Leigh Matthews definitely doesn't want him to play, Kevin Sheedy is equally desperate to have him out there leading the 'Big V' but the decision as to whether Brisbane captain Jonathan Brown plays in Saturday night's AFL Hall of Fame match will be left to the Lions' powerhouse himself.

Brown's availability to captain Victoria in Saturday's one-off match against The Dream Team - a team comprised of players from the other states and territories - is becoming a bigger issue by the day with Matthews adamant on Monday his champion player should not be risked while Sheedy - the former Essendon coach who is assistant coach of Victoria - is equally adamant Brown should play.

And whether or not the game's most inspirational player - who has been the public face of what will be Victoria's first match since 1999 - plays is shaping as a major test as to whether Saturday night's match will be a 'fair dinkum' clash or merely just an exhibition game.

When asked on Monday if he expected Brown and Victoria's other superstars in Chris Judd and Gary Ablett to play - and possibly risk serious injury in the one-off match - Sheedy was adamant the star trio would all be on show come Saturday night.

"I think they will all play - I'd be really disappointed if they didn't," he said.

Brown was a late withdrawal from the Lions' side to play Geelong last Saturday with a quad strain while Ablett was also a late withdrawal for the Cats with a calf injury.

Matthews believes any player that was not fit enough to play last weekend should not be allowed to play in Saturday night's match.

But Sheedy was quick to retort on Monday saying "Does that mean he (Brown) doesn't play next weekend."

Matthews will reluctantly leave the decision in Brown's hands but warned his captain to only play if he was 100 percent fit.

"As Lions' coach I don't want any of our players to play because there's nothing to gain and there's a lot to lose if they hurt themselves," he said.

Already a host of star players have been ruled out through injury headed by Hawthorn vice-captain Luke Hodge for Victoria and St Kilda skipper Nick Riwoldt for The Dream Team but Matthews admitted Brown was under more pressure to play because of the fact he has been named captain of Victoria.

But Matthews said Brown risked up to two months