THE Brisbane Lions admit to being stumped about how to negate the influence of Gold Coast star Gary Ablett ahead of Saturday night's QClash at the Gabba.

Coach Michael Voss is short of ideas, so vice-captain Daniel Merrett had a few novel ones of his own ahead of Saturday night's QClash at the Gabba.

"I think we'll play two blokes on him, or maybe even three," Merrett said prior to Lions' training on Wednesday morning.

"Maybe we'll try and sneak an extra one on the field. I don't know. He's in really good form, and how do you stop someone that's averaging 42 possessions each week?"

It's a question many have asked and no-one can answer, as the Gold Coast skipper has torched his first three opponents this season.

Ablett has racked up 42, 40 and 45 disposals respectively against Adelaide, St Kilda and Essendon despite having men assigned to blanket him in each match.

For good measure the Brownlow medallist has kicked two goals in each match despite the Suns losing all three.

"He's their man and it'll be one of our boys' job to stop him," Merrett said.

The man most likely to be charged with the task is Andrew Raines, who returned from injury against Fremantle at the weekend and did a superb run-with role on Stephen Hill.

Speaking on Monday, Voss was also shaking his head at Ablett's sublime start to the season.

"I'm not sure whether that's possible even if you wanted to (stop him)," Voss said.

"I don't know what career-best form looks like for 'Gaz', but he'd be pretty close to it.

"He just seems to be finding the footy when he wants to. That's a pretty special gift to have.

"He's getting his 40 (but) when he hits the scoreboard and is setting up scores, that's when he's dangerous and that's what we have to stop a little bit of. Whether you can stop all of it, I'm not too sure."

One thing Merrett said the Lions would guard against was the element of surprise the Suns brought to their first meeting last year.

In the inaugural Queensland derby, Gold Coast stunned the hosts with an entertaining eight-point win.

"There was such a big build-up. We were really tense before that game and we really wanted to win and they came out and shocked us, particularly on our home turf," Merrett said.

"Their first year in the competition, we didn't expect them to win, so it does still sting that they got the first win. We just have to make sure it doesn't happen again."

After a strong first-up win against Melbourne, the Lions have followed with losses against Carlton and Fremantle. With upcoming matches against Geelong, Essendon and Collingwood, Merrett said Saturday night was vitally important.

"We do have a tough draw coming up. Just to get us to 2-2 … it'd be nice coming into a tough part of the season with a couple of wins under the belt," he said.

"Last year there was a couple of close games we should have won that really cost us. If we win those close games, we are a chance to sneak into the eight, so games like this are important to get those wins on the board and get that confidence back after a couple of bad losses."

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