FOR Brisbane Lions co-captain Luke Power, Saturday night’s post-match press conference was all about what could have been.

A 61-point loss to the September-bound Sydney Swans at the SCG capped a nightmare fortnight that saw the club go from contenders to also-rans.

The pain of missing a finals series, in which he believed the club could have played a significant part, was clearly evident.

“There were probably five games we could have won and with the way results have gone, [we] possibly could have had a top-four finish and now we’ve finished 10th,” Power said.

“It’ll take a couple of weeks to sink in. We’ll watch finals next week and be a bit sad about it, but it can do one of two things – it can drive you or make you despondent and hopefully it’ll drive most of the group.”

Despite their finals dreams having been dashed, Power said the players had no problem finding motivation for the last game of the year.

“I think pride’s a pretty important thing for people and it’s something we rate pretty highly. Obviously we didn’t really play with much pride and Sydney blew us away a bit,” he said.

“They were undermanned a bit, and that made it even worse, but you take lessons out of it and we’ll come back better.”

Power briefly mentioned “rebuilding” as he spoke of the team’s plans for next year, but he quickly clarified his point.

“I think we’ve got the personnel. We’ll rebuild for next year; I think you’re always rebuilding, [maybe] building’s a better word,” he said.

While the continuing development of the club’s youngsters will generate natural improvement, the Lions’ bid to return to the finals will be severely hampered if Power’s fellow skipper, Jonathan Brown, decides to play elsewhere next year.

Brown is yet to commit to the Lions for 2009 and his re-signing will be one of the club’s main priorities.

Power was under no illusions as to his premiership teammate’s standing in the game.

“He’s one of the top five players in the competition and they don’t come around every day. If you’ve got them, you’ve got to keep them,” he said.

“It’s purely his decision and I respect whatever decision he makes, but obviously from a fellow captain’s point of view, of course I hope he stays.”