Hawthorn is entering the "unknown" as Jon Ceglar – not long back from a major knee injury – prepares for an extended stint as the Hawks' No.1 ruckman in Ben McEvoy's absence.
McEvoy could miss up to six matches after requiring surgery to repair a fractured cheekbone suffered last week in a collision with Bulldog Josh Dunkley.
Exacerbating Hawthorn's ruck woes was that McEvoy's heir apparent, Marc Pittonet, hurt an ankle in the VFL and may not play at any level this weekend.
Read: Hawks confirm two changes for Round 17
Alastair Clarkson and his coaching team instead opted to recall swingman Tim O'Brien to support Ceglar against Brisbane ruck duo Stefan Martin and Oscar McInerney.
"It's an untimely out for us, too, coming up against Stef Martin," Clarkson told reporters at Melbourne Airport on Friday morning.
"You come up against good ruckmen every week, but he's been in particularly good form for them and been a keen reason why they've been pretty competitive through the midfield the last few weeks.
"We're not really certain (how Ceglar will go), because 'Cegs' hasn't done that role in isolation for a long period of time … so there's a little bit of the unknown for us, too.
"It's not just Martin, too – McInerney has been going in there and doing some really good work himself … so it looks a scary proposition right at the moment."
Making matters more interesting is that the Lions dished out the Hawks' biggest defeat this season, a 56-point loss at the Gabba in round nine.
This time they'll clash in Launceston, where Hawthorn is unbeaten in three matches in 2018 and boast wins in 24 of its last 26 visits.
