DANIEL Rich says the Brisbane Lions are not far from matching it with the competition's elite teams and he wasn't pleased after last weekend's competitive loss against premier Collingwood.

Rich, who returned against the Magpies after six weeks on the sidelines with a foot injury, said despite the many positives, the Lions were not doing high-fives after the 18-point loss.

He said Saturday night's match against fourth-placed West Coast at the Gabba was another chance to bridge the gap to the elite teams.

"Losing isn't the best thing but there were a few positives that Vossy has spoken about coming out of the game," Rich said.

"It was a good performance by the boys but we're never going to be happy with a loss.

"We haven't really been blown off the park by anyone, but that's a good sign that we're not too far away from competing with the good sides. It's going to take a lot more hard work but hopefully we'll get there next year and the years to come."

Rich played the final quarter against Collingwood after coming on as a substitute and said he got through the game and recovered well.

The Lions have a large contingent of Western Australians in their team including Rich, Matthew Leuenberger, Mitch Clark, Simon Black, Todd Banfield and Ash McGrath, as well as former Eagle Brent Staker, to take on West Coast this weekend.

But 21-year-old Rich said he didn't lift to play against many of his mates, including ruckman Nic Naitanui, who was taken by the Eagles at No.2 in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft that Rich was chosen at No.7 in.

" You don't go out of your way to lift for the game but it's always good to play against mates," he said.

"Obviously I know quite a few of them and I'm sure a lot of the other boys do as well, so it's good fun.

"They're going well. We need everyone playing their roles and playing well and sticking to how the coaches want us to play and you never know what can happen."

Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @mike_whiting