Brisbane coach Chris Fagan and the Lions may hesitate to include fringe Lions Bruce Reville and Shadeau Brain in the senior side for their preliminary final following injury concerns in the VFL on Saturday.
Brisbane's reserves were eliminated in a VFL preliminary final loss to ladder-leaders Werribee, with a number of AFL-listed Lions taking the field at Avalon Airport Oval.
Reville is battling a hamstring concern, while Brain courageously played through a crook shoulder, though the club still could not hold onto their 11-point three-quarter-time lead, coughing up six fourth-quarter goals against the breeze for an iconic Werribee Tigers grand final berth.
The double injury concern comes as the Lions' senior side booked their place in a preliminary final against Geelong next Saturday.
AFL boys watching on ๐ฆ pic.twitter.com/FIt5LxOSU6
— Brisbane Lions VFL (@lions_vfl) September 14, 2024
Reville was the Lions' best before the interruption, leading them in the scrap with 17 disposals and 14 tackles.
Brain managed the ten disposals but provided an inspirational lift with his defensive efforts under duress, unfortunately to no avail for Brisbane, as a late knock saw him miss the dying stages.
Retiring Lion Jarryd Lyons was prolific in his final outing at the club, collecting an equal game-high 26 disposals with seven tackles on his way out.
Youngsters Devon Robertson, James Tunstill and Jaxson Prior did all they could to put their hand up for emergency selection in a potential AFL prelim, Robertson in particular with his 22 disposals and 15 tackles.
Werribee's hero was champion midfielder Dom Brew, who was the clear best on ground with 26 disposals and 14 tackles, helping spark the fourth quarter comeback and sharing his emotion post-match.
Werribee advance to next week's 2024 VFL Grand Final.