Brisbane forward Eric Hipwood is adamant the Lions can draw positives despite blowing a 42-point lead in last Sunday's AFL defeat to Richmond at the MCG.
The Lions looked poised to end an eight-year wait for a win at the MCG before Richmond produced a scintillating comeback that kept the Tigers' finals hopes alive.
Defeat from such a commanding position was a bitter pill to swallow and dents Brisbane's top-four ambitions heading in Sunday's clash with Carlton at the Gabba.
It's also got many querying whether the Lions can win a premiership given their poor record at the MCG, an argument Hipwood believes does the Tigers a disservice as much as the Lions.
"What hasn't been spoken about enough is Richmond are a bloody good team," Hipwood said.
"They're certainly up there with the best and they brought that on the weekend.
"I think only Geelong Cats have beaten them at the MCG.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game and I don't think the ladder position represents where they're actually at."
Another factor that has been overlooked in the defeat is Hipwood played his best game since returning from an ACL injury in round nine.
The 204cm forward kicked four goals and claimed six marks as he starts to hit top form heading into finals.
"I've been quite inconsistent and I'm quick to identify that myself but I am building," he said.
"I didn't really have any practice games or anything like that prior to coming into the AFL.
"I'm getting better week-in, week-out. That's all that really matters."
After claiming back-to-back wins over GWS and Gold Coast, the loss to the Tigers could prove very costly in terms of Brisbane's hopes of a finals double-chance.
Defeat tipped the Lions out of the top four and they'll head into this weekend's game against an equally-desperate Carlton knowing there's no margin for any further mis-steps.
"That's what you strive for at the start of the season, trying to get that double chance, but you've seen teams win the grand final from being outside the top four," he said.
"We've got some really, really good opposition in Carlton, St Kilda and Melbourne so I'm really looking forward to it and it's going to lead us into a nice finals campaign."
