HE might not have been as "narky" as Harris Andrews intimated, but Chris Fagan admits he "poked the bear" to get the best out of Brisbane ahead of its 52-point win over Adelaide on Sunday.

Fagan was noticeably short (but still polite) at his weekly press conference on Thursday, concerned about a team defence that had leaked in excess of 100 points in each of its three losses so far this season.

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Following the commanding win over the Crows at the Gabba, Andrews told Channel Seven the Lions coach had "put us on the hook".

"He was a little bit narky early in the week, but I think it was what we deserved and it was great to see a response," Andrews said.

Brisbane was switched on from the opening ball-up, hunting defensively and repeatedly forcing Adelaide into error.

They kicked 12 of 13 goals from midway through the second term until early in the fourth to career away to their fourth win of the season.

Fagan described it as a "fantastic response" following the two-point defeat from Melbourne seven days earlier.

"We had a meeting and showed some vision, and there were some honest conversations," Fagan said.

"I wasn't too out of control. It was just more, 'these are the facts, are we happy with that?'.

"They weren't, and they showed it by their performance tonight. That's how you answer."

The facts were that Brisbane had kicked 100 points against both the Demons and Western Bulldogs in Opening Round and lost both matches, and they weren't happy about it.

"We don't want to play that way," Fagan said.

"I wasn't yelling and screaming. I just put up the stats.

"When you've played a lot of years in a row in finals, and the last three Grand Finals, as a coach, you're still looking for those signs - is the hunger still there?

"The hunger's still there. We saw it tonight.

"Every now and then, as the coach, you've just got to poke the bear and try and get them going again.

"When our mindset is right, we're hard to beat."

Brisbane should be even stronger for its match against Essendon at Marvel Stadium next Saturday, with Dayne Zorko (calf) expected back after missing the past two weeks and Noah Answerth progressing well from his latest concussion.

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks was downcast following the defeat, offering up no excuses for his team that was belted around the clearances (-15) and contested possessions (-22).

He said they were "lucky" to be leading midway through the second quarter before the floodgates opened.

"We're just really gutted in a performance that's just not the standard," he said.

"We pride ourselves on being better than that, and tonight we were beaten up."

One positive was the return of skipper Jordan Dawson, who was arguably his team's best player with two goals from 28 disposals after missing the previous match to deal with the tragic passing of his brother.

Nicks said Dawson showed "courage" to perform, a fact not overlooked by Fagan and the Lions, who offered their best wishes to the emotional captain before leaving the field.

"It's been a real tough week or so for him and it's still there," Nicks said.

"Post game he was quite emotional. It's amazing what football can do, that 120 minutes ... and he dug in and went to work.

"It's a really tough place to be. He's got incredible support at the moment. I'm really proud of the way he went about it tonight. He did whatever he possibly could."