Brisbane is set to lose rising teenage ruckman Matthew Leuenberger for the rest of the AFL season following knee surgery.

In a further blow to the Lions after two straight surprise losses, Leuenberger is expected to go under the knife this week, sidelining him for three months.

The 20-year-old, who has gained rave reviews for his speedy transition to ruck play in senior football, injured his right knee in the 37-point loss to Essendon on Saturday night.

While initial assessments reported the damage as minor, 203cm-tall Perth product Leuenberger needs an operation to repair the lateral meniscus.

It will put an extra strain on a thin ruck division at the Lions behind No.1 big man Jamie Charman after the club lost Beau McDonald (retired) and let go Cameron Wood (Collingwood) before this season.

Charman will be supported by the likes of Mitch Clark and Lachlan Henderson, with utility Jared Brennan another who could pinch hit.

Although Leuenberger will miss the rest of the year, coach Leigh Matthews remains hopeful co-captains Jonathan Brown (hip) and Simon Black (shoulder) can meet the West Coast on Saturday night.

They have been listed for tests and are expected to be given until Thursday to prove their fitness.

"They are both questionable but we will know as the week goes on," Matthews said.

Matthews will put his troops through more ground-level work at training in preparations for the Eagles after being disappointed with their hard-ball efforts against the Bombers and Melbourne.

"We think some of our players are going into contests a little bit upright, they're not going forward and getting their head down over the footy ... and as a result they get off balance and knocked over," Matthews said.

"They're all trying their hardest but in terms of the attack on the footy the opposition have done it better than us in the last couple of weeks."

Matthews will attempt to bolster the sagging confidence of his players and started early by talking up their home record following their two away defeats.

"We've hit a couple of hurdles in the last couple of weeks," he said.

"We were quite good the last time we were here (and) the comfort of your home ground and you;re home crowd is probably beneficial when we're going forward.

"We're still alive and they haven't shot us yet."

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