Luckless Brisbane are set to bank on young deputies Jed Adcock and Daniel Merrett sharing the Lions captaincy until Jonathan Brown returns from horrific facial injuries.

On a day the Lions received a boost with Brent Staker set for a return in the second half of the AFL season after undergoing LARS surgery, the club held off from rushing former captain Simon Black into an inexperienced leadership group.

Black this week put up his hand to return to an official leadership role in the wake of Brown's facial surgery which will require two months recovery time.

He suffered multiple facial fractures after accidental contact with Luke McPharlin's knee in last Saturday night's two-point loss to Fremantle.

Brisbane football operations manager Dean Warren said defenders Adcock and Merrett were likely to share the honour, and star midfielder Black would continue to contribute as an experienced on-field leader.

"We're very confident that obviously Daniel Merrett and Jed Adcock are our vice-captains and captaincy will most likely be rotated between them until the time Jonathan Brown gets back," warren told AAP.

"The only difference will be who tosses the coin at the start of the game.

"It's all quite insignificant really, we expect Blacky to lead on the ground as he always does and he's an outstanding leader the way he plays."

Adcock, a stand-in skipper for Brown at the end of last season, is set down to speak to the media on Thursday in a sign he is likely to get the honour to captain Brisbane against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

In a welcome piece of fortune for the embattled club, Warren said Staker was now facing just three months on the sidelines with his knee surgeon able to successfully perform LARS surgery instead of a traditional knee reconstruction.

The 26-year-old was thrilled with the news after originally believing he would miss the entire season after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament last Saturday night.

"I was shattered when it first happened and was pretty much resigned to missing 12 months of football," Staker said.

"Now I'm eager to get out of hospital in the next 24 hours and begin the rehabilitation process."

Staker becomes the third Lion behind Josh Drummond and Xavier Clarke to have LARS surgery and has been encouraged by the recovery trails of both team-mates.

St Kilda recruit Matt Maguire is expected to overcome a quad problem to replace Staker while youngster Bryce Retzlaff may get the nod ahead of Aaron Cornelius to line up in the forward line.

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