Lions coach Michael Voss says Geelong is still the benchmark of the competition as they prepare to face off at The Gabba tomorrow night.

The Lions may have been savaged by injury but it hasn’t stopped Voss from cutting one of his star players.

Sacha Passi reports.

[flashvideo file=https://www.qutnews.com/uploads/tv-2010-1/20100514-footy-preview.flv /]

TRANSCRIPT

Lions Coach Michael Voss wants the strongest team possible for tomorrow night’s match and for now that means side-lining Travis Johnstone.

Michael Voss, Lions Coach: “Yeah look, we’ve spoken to Trav about what makes him valuable to our team and we feel like he’s sort of dropped away in a few of those things.”

With Josh Drummond and Jared Brennan on the long term injury list, the Lions will welcome back Andrew Raines, Matt Maguire, Joel Patfull and Amon Buchanan.

Geelong’s Mathew Stokes is expected to return for his first match of the season after his suspension due to drug charges was lifted last week.

Mark Thompson, Geelong Coach: “He’s really fit and I think he’ll be a really important player tomorrow and he’ll play well.”

Last time they met the Lions had a comfortable forty-three point win over the Cats but with three straight losses and the side-lining of two key players last year’s premiers look to be the clear favourite.

Michael Voss, Lions Coach: “They’ve been the bench mark for a number of years and we hope to get on to that level at some point in time and you know, lets make sure we start tomorrow.”

It should be a big night for Brendan Fevola. He needs just one more goal to become the 27th player in history to kick 600 hundred goals.

In Rugby League, the Titans took an opportunity to relax ahead of tonight’s clash with the Broncos. Although it may be second verses thirteenth, they say it’s a win they’ll have to fight for.

Will Matthews, Titans forward: “They’re going to be fired up tonight and certainly tough to beat.”

Sacha Passi, QUT News