BRISBANE is set to confront its sudden-death elimination final without Cam Rayner after the dynamo received a one-match suspension for a dangerous tackle.
The Lions' loss to Melbourne had already proved a costly night for Brisbane with the Lions missing a top-four spot.
But they are now set to kick off their finals campaign without Rayner and Noah Answerth, who received a one-match ban for striking Alex Neal-Bullen on Friday night.
Rayner, who has kicked 23 goals in 21 games including a match-winning bag of four against St Kilda last round, was reported for a tackle on Ben Brown.
In the first quarter, Rayner pinned Brown's arms, swung him around and slammed him face first into the Gabba turf.
Brown had to leave the ground with a bleeding nose and bruised face but returned in the second quarter.
The Match Review Officer assessed Rayner's rough conduct charge as careless contact, medium impact and high contact which draws a one-match sanction.
In a further blow, Answerth received a one-match suspension for striking Neal-Bullen, with his second-quarter incident ruled intentional, body contact and medium impact.
