb, Greg Lourey, Darren Louttit, Joel Macdonald, Tom Magee, Dan Moriarty, Wally Naismith, Col Niven, Ray Niven, Rod Owen, Martin Pike, Tom Sadlier, Marcus Seecamp, Len Smith, Norm Smith, Steven Stretch, Hedley Tomkins, Len Toyne, Billy Walsh, Don Whitford, Mark Withers, Shane Woewodin

What Dean says …
“We played poorly [last round] and you expect the response from outside and now we need to internally respond in the best way we can, which is on the footy field on Sunday and we expect a greater effort and the proof will be in our actions on Sunday.”