Star West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern says fellow backman Harry Edwards was left to fend for himself on an "island" during last week's 87-point loss to Gold Coast.
The off-season trade of Tom Barrass to Hawthorn means Edwards has now been entrusted with shutting down some of the competition's best key forwards on a weekly basis.
The 24-year-old was given a rude awakening last week when he had six goals kicked on him by Gold Coast forward Ben King.
Edwards will no doubt end up on a poster after King took a spectacular mark-of-the-year contender on the West Coast defender's shoulders in the third quarter.
Gold Coast's rampant midfield meant Edwards was helpless at times to stop the avalanche of silver-spoon supply to King.
The Suns won the contested possession count (145-102), inside-50s (67-34) and clearances (50-33) on the way to the club's biggest ever AFL victory.
McGovern said Edwards wasn't to blame for King's big haul.
"It's not Harry at all. He was very much on an island," McGovern told AAP.
"It's a team thing. We need to try to support him as much as we can.
"It makes it hard when you don't win the footy and you get smashed at the stoppages a little bit.
"As everyone knows, if you give forwards a lot of space, and the opposition's bringing the ball down really fast with no pressure on them, it's very, very hard to defend.
"And we saw that - not just with Harry and myself, but the whole back six at times."
Although the Lions no longer boast the prowess of retired premiership star Joe Daniher, they still have plenty of tall firepower in attack in the form of Eric Hipwood and former Suns forward Sam Day.
But the biggest focus for Eagles players this week has been improving their efforts in the contest all over the field.
West Coast's poor display against Gold Coast raised fears the club's rebuild might take longer than first thought.
McGovern acknowledges it will take time to bed in the game plan of new coach Andrew McQualter, but he's optimistic about what lies ahead.
"We're at the start of something new, and we've just got to keep looking to improve," he said.
"Against Gold Coast, it was our first actual real game of trying to implement a new style of game plan.
"It's going to take time to get it perfect, that's for sure. I hope the fans understand that it might take a bit of time.
"We're a very young side, a brand new coach, a lot of changes.
"But I think for us, it's just going back and looking at the contested footy. That was probably the most disheartening aspect from the loss."
The Eagles will be without All-Australian forward Jake Waterman (back), but have regained Liam Ryan from a hamstring injury.
Ruckman Bailey Williams will replace Matt Flynn, and the Eagles also recalled Jack Petruccelle, with Jack Hutchinson sidelined by a hamstring injury.
The Lions named Will McLachlan for his AFL debut, and former Gold Coast player Sam Day will play his first game for Brisbane.
Bruce Reville will also return, as Brandon Starcevich (concussion), Kai Lohmann (ankle) and Darcy Fort go out of the side.
