BRISBANE and Gold Coast are on missions to win back respect this weekend but are staring down the barrel of hidings.
The Lions are rank $7.50 outsiders with UBET against reigning premiers Hawthorn ($1.09) at the Gabba on Saturday.
The Suns are given even less hope as $17 longshots to beat West Coast ($1.01) in Perth on Sunday.
The two clubs have lost by a combined margin of 457 points in the past three weeks as Queensland football has come under fire.
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READ NOWSuns midfielder Aaron Hall said the Gold Coast would draw a line in the sand on Sunday.
Hall has returned to the injury-hit Suns along with skipper Gary Ablett, Steve May, Tom Nicholls, Clay Cameron, Mackenzie Willis and Jesse Joyce in the preliminary squad.
Sam Day (hip), Dan Currie (finger), Callum Ah Chee (concussion), Darcy MacPherson (knee) and Jarrad Grant (hamstring) drop out of the side.
“The last five or six weeks haven’t been the way we want to play, it’s not what we want to stand for,’ Hall said.
“West Coast have a great home record and we know what they’ve done to other sides over there so we are under no illusions.
“We aren’t going over there to just go through the motions. We’ve got a lot to prove.’’
The Suns received a boost on Friday with midfielder Jaeger O’Meara (knee) briefly joining the main group at training for the first time in 14 months.
O’Meara took part in the warm-up and two drills but is still not expected to return to the field until the last part of the season.
“Can’t wipe the smile off my face,” O’Meara told the Suns website. “In the grand scheme of things it’s a really small step.’’
Brisbane enforcer Mitch Robinson said Brisbane had no choice but to show some fight against the Hawks.
“It’s a chance for us to play a top team and get the respect back from the supporters and especially the AFL world,’’ Robinson said.
“I think we’ve lost a little bit (of respect) over the last few weeks. We can’t wait to redeem ourselves.
“Hawthorn are a very skilful team and you know they’ve been under pressure lately. They’ll be wanting to play for each other this weekend.’’
The Lions have made one change, with Tom Cutler replacing Billy Evans (omitted).
Robinson said a new training and administration base would help Brisbane lure players north after former Lions ruckman Matthew Leuenberger told Melbourne radio how vastly superior the cutting-edge facilities were at Essendon.