CRAIG Starcevich is not buying the notion Friday night's preliminary final against Adelaide is Brisbane's to lose, saying his Lions are "miles away" from playing their best football.

Brisbane is fresh from a week off following its qualifying final win over Richmond, and is heavily fancied to defeat last season's premiers and move into a fourth Grand Final.

And despite being frustrated by the "outside noise" surrounding where the decider might be played, Starcevich said his mind was well-and-truly on the Crows.

Orla O'Dwyer celebrates Brisbane's qualifying final win over Richmond on November 5, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

"It's as nerve-racking as ever," Starcevich said on Thursday afternoon.

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"You do a whole lot of work to get to this point and ultimately you want to play the last week.

"This is now knockout. The stakes are higher the further you get.

"The games between the two clubs are always fierce. We got over the line a month ago but a fair bit's happened since then and we need to be ready for them tomorrow."

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Starcevich said he was particularly wary of Adelaide's midfield, who handily beat the Lions at centre clearances (10-4) when they met at the same Metricon Stadium venue in round eight.

The 2021 premiership coach said there was plenty to work on for his team that had lost just once this season. And there was no way they would go in over-confident.

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"I still feel like we're miles and miles away from our best footy to be honest," he said.

"Our game is built on work and pressure and effort and sticking to the task and sharing the load, that's what our game's built on.

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"Improvement is everywhere for us.

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"They're all ruthlessly fierce games that finals are, so anyone can win. I can walk you through a whole lot of different scenarios over the years where teams that were expected to do well, haven't, so you just need to be constantly on-guard for any possibility.

"There are no givens. There's been plenty of underdogs (that win) … we're completely on-guard for all of that."