Chris Fagan is confident his young Lions can avoid slipping down the ladder. Picture: AFL Photos

CHRIS Fagan couldn't escape the instant comparison as his Brisbane outfit crashed out of finals in straight sets last year.

"We're very aware of it because everyone talked about it at the end of the season. 'Oh, Brisbane could be Melbourne this year because someone's got to tumble'," Fagan told AFL.com.au this week.

Like Melbourne in 2018, the Lions came from outside the top eight to enjoy a stunning run in 2019.

Now, it's their mission to avoid a crash the following season, like the Demons suffered last year on their way to just five wins.

"We're doing all we can to make sure a Melbourne situation doesn't unfold," the fourth-year coach said.

"In fairness to them (Melbourne), they had a lot of injuries so how much that affected their season is hard to tell. We didn't have any (off-season) surgeries, so we haven't had any guys that have had wildly interrupted pre-seasons.

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Copy link Link copied to clipboard Highlights: Brisbane v GWS The Lions and Giants clash in the semi final

"Our players are very aware of it (Melbourne comparison), we've had a few discussions about it, the mantra from day dot has been, focus on process, focus on improvement, results will handle themselves.

"If we want to be any good, they've got to embrace that type of pressure.

"You've got to want to be the best, you've got to beat the best and do that consistently year after year.

"It's their actions, how they try and improve as a team. Their attitude at training.

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"Things like skinfolds and fitness tests, they all tell you about attitude. We've had no red flags in the skinfold area. I think we had 18-20 PBs in the 3km time trial.

"We have people come to our club from time to time, like (leadership mentor) Phil Smyth who makes observations on our environment and those people aren't seeing any alarm bells."

After a scratch match against Gold Coast last week, the Lions face Port Adelaide in the Marsh Community Series on Sunday with 18 members from last year's semi-final loss to Greater Western Sydney.

Fresh in their memory will be the three-point loss to the Giants that came despite the Lions dominating inside 50s, clearances and contested possessions.

Fagan hopes the increase of primetime fixtures – from one to four this year – will prove a difference in critical moments they lost against the Giants.

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"We need more of those high-pressure, big-picture games to test ourselves to see if we can execute skills and decisions under that sort of pressure," he said.

"I'm glad we've got those games and it's going to assist us in our next stage of development, and we'll find out a bit more about ourselves."

Allen Christensen consoles Jarryd Lyons after the semi-final loss to GWS. Picture: AFL Photos

Outside of Luke Hodge and the delisted Nick Robertson, the rest of the playing group which featured last September remains intact.

And the Lions have added midfield bull Cam Ellis-Yolmen, four-time Hawthorn premiership defender Grant Birchall and speedster Callum Ah Chee for the premiership tilt.

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But Fagan is most excited about the growth in his young group that includes Harris Andrews, Eric Hipwood, Jarrod Berry, Hugh McCluggage, Alex Witherden and Cam Rayner, who are all 23 or under.

Rayner will gradually grow his midfield minutes this year, has dropped weight and "matured" after adding internal and external mentors.

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Berry and McCluggage, who are ready for the next step, will form a key part of the midfield, while Hipwood has matured without a push from the coach.

"I reckon the best change comes when they decide to make the change themselves, not have the coach whack them and tell them 'you've got to do this, you've got to do that'," he said.

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And as for the sizeable nine-man leadership group that boasts four players from 21-24?

"We had the same number last year (that included Hodge as a mentor), maybe no one was interested in us this year, I'm not sure," Fagan said.

Brisbane Lions' leadership group for 2020. Picture: lions.com.au

"We're trying to build leadership density, you can't do it if you don't put a number of players in the leadership group.

"Now that you can't use runners as much, the game moves quicker, it's a big field, you need guys out there who can lead and instruct.

"If you've only got three (leaders), I reckon that's a little bit harder than having eight or nine."