BRISBANE coach Chris Fagan says debutant Cody Curtin would have played in Opening Round if not for a chest injury suffered late in pre-season.

Curtin, the younger brother of Adelaide's Daniel, will play his first senior game against Essendon on Saturday at Marvel Stadium, called up to replace full-forward Oscar Allen who has undergone surgery for a broken foot.

Standing 200cm, the physically imposing West Australian has impressed everyone at the Lions since they took him with the 43rd pick in last year's Telstra AFL Draft.

"Cody would have debuted in Round Zero had he not got injured in the last practice game against the Gold Coast Suns," Fagan said on Thursday morning.

"He'd performed really well over the pre-season and practice games. We're really bullish about him.

"He's a competitor, big body, halves contests and puts pressure on. We think he'll help our forward line.

"We don't expect the world from him, but as long as he makes a contest and plays to his strengths, he'll help our team."

Allen's injury is set to sideline him for three months, adding to the list of Brisbane talls currently out of action.

Darcy Gardiner (shoulder) is due back in two or three weeks, Eric Hipwood (knee) in another six weeks, while Jack Payne (knee) is not expected back until later in the year.

Allen had just started to settle into his role after moving from West Coast in the off-season when his latest injury struck him down.

"It's disappointing for him," Fagan said.

"When you're a new player at a club, it takes you a while to settle in and I felt like he's just starting to do that and then this comes along.

"That's part of football and part of the challenge.

"The positive thing is he'll be back before the end of the year. It could have been worse.

"Funnily enough, injuries have treated us kindly over the last couple of years. We’ve discovered other things about ourselves we may never have known. Logan Morris being one of those.

"We're disappointed for Oscar, but positive we'll keep moving forward as a team."
 
Barring any last minute mishaps, veteran Dayne Zorko will also return from a calf injury to face the Bombers.