The Cats were forced to make seven changes to the side that travelled north to take on the Lions after their bruising round 14 clash with St Kilda, and the Cats lost their second game in succession, going down by 43 points at the Gabba.
“They were all legitimate injuries. To have that many changes does mess around with the fabric of the team,” Harley said.
“It wasn’t a resting situation at all, (and) I would hope most of them would come up for this week’s game against Melbourne.”
Harley says several of those players should be back for Saturday's clash with the 15th-placed Demons.
“I think Gary (Ablett) should be OK. 'Scarlo' (Matthew Scarlett), 'Dasher' (Darren Milburn) should be alright,” Harley said.
“Andrew Mackie should be OK. (Travis) Varcoe should be OK, Stevie Johnson I’m not sure about, (James) Kelly probably not, 'Lingy' (Cameron Ling) is line ball, I think. We’ll get at least four or five (players back).”
Harley said he would not use the injuries as an excuse for the loss to the Lions.
“We spoke comparing personnel versus structure (and) what’s more important, and they are probably equally as important as each other,” he said.
“We had some good players out, but we’re certainly not blaming that for some of the efforts. Effort is one thing and personnel is another, so we need to get better.”
While the Cats are in the unfamiliar position of a losing streak, Harley said coach Mark Thompson was not doing anything drastically different to usual.
“His demeanour is pretty consistent and always has been ever since he’s coached for the last 10 years. That is one of his real strengths,” he said.
“You can’t shy away from the fact we’ve lost the last two games in a row and it’s new. We’ve lost in different ways; it was a close one against St Kilda and unacceptable against Brisbane. We’ll address what needs to be addressed.”
Harley said he was looking forward to this week’s clash against the in-form Demons.
“I guess the punters wouldn’t have thought going into this game we'd be on a two-game slide and they’d be on a two-game winning streak. They will look forward to the game as much as anyone.”
