Darragh Joyce was in hospital on Tuesday with an infected elbow but could be thrust into action by Brisbane in a candid sign of the two-time reigning AFL premiers' early-season adversity.
The Lions, beaten by the Western Bulldogs in Opening Round, will play in-form Sydney on Saturday without three All-Australians and two key-position players.
Co-captains Hugh McCluggage (calf) and Harris Andrews (suspended) will leave large voids, so too Zac Bailey (suspended).
Bookends Darcy Gardiner (suspended) and Logan Morris (hand) join the already-injured Eric Hipwood and Jack Payne on the sidelines.
Even with former Essendon ruck Sam Draper (foot) returning to face the Swans, alongside feel-good comeback stories in Lincoln McCarthy (knee) and Noah Answerth (achilles) from long-term injuries, the Lions are scrambling.
"We haven't got anybody else at the moment that's available to play key position - defender, or forward," coach Chris Fagan explained of Joyce's inclusion as an emergency, despite being hospitalised three days ago.
"That's the position we find ourselves in.
"Five changes, that's a few ... three of them All-Australians."
Dismissing any concerns over ill-discipline, Fagan said their busy night at Tuesday's AFL Tribunal was an outlier.
Instead he might remind his side of some of their previous triumphs when faced with similar challenges.
Early in the 2024 season the Lions beat Gold Coast despite three early injuries that saw Logan Morris debut after playing VFL earlier that day, and forward Hipwood revert to a defensive role.
"That's what we're going to have to do again this time around … we're going to have to be innovative," Fagan said with a smile.
The Swans won't make life easy, with Carlton recruit Charlie Curnow an obvious threat.
"They've got a lot of weapons and they're loaded at the moment, in terms of personnel," Fagan said.
"We'll go in trying to win the game and we'll be disappointed if we don't.
"We've gone back to some of those moments (overcoming adversity) when we need to ... it puts you in a good frame of mind."
