IF THE Brisbane Lions are to resurrect their free-falling season, it's going to happen with a change in mindset, says ruckman Stefan Martin.
After five straight losses, Martin says it's up to the senior players to lift the morale and confidence of the young team.
He said there was nothing more they could do physically, and each player had to do an honest self-assessment before they could improve.
Rocky: Players need to stand up
"Obviously our confidence has taken a hit and it's going to take some positive thinking to get that back," Martin said prior to training on Tuesday morning.
"We've got a good list, we've got good players and we showed that in patches last year.
"Something between the ears needs to change, and that can be changed luckily and that can change very quickly - more quickly than physical things can change."
After Saturday's 64-point loss against Gold Coast, which Martin described as the worst of the season, Lions coach Justin Leppitsch accused his team of not caring.
Martin said the playing group was right behind the second-year coach and it hurt them seeing Leppitsch so disappointed.
"I don't think a coach loses his players in five weeks," he said.
"Everyone's backing ‘Leppa’ in and it's on us to turn it around.
"Every player cares, but the way we played it would have looked like we didn't care, and that's a fair enough statement.
"Most of the improvement has to come with a bit of soul-searching, continued education, looking at your own footage and being honest - you can't pass the buck.
"I think we're going to get to the point where we're honest enough with ourselves that we don't make any excuses and we know we have to lift."
Martin said the players struggled to give direct feedback to one another, but it was something that had to be addressed as the losses stacked up.
"We probably don’t have enough guys that are vocal and like that confrontation, but we're going to have to fast-track that so that we can improve as a group and get to the point where the great teams can confront each other and it's water off a duck's back, it's not personal," he said.
"We've got to remind everyone we've played good footy before and it's not as far away as one might think."
