WITH its own hopes long dashed, the Brisbane Lions are hoping to play finals spoiler for little brother Gold Coast when they meet next weekend.
The Suns slipped out of the top eight for the first time in two months following last Saturday's loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Now the Lions, battling in 17th place on the ladder with a 4-12 record, are hoping to put a further dent in the Suns' aspirations as they search for a maiden finals appearance.
Both Queensland teams have a bye this weekend, but Lions captain Jed Adcock says the memory of the 53-point loss to the Suns in their first meeting of the season in round three still stings.
"They're still trying to play finals footy and we're not, so there's more to ride on it from that," Adcock said on Wednesday.
"We look at it, purely … trying to be the number one team in the state of Queensland.
"They'll go in favourites, but I think we've got a chance to prove something and get one back on them from what they did to us early in the year."
In most of the seven QClash match-ups – which the Lions lead 5-2 – the older, stronger Lions have started heavy favourites, and bullied their younger opponents.
But not this year.
With an injury-depleted line-up for much of the season, the Lions have been forced to field young teams comparable to the Suns.
Adcock did not want to speculate on the impact of Gary Ablett's loss through injury, but said the Suns were more than capable of covering his absence.
"Obviously when you lose your two-time Brownlow medallist, it's going to hurt, but the strength of their team is definitely the midfield," he said.
"They'll be able to slot someone else in."
The Lions had a closed training session at the Gabba on Wednesday, minus their first and second-year players already on leave, before splitting for a break of their own.
Adcock said they still had things to accomplish over the final six weeks of the season.
"We're still a fair way away. We're under no illusions we've got a lot to improve on," he said.
"Hopefully if you come out in the next six weeks and you're 4-2 or 3-3, you've probably had a pretty positive end to the year."
