FOLLOWING a season of adjusting to the top job, Brisbane captain Bre Koenen has recaptured her best form as the Lions pursue a second premiership – all it took was finding a better balance between helping others and helping herself.

Koenen walked into the ultimate no-win situation 12 months ago, taking over as skipper from retired Emma Zielke after the Brisbane champion led the club to its historic first women's flag in 2021.

Koenen had been a deputy to Zielke and played a pivotal role in the triumph with her intercept marking and stout one-on-one defence.

She was now no longer just a backline rock, but the captain, responsible for so much more on and off the field than she previously was.

While the Lions got within a kick of making another Grand Final last season, Koenen's form took a dip from her lofty standards.

Speaking to womens.afl, the 27-year-old admitted she struggled to balance captaincy duties with maintaining her own form when she first took over.

"I was never going to be the same sort of leader 'Zilks' was," Koenen said.

"I was just trying to figure out my own way of doing things and being confident in my own way of doing things.

"I just needed to be myself because I was voted in there for a reason. I probably put more pressure on myself than what everybody else did."

Koenen is a physiotherapist by profession and a carer by nature, someone who has always put her teammates' needs above her own since joining the Lions with their inaugural intake of players in 2016.

Instead of doing extra training on her own game, she reverted to investing time in her teammates.

"It drained me," she said.

Season six provided off-field challenges beyond what most skippers have to deal with. Koenen, like the rest of the competition, was not only still navigating the difficulties of COVID-affected games and changes of schedules, but she was a victim of Brisbane's February floods.

While the Lions were playing against West Coast in Perth, Koenen's partner Luke was frantically gathering as much of her valuable gear as possible and moving it to the second level of her rented place in Yeronga.

Although her valuables were saved, the house was not liveable, forcing Koenen to shuffle between places while the season continued.

"It was very challenging, and I don't think you can put yourself in that situation until you've been through it," she said.

"It's pretty scary.

"When I had a good reason to give to myself with the floods and having to move and all that going on behind the scenes, I probably should have given myself a bit more love, but I just wanted to do right by the team."

After pouring her thoughts out to coach Craig Starcevich in her end-of-season review, Koenen vowed to come back and return to the defensive powerhouse she had previously been.

And she's done just that.

The captain is ranked equal fourth in the competition – and the only defender in the top-10 – for contested marks and is eighth for intercept possessions.

Alongside Nat Grider, Shannon Campbell, Phoebe Monahan, returning Kate Lutkins and recruited Dee Heslop, she is part of the second stingiest defence in the League.

"I couldn't intercept mark to save my life last season so that was a massive focus," she said.

"You don't realise how much 10 minutes of craft at the end of the session makes a difference.

"I've felt a lot more confident, a lot more comfortable compared to last season.

"I've probably been working on the right things, working on my strengths and focusing on me as a player … not putting all my attention and effort into other people. Just saving something for myself.

"I think I've got the balance a bit better this season."

And now for the finals, with the Lions already having made short work of the Tigers in the qualifying final, and booking a preliminary final spot in the process.

Koenen says her team has learned plenty, not just from their sole season seven loss back in round five, but from last season's preliminary final heartbreak against Melbourne.

"I think we're a lot more harsh on ourselves in the little moments, because they're going to count massively in the finals.

"The team mentality and us wanting to get the best out of each other is just different this season.

"I thought we were humming along last season, but there were little things just starting to slip that really add up. I think this year we've got a group that's really determined and really confident."