Finally, The Bears Are A Force

The Sunday Age

Sunday March 10, 1996

Jake Niall

IT'S unlikely anyone will remember it four or five years from now, but the Brisbane Bears' first round Ansett Cup match against Geelong last Monday was a significant day in Brisbane's short and mostly bleak history.

It wasn't the comfortable win over Geelong that counted, but the crowd. More than 18,000 filled the Gabba for a glorified practice match in the surest signal yet of the Bears' arrival as a force in the competition.

The players arrived last September, their supporters last week. It finally appears as though the club can ride smoothly without the training wheels of the AFL Commission.

To North Melbourne's chagrin, the opportunist AFL decided to take advantage of Brisbane's new popularity and the disarray in rugby league to reschedule today's quarter-final at the Gabba instead of Waverley.

North has complained that the unexpected move out of Victoria disadvantages the club in terms of membership sales.

Whatever the significance off the field for both clubs, the shift gives Brisbane its best chance yet of a strong showing in the pre-season competition. The Bears enjoy the rare distinction of favoritism over the Kangaroos - National Sportsbook rates the home side a 4/7 chance, North is 5/4. The edge is more pronounced by the absence of Wayne Carey, who had wrist surgery after North's election day win over Sydney.

Without Carey, whose dominance of the Ansett Cup last year created monstrous expectations for him and North, the Kangaroos are likely to use Corey McKernan at centre-half forward.

Both sides have picked strong squads for the clash. Brisbane opted not to include key forward Alastair Lynch, who has made some progress in his fight against debilitating chronic fatigue syndrome.

The Bears have a stellar group of on-ballers - Matthew Clarke, Craig Lambert, Michael Voss, Craig McRae and Adrian Fletcher - but a major problem exists in the key forward posts unless Lynch recovers fully.

This game represents an opportunity for John Northey to experiment up forward, although Roger Merrett is likely to remain in the goal square.

Squads: North Melbourne: Allison, Archer, Armstrong, Bell, Blakey, Capuano, Daniltchenko, Dwyer, Fairley, Freeborn, Geister, Gorman, Groom, King, Laidley, Longmire, Martyn, McFarlane, McKernan, Reynolds, Roberts, Rock, Schwass, Scott, Sholl, Simpson, Smith, A. Stevens, M. Stevens.

Brisbane: Champion, McRae, Voss, Chapman, Fletcher, McIvor, Starcevich, Ashcroft, Dickfos, Clarke, Bartlett, Lambert, Akermanis, Green, C. Scott, Merrett, Lappin, Kennedy, Robbins, Bradshaw, Hart, White, Bews, Keating, Johnson, Corcoran.