Brown, Johnson lost for 2006

The Brisbane Lions' injury-plagued season has got worse with stars Jonathan Brown and Chris Johnson all but ruled out of playing senior football again in 2006 and Josh Drummond injuring a hamstring in Sunday's 17-point loss to Geelong.

Brown has not played since the Round 10 loss to Collingwood but was considered a chance of playing against the Cats until this week.

Coach Leigh Matthews, however, now admits that he doesn't expect the rampaging centre-half-forward to get back on the park until next season.

"I don't expect him to play again this year. Jonathan might not agree but that's what I expect," Matthews said after the clash with the Cats at the Gabba.

"He started to run and had only got to the striding point, not even joining in with the group, when he started to feel discomfort in the general area. That tells me things are not right. You can't play players if they're not fit enough and on the history of the last couple of months I don't imagine he'll play again this year."

Johnson played half a game for the Suncoast Lions reserves side against Morningside earlier on Sunday afternoon on the comeback trail from osteitis pubis. While returning to action was a significant step for the 250-gamer, Matthews says two months of inactivity have taken their toll on the running defender.

"2007 - Johnno is a long way off," Matthews responded when asked when he thought Johnson would add to his AFL game tally.

"He's not the kind of physical shape that can have a couple of months of not running and I think everyone saw it today."

Drummond hurt his hamstring late in the Geelong loss and the extent of his injury is yet to be determined. The good news for the Lions was that Jed Adcock, Michael Rischitelli and Daniel Bradshaw - all of whom received treatment during the game - are considered likely to be available for selection in the lead-up to the meeting with Richmond at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.