Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko will use his enforced break to prepare his body for a big finish to the AFL season in pursuit of premiership glory.
Despite running well this week, Zorko will miss the Lions' heavyweight clash with Melbourne on Thursday night with a minor hamstring injury picked up during the win over St Kilda before the bye.
"I trained really well (on Tuesday) and thought I was a really big opportunity to play but unfortunately it hasn't eventuated," Zorko said.
"A top of the table clash is a game that I would've loved to have been a part of but that's just the way it is.
"I certainly don't need to be taking any risks at this time of year."
Zorko had a small procedure to repair an Achilles issue in February but returned to play each of the Lions' first 13 home-and-away games.
The 33-year-old said he will be "certainly right to go" against the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba in round 16.
"With this little setback it's been nice to just shut the body down for a couple of weeks and get in a really good, solid block of training and get back to moving how I was in previous years," Zorko said..
"That's been a really encouraging sign for me over the last three or four days.
"The extra nine days heading into the Bulldogs game will do me the world of good as well."
Zorko's return against the Bulldogs will coincide with Brisbane wearing a commemorative jumper to celebrate 20 years since the 2001-03 premiership hat-trick.
The jumper features an image of the three-peat team on the back.
