The running power of the Brisbane Lions has been their trademark in the past two seasons. It took them to a Premiership in 2001 and they are favored to repeat the dose in 2002. And it is this running power that poses the biggest threat to the Bombers’ chances of remaining in the top eight at the end of this weekend. Just how will Essendon go about winning enough football in the middle to close down the Lions?

It is a similar dilemma to that which confronted Essendon when it took on Port Adelaide in Round 12. It is fair to say the Bombers struggled badly that night and they were soundly beaten. But what lessons have been learned out of the game? Is there a better way to go about things?

“There is no doubt we will have to do a better job than we did that night (against Port Adelaide),” Essendon assistant coach Mark Harvey said. “But having said that we have a different set up to the one we took into that game – both Joe Misiti and James Hird will play this weekend so that gives us more options than we had that night.”

“This week we have had to sit down and look at what is the best way to go about it. Obviously you can go about trying to negate them or back yourselves to get more of it than them,” Harvey said. “In the end its probably a bit of both – every mid-fielder needs to be accountable and be sharp with their defensive skills but they also need to have the confidence to make good decisions in close and lay off at the right times. There is no great secret to it but we need to do it better.”

While the Brisbane mid-field has been excellent, its defence has been where much of the run starts. Brad Scott (330), Martin Pike (299 possessions) and Chris Scott (277) have also got plenty of the ball while Chris Johnson is also very dangerous. “They do get good rebound from those players so our half forwards will need to be accountable. If they don’t get the football they need to work very hard at keeping the ball inside 50m or at the very least putting a lot of pressure on the Brisbane ball carrier,” Harvey said.

So the Bombers have the task in front of them but it might just be the test that brings the best out in them. The past few weeks have been a struggle but should things click this weekend, the remainder of 2002 will be approached with renewed confidence and enthusiasm. “I’ve got a lot of faith in this group. All we need is a little momentum and the confidence will flood back. If it does we just moght cause a few problems for opposition sides.”