Lions small forward thinks big
Brisbane will achieve a major goal if they beat West Coast at the Gabba on Saturday night, according to small forward Josh Green.
The Lions went into the round 10 bye on the bottom of the ladder with only one win. But the players set the ambitious goal of having five wins by the time their next bye arrived in round 18.
Victories over Carlton, the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne combined with losses to Greater Western Sydney, Fremantle and Richmond have them at 3-3 in the six-week block and the Eagles are their last chance to reach their target.
"We had a focus on this part of the year," Green told _The West Australian _. "We wanted to be 4-3 so we're nearly there. We're really keen to win this one.
"We looked at the block, worked out which games we could push for and we're 3-3 so hopefully we can win this one and it'll be a nice little block for us."
The Lions, Melbourne and GWS have each won four games in a lower-ladder logjam and a triumph would reduce significantly 17th-placed Brisbane's chances of winning the wooden spoon.
St Kilda are on the bottom of the table with three wins but Brisbane also know that West Coast are only two games ahead of them in 11th place.
The Eagles will be without Josh Kennedy (suspension) and Matt Rosa (injured), placing the team under pressure.
Green has fond memories of playing against West Coast. He kicked three goals in the final term against them in 2012 to lift Brisbane to a dramatic win in his eighth game.
West Coast were on top of the ladder at the time and Green has since developed to become a key for the Lions.
He is second on their goal kicking this year but with the leader Jonathan Brown now retired, he will overtake him if he boots another two goals.
Small forwards have had a huge impact this year with Hayden Ballantyne (Fremantle), Eddie Betts (Carlton), Lindsay Thomas (North Melbourne) and Troy Menzel (Carlton) all leading their club's goalkicking while Luke Breust (Hawthorn), Chad Wingard (Port Adelaide) and Jamie Elliott (Collingwood) are all in second place.
Brisbane have three dangerous small forwards with Green, Dayne Zorko and Lewis Taylor nicknamed "the mosquito fleet".
The trio, who have an average height of 174cm, have kicked 41 goals, which is almost one third of the team's majors.
"We get on really well," Green said.
"I've been mates with Zorks since he first got here and Lewie has come along and just fitted in.
"We're the three smallest at the club so we stick together."
"We wanted to be 4-3 so we're nearly there. We're really keen to win this one.""Brisbane forward *Josh Green *
