RUNNING defender Jade Ellenger says last season's heavy loss to Euro-Yroke is a "big driver" ahead of Sunday's final home and away match against the same opponent as Brisbane clings to the hope of finishing in the top two.
In the corresponding match at RSEA Park in 2023, the Saints ambushed the eventual premier by 21 points to send their title aspirations into a tailspin in the penultimate round.
Brisbane then beat reigning champion Melbourne in one of its best performances in club history and ran through the finals to claim a second flag.
As it prepares to face Nick Dal Santo's team this time around, Ellenger says the memories of 12 months ago are fresh in Brisbane minds.
"It's been a big driver. When you lose a game like that, it fires you up the next time you play them and we're very grateful we've got the opportunity to play them again this season," she said.
"They'll be coming out to do exactly what they did last year, but we learned a lot of lessons from that.
"We don't want to make the same mistake twice."
A strong win over the Saints would put pressure on second-placed Hawthorn to defeat Richmond in the following game to both retain that position on the ladder and also claim the $1 million McClelland Trophy prize as the champion club of the AFL and AFLW.
While Ellenger said it would be "nice" to finish second, the Lions were not fazed, as long as they were playing strong football heading into November.
Things appear to be heading in the right direction for the two-time premiers, trampling Sydney by 68 points at the weekend as they bounced back from a previous loss to Geelong.
"We're very adaptive," Ellenger said.
"None of us played the way we wanted to play, and we didn't play the way we wanted to play as a team, so we had to respond quickly.
"If the weekend's anything to judge, we're hitting some pretty good form.
"Hopefully that's the footy we'll see in the next couple of weeks."
