Lions' Daniel Bradshaw, Travis Johnstone, Jason Roe in doubt

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BRISBANE'S injury pain is at least another week from easing with Daniel Bradshaw, Travis Johnstone and Jason Roe out of Saturday's game. The Lions have yet to field their best 22 this season and look like having to wait until after the split round (round 14) before they are at full strength.

Co-captain Nigel Lappin had hoped to push for selection in the reserves this week but walked off the track for treatment on his injured achilles tendon shortly after the session started last night.

Bradshaw, Scott Harding and Michael Rischitelli missed last Saturday's 63-point loss to the Bulldogs while Roe and Johnstone were injured during the match.

Rischitelli has recovered from a cork and is set to resume and Harding will press for selection after overcoming a sore knee.

But Bradshaw, Roe and Johnstone were unable to complete training at Coorparoo last night and are in doubt for this weekend's clash with the Crows. They did running drills away from the main group with first-year utility Tom Collier.

Lions coach Leigh Matthews said despite the importance of the clash, and the importance of Bradshaw and Johnstone to the team, he would not pick anyone who wasn't 100 per cent.

"We never play anyone we don't think is alright. If the medical people clear them, then the conditioning people have to clear them. If they both clear them, then we have to make the decision on whether they play," he said.

"Scott Harding didn't play on the weekend but he was virtually cleared to play by the conditioning people.

"We just weren't quite sure about how his knee would cope if he fell on it again. So we decided to leave him out of the team even though he had virtually been given the all-clear.

"That was one example of when the match committee made the decision."

Matthews said the cost of Bradshaw's absence could not be counted in goals alone.

"You can lose confidence in your forwards. If you're coming through the middle of the ground and your forwards are getting the ball then you will kick it in more readily," he said.

"However, if you kick the ball inside 50 and your forwards don't get it, the ball can bounce out the other side of the ground where your opponent is. Then you start thinking that you have to maintain possession and begin to second guess yourself. That cycle has and always will exist.

"We're not expecting or assuming Daniel will be right for this week either. I think he is extremely unlikely."