“You never lose, you either win or you learn.”

The quote made famous by South African Anti-Apartheid leader Nelson Mandela is a favourite of Lions coach Chris Fagan and his coaching staff.

After one poor quarter against Geelong in Sydney in round 6, Mandela’s saying drove the preparations for the second fixture of the club’s two week NSW hub against GWS.

Fagan and his assistants saw opportunities in the loss to the Cats to educate the side on how to cope with momentum swings and find ways to wrestle back control when star studded line-ups start to get the upper hand.

The Lions’ 20 point win over GWS, their second straight triumph over last year’s grand finalists at their home ground, ensured the side would return to Brisbane with a 1-1 record from their extended interstate stay and maintain their grip on second place on the AFL ladder.

Forwards coach Jed Adcock said the review of the GWS win had focused heavily on how the players had learnt from the

“It was good to come out against GWS and we felt we learnt a lot about ourselves during that third quarter against Geelong and were able to put that into practice against GWS,’’ he said.

“And we were able to play pretty good footy for four quarters.’’

Brisbane were challenged by the Giants on several occasions. Once again it was the third quarter where their opponents were able to make the greatest inroads. And although the Cats managed to reduce their half time deficit, the Lions were able to land some counterpunches that denied the hosts the type of confidence that could lead to a victory.

Adcock said the ability to not only withstand that momentum shift but regain control of the contest  late in the third quarter drew heavily on the experience gained the previous week.

“I think there was a four goal swing in the third quarter and to be able to hold up learn from what happened against Geelong and we probably kicked one just before three quarter time and were then able to kick away again in the last,’’ he said.

It is a good learning curve for players, I think all you can try and do after each game is review and try to learn from it whether it be positive or growth and so it was good the boys could go and there and execute.’’