Lions surprise-packets Lachlan Henderson and Jason Roe have held their positions in Brisbane's defence for Saturday night's AFL clash with Melbourne at the Gabba.

The pair performed brilliantly in the club's last-start win over Hawthorn in Launceston to keep their spots despite the returns of key defenders Daniel Merrett and Joel Patfull.

Merrett (ankle) and Patfull (jaw) have both been sidelined for five weeks due to injury.

Coach Michael Voss rewarded Henderson and Roe for the way they tamed Hawks duo Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead in their seven-goal win in Tasmania.

But Voss was unable to recall rebounding defender Josh Drummond from a quad injury as he failed to pull up well from Wednesday night training.

Troy Selwood was ruled out with a shoulder injury while veteran Tim Notting was dropped.

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