The Brisbane Lions will be bolstered by the on-field returns of Jonathan Brown, Jed Adcock and Pearce Hanley in the coming weeks.

Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Matt Hass revealed in the latest Bupa Recovery Report on LIONSTV that the star trio would likely play against either Greater Western Sydney this Saturday night or Collingwood the following week in Melbourne.

“The boys filtering back into the NAB Cup system – Browny, Jed and Pearce – they’re fairly individualised programs and we expect all three of those guys to play in the next two weeks,” Hass said.

“You can expect to see the boys out there either against GWS or Collingwood.”

Co-Captains Brown and Adcock both took part in the Lions’ intra-club match on 14 February, but sat out of last Saturday’s NAB Cup openers as part of a careful plan to manage their workload heading into Round One of the season proper.

Hanley, meanwhile, is getting closer to his first competitive hit-out after being given lighter training duties over the past month.

Another player who could return during the upcoming NAB Cup rounds is ruckman Matthew Leuenberger.

The Club has taken every precaution with Leuenberger’s rehabilitation from an Achilles strain, but Physical Performance Manager Brett Burton expects he’ll be available in the next fortnight.

“We’ll probably look at getting him back (on the field) in Round 2 or 3 of the NAB Cup,” Burton recently told LIONS TV.

Superstar midfielder Simon Black told Fox Footy on Saturday night that he remains in a race against time to be fit for Round One, while Brent Staker is also still recovering from a minor knee clean-up.

Ryan Harwood, Jared Polec, Jack Crisp and Sam Mayes will also be pushing hard to get back on the field in the coming weeks, after missing the team’s first round of NAB Cup matches with minor injuries.