While remaining within touch of Carlton for most of the match, the Lions rarely threatened before the Blues kicked nine of the last 10 goals to win convincingly.
Collier was one of a host of Lions backmen to struggle against a potent Blues forward line that was best represented by Eddie Betts’ five goals.
“It was very disappointing to drop off like that; we started well and just lost intensity and a few things didn’t go as we had planned,” he said.
“At the moment we are lacking the ability to sustain our intensity for four quarters; we were only good in bits and pieces.
“We are still learning how to handle when they get a couple goals in a row and we’ve just got to learn to start to deal with that better and get better at stopping that.”
Although only in his third season at AFL level, Collier finds himself as one of the more mature players among an increasingly youthful group.
With a lengthy injury list, the Lions have been forced to blood a number of youngsters this season and Collier said the young group was drawing on the experience of elder statesmen Jonathan Brown, Simon Black and Luke Power.
“The older guys tell us to keep up the positive attitude and to keep the enthusiasm up within the group and that is where the improvement’s going to come - using the experience of those guys,” he said.
“They have lived it so they know how it feels. The young players can tend to go into their shells when they get a few kicked on them, so we really need to draw on those guys to learn from that.”
With only one win from the past 10 matches, the Lions will face no respite over the next three weeks, facing last year’s grand finalists St Kilda and Geelong as well as 2008 premiers Hawthorn.
But despite the daunting assignment, Collier said his side would not shirk any contests.
“We have to not think about who we are playing and get back to those fundamentals regardless of the opposition,” he said.
“We know if we do the fundamentals we will play well.
“We just have to focus on our learning and our attitude.”
