BRISBANE captain Dayne Zorko is "pretty confident" he'll play Port Adelaide in round one after revealing he recently underwent a small procedure on his Achilles.
But in a big blow for the Lions, the club has confirmed exciting defender Keidean Coleman will be sidelined for eight to 10 weeks after the hamstring injury suffered last Friday night was worse than first expected.
Zorko missed pre-season matches against Adelaide and the Bulldogs and will get no further chances for match practice after the Lions decided against playing an intraclub this week.
On February 15, Brisbane said Zorko had a small problem with his ankle fixed, but the skipper clarified that on Wednesday.
"It was a minor procedure around the Achilles," Zorko said.
"The beauty about it is they were taking stuff out, not putting stuff in. It's a pretty easy job, pretty minor."
The 33-year-old has been running for two weeks and said completing sessions on Friday and early next week would dictate his immediate future.
He said the problem was on the opposite leg to a similar injury that hampered him in 2020.
"It's more about making myself comfortable and feeling like I can play at that level and if I can't, so be it," he said.
"I'm pretty optimistic I'll be right. We've still got 11 or 12 days before I play. I should be able to rack up a few kms before then."
Coleman's loss is a blow after the club initially thought he might just miss a match or two.
He was one of the best players in Brisbane's 2021 finals campaign and seen as a perfect replacement for retired Grant Birchall.
