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Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko has battled leg injuries this year but believes the impending jam-packed AFL schedule will help rather than hinder his sore body.

Dayne Zorko has struggled with injuries this year but the Brisbane captain believes the AFL's looming heavy schedule will actually do wonders for his sore achilles.

The Lions star plans to lead out his team in all four upcoming games across 14 days, starting with Sunday night's AFL clash with Melbourne at Metricon Stadium.

The 31-year-old has missed two games this season with calf and achilles issues, and hobbled off before half-time in another one.

But Zorko is confident the condensed run of matches will be a blessing in disguise for his body.

"I was talking to our rehab coordinator and he said it should actually feel better because there's more load going through it," the four-time Lions best-and-fairest told reporters on Thursday.

"If we can manage it really well over this period, in the back end (of the season) it should be really good.

"It's no longer irritating, the achilles, so all that's left is tendonitis, which players play with all the time."

One player who will not be taking part in the Lions' hectic schedule is experienced ruckman Stef Martin.

The 33-year-old has been ruled out for up to eight weeks after scans revealed a stress fracture in his back.

It is a huge setback for the Lions and Martin, who has already missed a couple of matches this season with a hamstring injury.

"Further investigation and scans will be done in the coming days to fully diagnose Stef's injury," Lions' football manager David Noble said.

"Unfortunately, this will rule Stef out for up to eight weeks until we get some certainty around the injury.

"Stef has shown enormous resilience over the last few weeks as well as the last several years."

Archie Smith has been brought in to the Lions' squad to face Melbourne in place of Martin, in the only change from the team which defeated GWS last weekend.

Despite the loss of Martin and concerns about how players' bodies will cope with the jam-packed schedule, Zorko said the Lions cannot wait to be battling it out more often.

"If you were a kid and you got told you got to play four games in 14 days you'd be jumping over the moon, and I guess we're like that as well," he said.

Brisbane enter their 'away' match against the Demons on the Gold Coast sitting second on the ladder.