BRISBANE is not in "crisis" says Josh Dunkley, but following a lengthy team meeting on Tuesday morning, the co-captain has conceded the Lions must improve defensively to get their season back on track.
Players and staff reviewed Sunday's humiliating loss to Greater Western Sydney for 90 minutes at the club's Springfield training base on Tuesday – 30 minutes more than scheduled – before the reigning best and fairest winner fronted the media.
A passionate Dunkley said the two-time premiers weren't that far off, defending his own form and that of his vaunted midfield teammates following recent criticism.
He said the longer-than-usual meeting was "something we needed to have".
"It's not a crisis or anything like that, it's just good conversations we have inside the four walls," Dunkley said.
"We've had plenty of meetings like that before where we tell each other the truth and we move forward.
"We're a very close group, both players and staff, so we'll look at all the stuff now and troubleshoot and move forward."
That "stuff" largely centred around the Lions' poor team defence, particularly in the past two-and-a-half matches.
They conceded 11 second half goals in a win over Carlton, 17 goals in losing to Geelong and then 26 – including a record-breaking 14 in the third quarter – against the Giants.
"Standing here it feels like the world is going to end, but you guys (media) make me feel like that," Dunkley said.
"It's certainly not. We're six-and-five and still in a good position.
"You don't lose, you learn. That's our motto at this football club. We'll learn from those mistakes at the weekend and it's going to hold us in good stead moving forward.
"We know we can tidy up a few things as a football club and that’s going to help us win games of football.
"At the end of the day it's all about winning and there's things within our game … and defence is one of them, we need to tidy up and individuals and a collective.
"What we've got to look at is what we can control and that's our attitude and effort indicators and they've come down a little bit over the last couple of weeks.
"We'll go to work on that and make it better."
Dunkley, Hugh McCluggage and Will Ashcroft – the top three at last year's Merrett-Murray count – have all declined significantly in 2026 according to Champion Data's Player Ratings.
The three-time premiership winner said he "could not care less" about the numbers.
"The way I look at form is, am I delivering on trademark? Am I delivering on things that we're going to be happy with inside our four walls, rather than ratings or any of those stats.
"All I care about is winning and if I'm playing my role to help us win.
"For us as a midfield group, yes we can be better defensively and that's something we’ll go to work on and improve over the coming weeks.
"From a trademark point of view, from an effort indicating point of view, yes I’m pretty comfortable with where I'm at.
"Offensively, yes the game has changed a little bit. I haven't got the numbers I've got in the past. I couldn't care less about that kind of thing, to be honest.
"We lost on the weekend, we lost last week, so how can I help a team win a game of football is the thing I'm looking at.
"I could not care less about my Champion Data rating or anything like that. It doesn’t bother me."
Dunkley says ladder leaders Fremantle at the Gabba on Saturday is the perfect opponent to confront this weekend.
"What better challenge to have than the most in-form team in the competition.
"I'm really excited to see what this group can do after we've been challenged the way we have over the last couple of weeks.
Dayne Zorko, Jarrod Berry and Noah Answerth are all expected to be available for selection after missing time through injury.
