Brisbane look certain to use key defender Daniel Merrett as a forward at some stage in their season-opening AFL clash against Melbourne on Saturday despite him being named in the backline.
Lions coach Michael Voss said Merrett could be expected to reprise his successful pre-season experiment of playing forward in the absence of spearhead Jonathan Brown.
Brown is sidelined as he recovers from a fractured cheekbone sustained in the pre-season.
But the big forward trained separately from his teammates in Melbourne on Friday morning, with Voss saying he is on track to return as expected by round three.
Until then, Voss admits Merrett is likely to be play a forward role.
“Certainly we would love Browny out there,” Voss said.
“He’s getting closer. But we’ve just been extra cautious at the moment. We’ve just got to hold him for a while, and the good thing is he hasn’t missed any training.
“So in two weeks, we’ll unleash him.”
The Lions will face what is likely to be an emotion-charged Melbourne at the MCG – the Demons having spent the past fortnight mourning former star player and club president Jim Stynes.
Melbourne will give mature-age rookie James Magner and Josh Tynan their AFL debuts against the Lions in coach Mark Neeld’s first home-and-away game in charge.
Brisbane will also come up against former star Mitch Clark, who joined the Dees in the off-season.