Brisbane captain Jonathan Brown will return from his injury layoff in Saturday night’s AFL NAB Cup opener on the Gold Coast.
Brown needed facial surgery for the second time last year when he suffered a nasty collision in round 17.
But the Lions have left out Daniel Merrett with hamstring soreness and Andrew Raines had minor knee surgery on the weekend.
Brisbane will play Gold Coast and Melbourne in the round-robin fixture.
The Demons have left out new co-captain Jack Trengove with a leg injury, meaning Jack Grimes will lead the side by himself.
Former Brisbane ruck-forward Mitch Clark, who was the story of last year’s trade week, will make his Demons debut against his old side.
The same applies for Gold Coast defender Matthew Warnock, who was traded from the Demons.
Star St Kilda midfielder Leigh Montagna is a late withdrawal from the team to play Geelong and Sydney in Friday night’s games at Etihad Stadium, with Tom Curren taking his place.
AA