BRISBANE Lions ruckman Stefan Martin has passed his first concussion test and is now considered a chance to play the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.
Martin was floored by Gold Coast vice-captain Steven May in his team's 13-point win at the weekend and played no further part after being stretchered off just before half-time.
May apologised to Martin both on full-time and the following day but been sent straight to the Tribunal by the Match Review Panel.
Martin passed his first concussion test on Monday but will undergo further testing during the week to assess his availability to play the Bulldogs.
Lions defender Tom Cutler said Martin was doing well.
"I saw him this morning, he's in good spirits," Cutler said.
"His health is number one and football after that. We think he'll be OK."
May's hit sparked a second-half Lions comeback and gave the two Queensland clubs a genuine reason to dislike each other for the first time in their 11 contests.
As his coach Justin Leppitsch said in Saturday night's post-match press conference, Cutler said it was important the players took the emotion out of the contest and got on with the job.
Cutler didn't want to speculate on May's punishment, but said it now felt like a genuine rivalry with the Suns.
"I think it's to that point now where it's built up," he said.
"They were on top of the ladder and we were down the bottom. No one gave us a chance.
"There was a bit of feeling out there, and obviously that incident before half-time added a bit more to it.
"We let the crowd do the booing for us. The crowd was very vocal every time May touched the ball.
"We let them do that as a sort of 19th player for us. We were focused on getting the win and not letting things boil over."
"The way the boys responded to it was excellent and we were able to get the win."
Cutler himself was one of the Lions' best, kicking two goals, including a banana snap to put Brisbane one-point up with 8 minutes remaining, swinging momentum back the Lions' way.
"Anytime you can sneak forward as a backman and kick a few goals is great," Cutler said.
"I was able to have an even impact on the game and it was probably one of my most complete performances to date.
"But as a group, everyone was playing their roles.
"We were really focused on getting the win."
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