THE GROIN injury for Brisbane midfielder Jarrod Berry has no end in sight, with Lions coach Chris Fagan conceding he has no idea of a return date.
Berry first hurt himself in the round five win over Essendon, and although he resumed running on Thursday, Fagan said he "doesn't really know" when the 23-year-old might resume playing.
"He still looks like he's a little way off," Fagan said.
"I couldn't make a prediction on when he'd be available.
"I dare say when he is, he's going to have to play in the reserves for a week or two depending on how we're traveling at the time with our own injuries.
"I really don't know."
Berry is set to miss a fourth straight match as Brisbane prepares to take on Gold Coast in the QClash on Saturday.
He has played just three games this year.
"It was good to see him running reasonably well today, so that's a step in the right direction, so there'd be some optimism around it," Fagan said.
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"The nature of these groin injuries, as everyone knows in footy, they sort of make up their own minds when they're going to come right."
Despite missing Berry and Brownlow medalist Lachie Neale, the Lions have been humming in the middle of the ground, largely on the back of a wonderful season from winger Hugh McCluggage and ball magnet Jarryd Lyons.
Lyons again looms as a central figure ahead of playing the Suns, the club that delisted him at the end of 2018.
"To be honest with you, I didn't know a lot about Jarryd Lyons," Fagan said.
"I knew he was a bit of a journeyman, he'd been at Adelaide, he'd been at Gold Coast. I thought he was a pretty decent midfielder.
"I think since he's been at our club he's grown considerably into one of the smarter midfielders going around.
"He's a little unheralded and people don't give him the plaudits that other midfielders get, but in terms of consistency, in terms of leadership, he's been excellent from the day he arrived at the club.
"He's been an A-grader in every regard."