BRISBANE is prepared for anything on Thursday night, but coach Chris Fagan says his team has learnt its lesson after being beaten by Sydney two straight times.

The Swans upset the Lions by two points late in 2025 and then had the better of them by 44 points in round one this season.

Brisbane was missing suspended duo Harris Andrews and Zac Bailey among many others, but Fagan says there were lessons to be learnt.

"What's emerged is the Swans have a fairly distinct way of playing the game," he said on Wednesday morning.

"They like to handball and they run in waves and they handball forward and they overlap and it’s been a weapon of theirs.

Charlie Curnow and Ryan Lester during round one between Sydney and Brisbane at the SCG, March 14, 2026. Picture: Getty Images

"That's the critical thing you have to counter.

"We weren't able to do that in the first quarter in that game earlier in the year but we got better as the game went on.

"We certainly learnt some lessons from it that hopefully we can apply tomorrow night."

Fagan said the Lions were caught off guard late last year when Dean Cox’s team implemented its new gamestyle, so he was prepared for anything at the Gabba.

Following three heavy losses to Geelong, Greater Western Sydney and Fremantle, the Lions righted the ship prior to their bye with wins over Gold Coast and Richmond.

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Fagan said the main area of focus for his eighth-placed team was its defence, noting when they kept opponents to a low score, it almost inevitably resulted in a win.

Experienced defender Ryan Lester is expected back from a calf injury, while Dayne Zorko, Keidean Coleman, Hugh McCluggage and Oscar Allen are all likely to return in the next fortnight.

Fagan said despite the influx of talent in coming weeks, he had not lifted his eyes past the Swans.

"We haven't really talked about finals," he said.

Chris Fagan during round 14 between Richmond and Brisbane at Ninja Stadium, June 14, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos

"We're nowhere near qualifying for them. We're just trying to win every time we play.

"The next couple of weeks (Sydney and Geelong) are pretty solid for us.

"You aim at the start of every year to put yourself in contention for finals and at the halfway mark of the season, that's exactly where we're at.

"We'd like to have won a couple more games than we have, but we're in the running."