The Giants are back in Canberra to take on the Lions in a twilight match at Manuka Oval.

Match Details

• Who: GWS Giants vs Brisbane Lions
• When: Saturday 22 April, 4.35pm AEST
• Where: Manuka Oval, Canberra
• Weather: min 4, max 21. 0% chance of rain
• Click here to buy tickets
• All time head-to-head record: Played 14. Giants 7 wins. Lions 7 wins.

Teams

Giants

IN: Brent Daniels, Harry Perryman

OUT: Tom Greene (suspension), Adam Kennedy (omitted),Cooper Hamilton (injured)

In a big blow for the Giants, local star Tom Greene will miss the match in his hometown of Canberra after copping a one-week ban for a dangerous tackle. They do have two handy inclusions with Daniels and Perryman returning.

Lions

IN: Jack Gunston

OUT: Darcy Fort (omitted), Jarryd Lyons (sub)

Veteran forward Gunston returns to give some added experience to Brisbane’s forward line. Fort makes way with Joe Daniher set to play some minutes in the ruck.

Click here to see the complete team line-ups.

Season so far

GWS Giants 12^th – 94.4% | 403 points for | 427 points against| 2 wins & 3 losses | WLLLW

While the Giants haven’t exactly blown anyone away with their start to 2023, the positive is that they have been competitive in every game so far.

Their three losses have been by 19, 10 and 13, while their margins in their two wins were 16 and 2.

They weren’t great last week in Gather Round, but did manage to just fall over the line against lowly Hawthorn thanks to some late heroics by Harry Himmelberg.

While it was good to get a win, the Giants have an incredibly tough seven weeks coming up and will need to improve quickly to not let their season slip away.

Brisbane Lions 8^th – 111.7% | 486 points for | 435 points against | 3 wins & 2 losses | WWLWL

Brisbane were written off by just about everybody after starting the year 1-2, with Joe Daniher in particular coming under fire.

Daniher and the Lions have since found form over the last fortnight with an impressive win over Collingwood before trouncing North last week.

The only real problem for the Lions seems to be the stark difference in performance from when they play at home to when they play on the road, especially when they play the top teams.

With Fremantle at home next week, Brisbane have a great opportunity to get on a run if they can take care of GWS here.

Last 5 meetings and Manuka Oval History

• 2022 round 18: Giants 9.5 (59) lost to Lions 15.9 (99) at Manuka Oval
• 2022 round 11: Lions 16.14 (110) defeated Giants 15.6 (96) at Gabba
• 2021 round 11: Lions 19.15 (129) defeated Giants 10.5 (65) at Gabba
• 2020 round 7: Giants 1.8 (68) lost to Lions 13.10 (88) at Giants Stadium
• 2019 Semi Final: Lions 11.14 (80) lost to Giants 12.11 (83) at Gabba

Brisbane is building a strong recent record over the Giants, winning the last four straight including two victories last year.

The first game was a reasonably close contest with plenty of goals, while the second clash was a more comfortable win for the Lions.

The Giants last triumph over Brisbane was a thrilling three-point win at the Gabba in a Semi Final.

This will be the second time these two sides have met at Manuka Oval after the Lions best GWS by 40 points in the nation’s capital last year.

Pre-match predictions

Easy being Greene: Tobias Greene to delight the Canberra crowd with four goals.

Gunston hoses: Jack Gunston to hose down his opponent, kicking three goals along with two goal assists. Lions by 26.

Have any pre-match predictions of your own? Let us know in the comments below