Brisbane stars Oscar McInerney and Keidean Coleman to remain sidelined for at least another week
Lions coach Chris Fagan says there's no reason to gamble on the fitness of ruckman Oscar McInerney and defender Keidean Coleman, with the pair set to miss Brisbane's battle with Essendon at the Gabba on Thursday night.
McInerney, who has a 'few issues', including a back problem, will be sidelined for a third successive match.
Coleman made his long-awaited AFL return from a knee reconstruction in Brisbane's loss to Melbourne on May 18 but didn't play in the Lions' win over Hawthorn last Saturday due to swelling.
'Scans didn't reveal anything – everything's intact (with Coleman's knee),' Fagan said.
'It's just a reaction to more stress and more effort. He's improved but not enough to play.
'We've just got to look at the signs and deal with it and give them the right amount of time to come back and play.
'We're not in a rush. We've got other guys doing a good job. I was hoping 'Kiddy' would be all right for this game, but he's not, so that's the way it goes.'
Fagan is happy to take a similarly cautious approach with McInerney, particularly when having premiership-winning ruckman Darcy Fort as his replacement.
'He trained really well (on Tuesday). It's the best he's moved in ages, (but) it's probably unlikely that he'll play (against Essendon),' the Lions mentor said.
'We'll give him another week. He's had quite a few different things going on as ruckman do. You do about 80 or 90 contests a game, and you keep doing that week in, week out, so we're just looking after him.
'Darcy Fort's playing really well, so we don't feel like we need to rush Oscar back into the team.'
Fagan was reluctant to reveal the specifics of McInerney's fitness problems.
'He's got a few issues. It's not my job to share the details of people's injuries. It's private and confidential, he said
'We'll keep that up our sleeve. He's had a few different things going on.
'It's probably me more than anyone giving him a little bit more time because he was banged up physically and mentally.
'When you're physically banged up, it starts to affect you mentally. I'm happy to give him another week.'
The Lions have tinkered with their training schedule this week after failing to fire against Collingwood earlier this season after backing up from a Saturday game on a Thursday night.
'We haven't done a lot (since beating Hawthorn on Saturday). We've just been really in recovery mode,' Fagan said.
'We had a reasonably short hitout (on Tuesday), but the good thing is everyone's recovered well from the game on the weekend, so that's all you can ask.
'We changed our schedule around a little bit. We've done training a little bit differently, so we're hoping that will help us.'
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