FEW teams in the brutal world of AFL would not welcome a mid-year break.

The grind of the season, the build-up of niggling injuries and the onset of winter are all factors that can wear any team down.

But for a Brisbane Lions team coming off its fourth and indisputably best win of the season against flag favourites West Coast two weeks ago, last week's bye could be seen as an unwelcome lull when they had a chance to build some momentum.

As fate would have it, the Lions had to wait 14 days for their next game, which finished in a 65-point loss to Hawthorn at the MCG.

But captain Jonathan Brown said the week off did not have a detrimental effect on his team.

"I didn't think it affected the group. It didn't break our momentum, the boys needed a freshen up and we trained really well last week," he said after the Hawthorn loss.?
"We had a great lead-in to the game, we were looking forward to the challenge to continue it on. There was no feeling it would break our momentum."

It was the intensity and the pressure from a ravenous Hawthorn outfit that saw the final margin exceed 10 goals rather than any interruption to the Lions' weekly routine, Brown said.

"The boys were fantastic, we competed hard at training and cracked in so our minds were still on the job from two weeks ago. We've had a really good lead-in and I thought we attacked the game with good attitude and good intent," he said.

"We just got shown up a little bit. Their pressure was fantastic around the footy and it caused us to fumble a little bit and not be able to have the time to make the correct decisions with our foot skills. You couldn't question our intent and attitude coming into the game."

The Lions booted six goals in the first quarter and held the lead for much of the first 40 minutes of play until Hawthorn clicked into gear and ran away with the win.

Brown said it was important to take note of the positives in what turned out to be a heavy loss.

"We showed in the first half we were able to go with them until half-time. They are a terrific side and they just overpowered us," he said.

"You can't question us as a group the way we're going about our business at the moment. We've just got to keep striving for improvement and be absolutely at our best every week when we play these top sides. Otherwise we're not going to get close."