THE BRISBANE Lions are looking to return from next week's bye with more zip and aggression, according to coach Justin Leppitsch.
The Lions slumped to their 10th straight loss on Saturday, losing to Richmond by 42 points at the MCG.
Leppitsh said there were silver linings in the result, such as Eric Hipwood's three goals and the team's five-goal final term, but next week's break had arrived at a time of need for his young players.
"We really need the bye. We happened to draw the bye round on the last round, when we probably needed it in the first round," the coach said.
"We'll have a good rest and recovery … it's been a long campaign to date.
"Richmond came off the bye and I thought they looked really zippy in the first half of the game.
"By the end of the game we ploughed our way through, but we didn't have the zip they had earlier."
The Lions fell 56 points down in the third quarter on Saturday, with the skill errors that have blighted their season – rather than lack of effort – the main reason.
However, they pushed on with an aggressive style of play, Leppitsch said, and were rewarded by winning the fourth quarter 5.6 to 3.4.
"You want to play bold and daring footy," the coach said.
"You can preach it, but when you have one or two mistakes it can leave the boys a bit devoid of confidence.
"We just kept driving it and driving it, and the positive is we kept doing it and getting the scoring shots late in the game.
"We'll really focus on that going forward."
Midfielder Mitch Robinson was ruled out with concussion in the second quarter on Saturday, but he was walking in the rooms post-match and appears likely to return for the round 15 QClash against Gold Coast.
The Lions also lost defender Tom Cutler (hamstring) and star midfielder Dayne Zorko (personal reasons) ahead of Saturday's game but should regain the pair after the bye.
"We'll get those guys back and hopefully get a bit of that zip and aggression back in our offensive game," Leppitsch said.
Perhaps the biggest positive for the Lions on Saturday was Hipwood's three goals, which came from five scoring shots and three marks.
In just his second game, the skinny 18-year-old showed speed on the lead and poise in his set shots, giving Leppitsch more hope for the club's future.
Some great running from the @brisbanelions' midfield and a beautiful snap from @EricHipwood to complete the play. https://t.co/uaG2Fz4ZzF
— AFL (@AFL) June 25, 2016
"I think within a few years we'll have one of the best goal-to-goal lines in the competition, I've got no doubt," he said.
"The problem is we're going to see the skinny side of Eric at times, and then we're going to see the exciting side too, which he showed today.
"They're the take home things for our fans."
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