Lions came back to earth with a thud last week against Port. It was a timely reminder that finals have extra pressures not normally experienced in home and away fixtures. Ports applied what could only be described as finals pressure. The young Lions were found wanting.

Lions’ coach Duck Davies has a week to turn around his sides disappointing performance. A challenge that is not new to him or his team.

Centrals on the other hand had a relatively easy game as a lead up to the finals series against Sollies. Centrals coach Ray Haynes an experienced campaigner in finals will be stressing to his chargers to expect greater intensity from the Lions despite their below par performance against Port.

Lions were able to outplay Centrals in their last encounter on home soil. But it was clear that Centrals did not play at their best and were lacking in some key players at the time.

Lions forward set up with Tom Harmer, Tyson Horsnell and Tate Bradley has provided the majority of the goals during the season. However, their effectiveness was curtailed by a tight Port defence.

Ashley Fulelrton of Centrals is a quality defender and will have the responsibility for marshalling the defence. Centrals defence has the ability to take advantage of wayward deliveries into the forward lines.

Central’s Daniel Baker has been in great touch at full forward with 5 and 9 goals respectively in the last two games.

He is a versatile player whether up forward or playing in ruck. He will be one player Lions will have to watch carefully. Christan Wood will almost certainly have that responsibility.

The young Lions defenders have progressed well this season but will be sorely tested by Centrals forward group. Centrals have many potential goal scorers in the likes of Sean Dawson, Shannon Wilson, Ben Yeomans and Aaron Harris.