Brisbane Lions defender Luke Hodge says consistency is key when it comes to success of the team, and for this group of Lions it is a key focus.

Hodge, speaking to The Roar Deal this week, says that there is a lot of improvement to come from the second young list in the competition.

“We’re trying to turn ourselves into a good team and be a consistent team, we’ve still got a lot of improvement to go and we know that.”

As North Melbourne broke away early in the first quarter jumping to a 20-point lead at the first break Saturday night, Hodge was impressed by the maturity to be able to take on feedback at half-time from the coaches that lead to a scoreless third term for the opposition.

“North jumped us…but for the guys to come in at half-time and and reassess where we were, we were up in contested possession and clearances, a lot of the stuff that we put down as important key factors for games we were going ok.”

“Once we sort of shut that down, we knew we were going to get a run on.

“I thought it was impressive that we stayed pretty calm, adapted to a few things the coaches told us to, and it sort of gave us an opportunity to fight back. We defended quite well after that and it got us back into the game.”

While he returned to the side having missed the previous week’s clash against Port Adelaide due to a scheduled rest, Hodge said the rest wasn’t as enjoyable as it may seem.

“Mentally it wasn’t great when I was watching Lachie get bashed (against Port Adelaide).”

“I’m not a good watcher, I prefer to be out there playing but as I spoke to Fages, we looked at that game as a back to back travel and then a six day break. Probably a good time to rest. I felt fine…but he said it was a good time to freshen up.

“After you have a week off you actually feel worse…your body loves routine. I actually felt better today doing the warmup today and then Thursday as well.”