Brisbane Lions co-captain Lachie Neale has labelled some vision of his midfield's efforts against Gold Coast as "embarrassing".
The dual Brownlow Medallist offered that the Suns' vaunted young midfield taught his veteran group 'a lesson', en route to just their eighth win in the fixture's history.
"We didn't show up with the right effort and intensity. Against a good side like Gold Coast, you'll get found out pretty quickly," Neale said.
"We had to face the music," he said of the side's review, conceding performances like the weekend's are ‘unacceptable' at this time of year.Â
"There were some embarrassing clips that aren't usual for us as a midfield group...we certainly lowered our colours across all four quarters.
"Our contest is our one wood; if we don't get that right, then we won't win."
The Lions lost the contested possession and clearance counts, both by 12, in the 66-point loss, validating Neale's claims.Â
"You learn more from your losses than your wins. Stringing wins together can see you get a little bit comfortable; a little bit happy with how you're going."
Neale is excited by the prospect of responding to the damning vision against Collingwood this weekend - a team his side has not defeated since before the 2023 Grand Final.
"I'm looking forward to moving on, training well over the next couple of days, before a massive task against Collingwood at the ‘G.
"We bounce back pretty quickly, certainly over my seven years here. It's a great time for us to play them, and test ourselves against the best."
Neale pointed out that turnovers, particularly by hand, plagued his side against the Suns, and acknowledged that cleaning up this aspect of their game before playing a high-pressure side like the Pies is imperative.
"(They're strong in) all areas, but one that stands out is when their pressure game is on, they're really hard to get through," he said.
Prior to the Suns loss, the Lions had registered a record of seven wins, one loss, and one draw away from the Gabba this season, with Neale offering that his side 'take confidence' from their strong away form, before the mammoth task of defeating the Magpies at the home of football.
Brownlow fancy, prodigious Magpies midfielder Nick Daicos, polled a perfect 10 coaches' votes when the two sides met at the Gabba on Easter Thursday this year, with Neale unsure of the approach his side will take to quelling his influence this time around.
"You'd have to ask 'Fages'," Neale said.
"We've tried both ways before - trying to run with him, or letting him run around free, and just play our system, and he's played pretty well both ways. I'm not sure what the plan is there, but hopefully he doesn't have a game like he did on the weekend, otherwise we might be in trouble," he finished, referencing Daicos' sensational 42 disposal, three-goal outing against Richmond.
Small forward Kai Lohmann missed the weekend's loss, after suffering a calf injury at training. The setback is another frustrating one in a season where the Victorian has already overcome shoulder and ankle complaints, but Neale is backing the electric goalsneak's character to 'shine through' in this adversity.
With finals football just over a month away, Neale insists he's fought the urge to look at the ladder, or any fixtures beyond Saturday's clash with the Pies.
"You can get in your own head if you start looking at the ladder. We'll just try to finish as high as possible. We want to try and win out from here, and it starts with Collingwood on the weekend," he said.
