Dayne Beams will lead the Brisbane Lions for the first time, when the Lions meet the Western Bulldogs in the JLT Community Series on Thursday night at Etihad Stadium.
Announced as the sole Captain of the Club on Tuesday, Beams will also make his return to football after his 2016 season came to an abrupt end.
Beams played just six quarters of football before requiring knee surgery for troublesome tendinitis.
The Lions will also regain the services of forward Tom Bell. Bell had been managing a knee injury that limited his game time in 2016.
Second year forward Eric Hipwood has also been named in the starting 29-man squad.
Josh Schache (minor knee strain) and Jonathan Freeman (fractured cheekbone) have been left out with injuries and will miss the rest of the JLT Series, but are expected to return in Rounds 1 or 2 of the Premiership season. Lions.com.au will have an update on this later today.
It’s the first time in three years that the Club has been scheduled a pre-season match in Melbourne, and the team will be staying down an extra night to get around as many of the Victorian faithful as possible.
A range of events have been planned across four days from Wednesday 1 March to Saturday 4 March, so we encourage all fans to get along where possible.
Follow the game on Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram.
The Squad:
1. Ben Keays
4. Ryan Bastinac
5. Mitch Robinson
6. Hugh McCluggage
7. Tom Bell
8. Rohan Bewick
9. Dayne Beams
10. Daniel Rich
12. Stefan Martin
14. Josh Walker
15. Dayne Zorko
16. Jarrad Jansen
17. Claye Beams
18. Nick Robertson
26. Tom Cutler
27. Darcy Gardiner
28. Lewis Taylor
30. Eric Hipwood
31. Harris Andrews
32. Sam Mayes
33. Michael Close
35. Ryan Lester
36. Rhys Mathieson
37. Jacob Allison
38. Tom Rockliff
40. Matt Hammelmann (Rookie)
43. Jake Barrett (Rookie)
44. Archie Smith
45. Jack Frost
Match info:
Thursday, March 2
Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions
Etihad Stadium
7:40pm EDT
This week's events in Victoria!
The Brisbane Lions are headed to Melbourne for the first time in 2017 this week, and have plenty in store for our loyal Victorian-based members and supporters. Click here to find out what we'll be doing.
