IF THE Brisbane Lions are to continue developing as a team, they have to look only as far their Saturday night opponent, says coach Michael Voss.

Voss paid the Sydney Swans a huge compliment on the eve of their round 11 match at the Gabba, saying the Lions wanted to emulate the Swans' tough and competitive nature.

The Swans are currently sixth and the Lions 15th after back-to-back victories elevated them to a 2-7 record.

The Swans have given the Lions all sorts of troubles over the years, winning nine and drawing one of their past 12 matches, and Voss said no matter who they put on the field, they retained the same traits.

Even without former captain Brett Kirk - a constant thorn for Lions champion Simon Black - the Lions coach expected the same standard on Saturday night.

"There are certainties when you play against them and the certainty is they'll make it tough for you," Voss said.

"The fact Brett Kirk is not there, they'll roll someone else in. They've proven they can do that, their system says they can do that. It's going to be a test for our players to see if they can get through that.

"They do test you and that's why they've been a top eight side and why they've been super competitive for such a long period of time and something we want to emulate."

Voss said it was the Swans' ability to scrap and scrape for four quarters that made them such a difficult match-up.

"They've been known as this group, the Bloods, for such a long period of time and people have inquired about what that is and what it stands for. They make you work all the time and almost try and squeeze the life out of you," he said.

"We've got to make sure we can have that resilience throughout the whole game and have that resolve about us through that whole game and not think we're going to get a burst on these guys.

"They're pros at being able to deny that and they're also pros at being able to drag themselves back from that. Our intensity over 120 minutes is going to be very, very important."

For the first time this season the Lions have named an unchanged team, with Tom Rockliff (calf) and Josh Drummond (knee) still at least a week away from returning.

The Lions have always had trouble containing dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes, who has polled Brownlow votes in five of the past nine meetings between the clubs.

Voss said it would not so much be a matter of stopping him, but limiting his damage.

"He's like Jonathan Brown is to us. He's been a brilliant player over a long period of time, he elevates them," Voss said.

"If he has a good day, we're going to have a tough day. But I don't think you can really stop him having a good day, what you've got to stop him having is a great day.

"They're very proven performers and they know how to work when they're being tagged. What we've got to limit is the damage he has and if we can do that by the pressure around the ball then we'll have some success with it."