Doherty moves from the bench to the starting 15, replacing the injured David Pusey at blindside flanker.

Also back in the team is number eight Scott Fava, who will be looking to make a positive impression after being excluded from last week's match for a breach of team protocol in regards to post-match alcohol levels. He will need to make a strong showing after a solid performance of his replacement at the back of the scrum, Richard Brown.

Brown moves to the bench as part of rotation policy.

Fly-half James Hilgendorf returns to the 22 as a replacement, with the Force head coach John Mitchell opting for consistency in the backline.

Mitchell said relationships take time to develop and he was happy with the way the backs were starting to gel. He said he was keen to put the onus back on the current combination, particularly against the Lions pairing of Jaco Pretorius and Jaque Fourie.

"I regard Fourie as one of the best centres in the world and the Lions back three are very good finishers," he said.

Mitchell said the Lions had a quality scrum and played with speed and width, and he was expecting a very physical contest.

"They will also be high in energy and confidence after squeezing out the Crusaders last weekend, so you cannot afford to underestimate this team," Mitchell said.

"The challenge for us is to be patient in our execution, work hard and avoid taking short cuts," he said.

"It's great to be back in Perth and we want to play well for our fans."

Force: 1 Gareth Hardy, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Troy Takiari, 4 Rudi Vedelago, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 6 Luke Doherty, 7 Matt Hodgson, 8 Scott Fava, 9 Matt Henjak, 10 Matt Giteau, 11 Cameron Shepherd, 12 Junior Pelesasa, 13 Ryan Cross, 14 Scott Staniforth, 15 Drew Mitchell.
Replacements: 16 Tai McIsaac, 17 Angus Scott, 18 Richard Brown, 19 David Pocock, 20 Chris O'Young, 21 James Hilgendorf, 22 Haig Sare.

Venue: Subiaco Oval, Perth
Date: 24 February 2007
Kick-off: 19.05 (10.05 GMT)