THE BRISBANE Lions will gladly accept a finals berth if they finish ninth and Essendon is stripped of its premiership points, coach Michael Voss says.
Voss said, like everyone else, he was awaiting the findings of Essendon's supplements scandal, expected to be handed down by ASADA and the AFL in the near future.
It has been widely suggested the Bombers could lose their premiership points, meaning the team that finishes ninth could still play finals.
Voss said his 8-11 Lions – one win plus significant percentage behind ninth-placed Carlton – would gladly play in September if things fell their way.
"It is out of our control really, but ... if that decision gets made, well the season is well and truly alive isn't it?" Voss said.
"We sit as one of those teams in the mix. Our job is to make sure we keep looking after what we do and going out there and playing well and getting some consistency and getting a good result for ourselves."
Voss said although he was not relying on sanctions against the Bombers to help his team make an unlikely finals appearance, he certainly wouldn't knock the opportunity back.
"If you're asking me, if we're sitting ninth and the AFL make that decision and ask us if we want to participate, I'm not going to say no, I'm pretty confident about that," he said.
The Lions host Greater Western Sydney on Saturday night, followed by another home match against the Western Bulldogs and round out their season with a trip to Simonds Stadium to play Geelong.
But they will be without Jonathan Brown (plantar fascia) and Justin Clarke (shoulder) for the rest of the season after announcing both would have surgery.
Voss said Brown's rehabilitation would take 12 weeks.
He said the out-of-contract co-captain would make a decision on his future in the coming weeks, but hoped he would play on in 2014.
"I'll let him rest for a little while then I'll bring out my best sell-job and see whether we can get him to go for another year," Voss said.
"He's in a good frame of mind. I think his proactiveness in his decision hopefully leans towards him continuing on.
"There's nothing at this stage that suggests he's learning towards retirement, but at the same time he's stipulated he wants to wait until the end of the year and I'm happy with that also."
Brent Moloney's ongoing hamstring problem will likely rule him out for the remainder of the season, but in good news for the Lions, champion onballer Simon Black is expected to play against the Giants.
Black has missed the past six matches with a groin injury but only needs to complete training this week to play.
