A beat-up Brisbane has made the tough call to rest key forward Jonathan Brown for Sunday's crucial AFL clash against Hawthorn at the Gabba.

The Lions have decided to leave Brown out of their side in the hope a week off will help him get through the season despite a worrying case of osteitis pubis.

The Hawks clash is easily the most winnable of Brisbane's last four before the finals and offers the best chance for the 23-year-old to rest up after a rough time at Telstra Dome on Saturday.

He wasn't the only player to suffer on the hard surface as the Lions ran out of legs against the hard-running Western Bulldogs.

Clark Keating (back), Jed Adcock (thigh) and Tom Logan were also overlooked as coach Leigh Matthews named rookie Travis Baird, 19, on a seven-man interchange bench.

On top of the changes, the versatile Luke Power (calf), defender Josh Drummond (back-hamstring), tagger Brad Scott (hamstring) and back-up ruckman Dylan McLaren (ankle) were also in some doubt.

All four were confined to light work at training as veteran defender Darryl White was also forced from the main group on a few occasions for leg treatment.

It means almost a third of the team which fell to the Bulldogs are either out or must prove their fitness for Sunday's match.

The bright news for seventh-placed Brisbane, who sit ahead of three other teams with nine wins, was the strong running of livewire Jason Akermanis.

Akermanis trained well and is confident of returning from a back-related adductor strain.

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