The 20 year-old from Ballaghadereen in Ireland will play only the third match of his career against the Kangaroos after earning a recall following a string of impressive performances with the Lions Reserves side.

Hanley was elevated to the Club’s senior list back in April 2009 in place of injured draftee Kieran King and was on the verge of senior selection before an untimely hamstring injury sidelined him for a period of four weeks.

He has since regained valuable match fitness in the AFLQ and has been selected as an emergency for the senior team on a number of occasions.

Hanley has made a rapid rise through the AFL ranks since arriving at the Club at the end of 2007.

He featured in the Club’s final two matches of 2008 and collected a career-high 17 disposals against the Swans back in Round 22 at the SCG.

The strong bodied utility has carved out a niche running off half back in the reserves competition this season and is now ready to be unleashed once again in the AFL competition.

Meanwhile, rookie ruckman Joel Tippett was today elevated to the Club’s senior list in place of Tasmanian recruit Bart McCulloch who was placed on the long term injury list with a season-ending quad injury.

Tippett has been named as an emergency alongside Scott Harding and James Hawksley.

The match promises to be an historic occasion as the Club celebrates its 300th official AFL match since the 1996 merger.

The full Lions team for Round 17 is as follows:

B: Ashley McGrath (9), Daniel Merrett (21), Tom Collier (22)
HB: Joel Patfull (24), Josh Drummond (39), Joel Macdonald (26)
C: Jared Brennan (17), Simon Black (20), Daniel Rich (10)
HF: Michael Rischitelli (35), Jonathan Brown (16), James Polkinghorne (31)
F: Sam Sheldon (3), Tim Notting (8), Luke Power (6)
Foll: Mitch Clark (1), Cheynee Stiller (32), Justin Sherman (11)
Int: Albert Proud (2), Bradd Dalziell (34), Pearce Hanley (42), Jack Redden (30) Emerg: Scott Harding (5), James Hawksley (12), Joel Tippett (47)

IN: Pearce Hanley

OUT: Daniel Bradshaw (hamstring)