FOR THE first time in a long time, coach Michael Voss says the Brisbane Lions are developing depth, giving him selection headaches ahead of round one.

The Lions will field its strongest team in Saturday's final NAB Cup hit-out against Essendon at Visy Park, with the exception of the rested Ash McGrath and injured captain Jonathan Brown (cheekbone).

Running half-back Josh Drummond will also return from a hip injury through the reserves on Saturday.

Following last week's commanding 64-point win over an under-strength Carlton, the Lions received a boost the next day with a number of fringe senior players excelling for the reserves.

Ryan Harwood, Josh Green, Aaron Cornelius and Rohan Bewick all caught the eye and are in the frame to take on Melbourne in round one on March 31.

"When we look at our senior team now there are a lot of younger players pushing their name up just purely out of form," Voss said.

"That's really pleasing because you've got to have internal competition which we know comes week at a time.

"The fact we've got the senior team that are demanded to perform because we've got others waiting in the wings, waiting for their chance, that's what we need.

"We're starting to get options and it's not something we've been necessarily blessed with before but we're starting to emerge."

One of the areas Voss is most pleased about is his back half, saying its performance,  particularly veteran Matt Maguire, allowed the temporary move of Daniel Merrett to the forward line to cover for Brown.

"Maguire is in terrific form … he's had an outstanding pre-season whether it be with training or in games, so we hope that continues," he said.

The form of Irishman Niall McKeever, Joel Patfull and Ryan Lester also allowed flexibility, Voss said.

"During the season we're going to need them to do it within games and we're also going to need them to do it week to week so it's pretty important we've got flexibility in our structure," he said.

Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting

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