BRISBANE will challenge the suspensions handed to co-captain Harris Andrews and fellow defender Darcy Gardiner at the Tribunal on Tuesday night, but the Lions have accepted the one-match suspension handed to star forward Zac Bailey.
Andrews was suspended for three matches on Sunday over high contact that knocked out Bulldog Arty Jones on Saturday night, while Bailey and Gardiner received one-game bans for other incidents.
Brisbane has also confirmed star midfielder Hugh McCluggage will miss at least one week with scans revealing a minor calf strain on Sunday.
On Monday, the Lions confirmed they would head to the Tribunal to challenge the Andrews and Gardiner decisions.
At the Gabba on Saturday night, Andrews and Jones had flown for an aerial contest and when the ball hit the deck, the Lions skipper flung back his left arm to block the Bulldog’s run, but struck Jones in the face.
Jones was immediately treated and taken off with concussion.
The incident was assessed as careless, high contact and severe impact, drawing a three-match suspension.
The loss of Andrews would be massive given the Lions face red-hot Sydney and its new spearhead Charlie Curnow this week.
Andrews would also miss games against St Kilda and Collingwood, if the ban stands, and not return until Gather Round.
Bailey was cited for a third-quarter elbow to the head of Bulldogs debutant Michael Sellwood after the Lions star was tackled over the boundary line by the defender.
It was considered intentional, low impact and high contact.
Gardiner was cited for a high arm to Bulldogs forward Aaron Naughton, conceding a 50m penalty in the fourth term.
That incident was ruled high contact, medium impact and careless conduct.
Ruck recruit Sam Draper, who has battled foot soreness after recovering from an Achilles tear, is a potential inclusion to face Sydney on Saturday.
Hard-nosed defender Noah Answerth also played a practice match in his successful return from the same injury.
Coach Chris Fagan will take comfort from the green on the statistics sheet after the two-time reigning premiers’ Opening Round fumble.
The Lions had withstood the Bulldogs’ best blows, kicking five consecutive majors to lead by 26 points late in the third term on Saturday.
But the Bulldogs surged back to win by five points – 16.15 (111) to 15.16 (106) – in an enthralling Gabba contest.
Fagan was left with plenty of positives despite the result.
“Not alarm bells,” he said.
“You look at the stats and there’s so much green here for us.
“That set of statistics is a good set against the Bulldogs.
“You take heart from that. They’re a good team. Just a number of little things.”
