Perhaps I’m being a little melodramatic, but the events that took place the evening  of March 26 at the Gabba were truly a disaster for the Brisbane Lions. We had a rough off-season – we had to sack two players for disciplinary reasons, our best and fairest winner and two other senior players walked out on the club, and the whole time our coach, our players and our whole club were getting bashed by all the goobers in the football media and most opinionated punters agreed with them.

But for Lions supporters there was always hope – Losing Fev was a blessing and Proud, Brennan and Sherman were inconsistent hacks who would never reach the potential the footy public seemed to think they had. A 2011 season in which Adcock, Maguire, Merrett, Drummond and Patfull didn’t miss extended periods would see our defence back to our 2009 best and in the three Rs (Rich, Redden and Rockliff) we have three of the most talented and underrated young midfielders in the business, and we still have Black and Power to guide them.

There was plenty of positive talk whispered between Lions fans under all the trash-talk from elsewhere, but it all came with one proviso: we NEED Browny. He was the one to kick the goals, straighten us up and steer the ship. When his nose got inverted into his head and his face was buried in the Gabba turf, you could hear 20,000 Lions supporters collectively yell ‘aw f—!’

To make matters worse we lost Staker as well. The one guy we could point to and say ‘See! Vossy’s not a complete nutbag! He can make a good trade!’ Feels bad man. After the rubbish we’ve been through this off-season, we really needed a win. To lose it in those circumstances was devastating. I haven’t seen a crowd that disappointed since the 2004 Grand Final.

It wasn’t all bad though. It was a gutsy effort for an inexperienced team to fight as hard as they did despite the injuries and kids like Bewick and Beams showed some goods. I also heard that when Browny headbutted the Earth, the whole planet shifted a fraction further away from the Sun, effectively solving that whole global warming thing. So thanks for that, Browny, and up yours Carbon Tax!

One of those winnable games is Saturday night against North. The Roos have at times looked pretty good this year, but other times they’ve been dismal, particularly against the Saints and last week at Freo. A huge factor in this game is the Roos coming off a six day break flying back from Perth – if Brisbane are around the mark at three quarter time, expect them to run away with it. Brownvola still looks a long way off fit, but 8 goals between them last week will boost their confidence, and I don’t think North have the defence to contain them. Look for them to dominate – I’m tipping 10 between them.

So with that in mind I’m placing the first of a few bets for the week on this game:

$10 on the Lions over North by 24+ @$2.65. Was tempted to go over 40, but that might be getting a bit carried away considering the month or so of footy we played preceeding the Collingwood game. If my team is to go anywhere this year then this is a must win game, and it should be a percentage booster.

$10 on Carlton over Dees by 1-39 @ $2.20. I like these odds. Carlton are looking good, and should get up over the Dees, but I don’t think they have the forward line to really kick away from Melbourne, whose defence has proven to be quality this season.

$5 on Collingwood over the Dogs by 1-24 @ $3.40. Collingwood tend to lift for big games, and I think they’ll be stung into action after a humiliating loss to the eventual premiers last week. Dogs were woeful last week, and seem to have some issues getting it together this season. The way they’re playing at the moment, I think they’ll struggle to crack top 4. Having said that, they are a decent side, and they shouldn’t let the Pies get away too much.

I also need to mention a bet made between me and Beno last week. These things need to be put in the public domain. On Saturday night, my dreamteam sat on about 1300 with 9 players left to play, Beno about 1100 with 11 to come. I made the call and the bet was on – the lower scoring coach would buy a couple of beers for the victor. I’m pleased to say it was not even close. My boys smacked Beno’s Gangstaz by 100+ points. I’m looking forward to a couple of domestic brews on Beno’s wallet this weekend.

The official match between Beno’s Gangstaz and Matty P’s Mashville Mashers takes place in round 12, and the smack talk has begun already. I’m quite confident the Gangstaz are going the way of the Swans and I will get over them easy.