The news long-suffering Brisbane AFL fans had been sweating on was delivered on Tuesday - former skipper Jonathan Brown and Irish talisman Pearce Hanley will play Essendon on Saturday.
Brisbane's new talent acquisition and retention manager Peter Schwab gave them the green light after both missed last round's 79-point thumping by Sydney.
A back-related hamstring complaint had forced Hanley to miss round five and the most-recent seventh round, while Brown failed to pull up well from their maiden win of 2014, a three-point round-six victory over St Kilda.
"Both Hanley and Brown should play this week," Schwab said.
It was rare good news for the Lions who are last on the ladder with a 1-6 record and heavily depleted by long-term injuries to key players such as Daniel Rich (knee), Matthew Leuenberger (knee), Brent Staker and Ash McGrath (both calf).
Schwab backed Lions coach Justin Leppitsch's post-Sydney clash assessment that they had to endure short-term pain blooding youngsters for some long-term club gain.
"We've got some great talent here and the first thing we're doing well is we're coaching it well and we've bolstered our coaching division to do that," he said.
"Who knows? It (improvement) could be 12 months - it could be 24 months - but it will happen.
"We need to make sure the players that are here are here for a long time.
"I can't give you a prediction on wins and losses. I'd like to think we'll start this weekend by beating Essendon."
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