AFL Finals Preview: GWS vs Brisbane

A Western Sydney win or go home match is coming up on Saturday night as the Lions take on the Giants at ENGIE Stadium, in what is set to be another huge game.

The Giants had the narrowest loss of this year’s AFL finals series last Saturday afternoon after having control for most of the game. Some Heeney magic broke the hearts of the Giants players late in the game, the Giants falling short by just six points.

The Giants have plenty of upside to come from last week’s game with some of their better players not having their best games.

“We need him [Toby Greene] to play better than what he did.

“But you know what? He’s one of the best players in the competition.

“We expect him to work his way through any matchup that he gets and impact the game like he usually does.

“That’s what we expect out of him,” Giants head coach, Adam Kingsley, stated.

The Giants are looking to win and advance to their fifth preliminary final in their existence; they joined the AFL competition in 2012.

On the flip side, the Lions cruised past the Blues last weekend, restricting Carlton to just two goals to their nine goals by half-time. The Lions’ season didn’t go exactly how they planned, but they still managed to finish the year in fifth position and are looking to win on Saturday night and advance to their third consecutive preliminary final.

Their task doesn’t get much harder than a great Giants outfit on their home deck, but a great win last weekend will give them all the confidence they need to go out on Saturday night and get the win.

These two sides played twice this season, in Round 7 and Round 22. The first of those matchups saw the Giants win comprehensively by 54 points. While the second matchup was a lot closer, Giants still came out winners by 18 points at the Gabba.

The Lions will be eager to get one on the Giants this season and there is no better time than the present to do so, especially after they dropped that Round 22 game at home which was such an important one for their top four hopes.

Our prediction: The Giants were so impressive last week against the Swans, controlling a large part of that game until the game was ripped away from them late. The Lions were also very impressive last week, although a small second half fade out may be a slight worry. The Giants to win and win well, winners by 35 points at ENGIE Stadium.

Our attendance prediction: Expect to see plenty of people at ENGIE stadium. With a capacity of just 23,500 people, the stadium should fill out with 21,500 people to be in attendance.