THE BRISBANE Lions have been eliminated from the NAB Cup after running last its pool on Friday evening while Essendon and St Kilda will both progress.

The Bombers' 62-point win over the Brisbane Lions and their draw with St Kilda - who also beat the Lions but by a lesser margin - sees them progress straight through to the second round of the pre-season competition.

Essendon will meet the Demons, who last Friday night topped their own pool with wins over Adelaide and Port Adelaide.

The Saints, having effectively earned "six points" from Friday night, are almost certainties to also progress through to the second round with one of the two wildcard entries.

The only way they can miss out is if there's a draw in both the remaining two pools - and the sides that draw also win another game and has a bigger percentage than the Saints. 

That essentially means they have knocked Hawthorn out of contention to earn a wildcard to remain in the NAB Cup and avoid the NAB Challenge for another week.

The Crows, with their healthy percentage of 152.38, are in the box seat to become a lucky loser and pick up the other wildcard into round two.

With two more pools to come - the Sydney Swans/Gold Coast/GWS on Saturday and Geelong/North Melbourne/Western Bulldogs on Sunday - the remainder of the round two fixture is yet to be decided.

The Lions, who were abysmal against the Bombers and slightly better against the Saints, join Port Adelaide, Richmond, Carlton and now Hawthorn in the NAB Challenge.

The Crows could still be knocked out of the NAB Cup if a team surpasses their big percentage, and with the Swans and Suns set to play an underage and inexperienced Giants side on Saturday, it could certainly happen.

The second wildcard entry is also unlikely to come from Sunday's pool given the evenness of the Cats, Dogs and Kangaroos' line ups. 

Already joining Essendon and Melbourne in the next phase of the NAB Cup are Collingwood and West Coast, with the Magpies expected to host the second quarter-final on Friday night at Etihad Stadium.

Games next week will be held on Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, with times and venues to be advised.