The Brisbane Lions are expected to announce an inexperienced line-up for their first-up NAB Challenge encounter with reigning Premiers Hawthorn this Thursday night at Etihad Stadium.

The Courier Mail revealed that the Lions are considering resting some of their bigger names – including Captain Jed Adcock, Vice-Captain Tom Rockliff, Jonathan Brown, Daniel Merrett, and Daniel Rich.

The final squads are set to be released on Tuesday afternoon.

It is all part of new Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch’s plan to manage the players’ workload throughout the pre-season practice matches, and means that some of the team’s younger players are likely to get an opportunity to show their wares.  

“We didn't want to give all the guys three games,” Leppitsch told The Courier Mail.

“In an ideal world when you first roll out your team, you don't want to play all your kids but with our preparation the way it is, this is probably the best way to do it.

“It's going to be a fair chunk of the senior players missing, around eight to 10. That Dayne Zorko age bracket (25-years-old) will be our senior players on the night.

“I have no idea what Hawthorn are going to do, but we will accept whatever challenge they throw at us ... it will be a good test for the young blokes.”

The rotation policy of sorts will ensure that all players – both older and younger – get the right balance of game time and rest in preparation for Round 1 of the season proper.

“With our kids we have to be careful not to burn them. You want to play them enough without killing their confidence,” Leppitsch said.

“It's not easy to strike that balance. We feel like all the kids we drafted are talented and it's a matter of how quickly they can adapt to the AFL standard.

“We'll give them an early taste on Thursday and see how they go.”