Brisbane coach Chris Fagan says his win-starved Lions are hungry for more but have been quick to put their AFL season-opening upset of West Coast in perspective.
Fagan said the Lions were still buzzing from their 44-point boilover against defending premiers the Eagles.
However, the Lions mentor claimed it would not be a problem keeping a lid on their excitement ahead of Sunday’s away clash with North Melbourne.
“They are a hungry group. It has been a long time since they have been able to win a game like that (against Eagles) – they liked how that felt,” Fagan said.
“(But) the players were the first to mention after the game ‘it was only one game and there is a big season ahead’ – that shows a bit of maturity in the group I reckon.
“I don’t see any signs this week that we have got ahead of ourselves.”
Fagan said the next challenge was to defeat the Kangaroos in Melbourne for the first time since 2009.
He believed it would be easier said than done, expecting a strong response from North Melbourne following their 82-point first round thrashing from Fremantle.
“They will naturally react to that. They are a proud football club. We expect that,” Fagan said.
“And North has been a team that has been able to assert itself over us for quite some time.
“But for us on our climb we have to find ways to do well against teams that have previously dominated us.
“Our motivation and drive to do well this year should be as strong as their desire to bounce back from a loss – we should be even on that scale.”