JONATHAN Brown has signalled his intentions for a big back half of 2013, saying his form was on the improve before being suspended after round nine.
Brown is in the middle of a two-match ban for striking Carlton's Michael Jamison but the Brisbane Lions co-captain says a few weeks out will not slow him down.
He will miss Saturday's trip to Patersons Stadium to play Fremantle before returning to face Geelong at the Gabba in round 13.
Brown said there was still some "dismay" his charge had not been downgraded at the Tribunal, but he had moved on and was preparing for the final 11 games of his season.
"It was unfortunate. Obviously I thought I was unlucky with the decision but I've had to move on and focus on my training and use it as a mid-year freshen-up," Brown said.
"It'll hold me in pretty good stead for the second half of the year.
"I thought I was coming back into some pretty good touch so it wasn't timely.
"My form's been patchy but I think the side's been pretty patchy as well. Without scoring a lot of goals I think I'm coming back into touch over the last month and looking for a big finish to the year."
In his nine games this season, Brown has taken 58 marks and kicked 15 goals, slowly improving since a poor first fortnight.
After spending some big stints on the sidelines – most recently in 2011 when two horrific facial fractures cost him a total of 12 games – Brown said this time out would not leave him rusty on return.
In the meantime though, Brown said the Lions had spent their period over the bye reinforcing the importance of defensive pressure, particularly ahead of playing the Dockers.
"The two main focuses are how we're attacking the contest and our defensiveness, both individually and as a team, which has dropped off over the last couple of weeks," he said.
"As a team, we don't have the luxury of going out there and having a poor day defensively and then going out and expecting to blow sides away offensively.
"We need to do everything right and that'll be a simple focus in the second half of the year.
"Fremantle are hard to score against but we have to be hard to score against. If we're going over there thinking we're just going to run around and get heaps of possession individually or kick heaps of goals, we're in the wrong mindset but I think our guys are prepared for that."
Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
