LACHIE Neale says Friday night's one-point loss to Carlton is a timely reality check for Brisbane, labelling its performance as selfish, lazy and believing of its own hype.
The Lions led by 46 points midway through the second quarter before a furious Blues rally saw them hit the lead midway through the third term, and ultimately snatch victory.
The shock defeat broke Brisbane's 14-game winning streak at the Gabba.
Speaking after a light training session at Springfield on Tuesday morning, co-captain Neale said Brisbane had no right to get ahead of itself.
"We probably thought the scoreboard was ticking along all right, so maybe that intensity dropped away a little bit and they were able to kick a couple late in that second (quarter)," he said.
"Our intensity and hunger for defence and contest dropped away and they punished us.
"I think it's a great lesson. I'm glad we learned it now and not later in the year that in AFL footy you've got to be on for 120 minutes."
Neale said the Lions were selfish for the 25-minute burst either side of half-time that got Carlton back into the game.
It came in defensive decisions and with ball in hand, he said.
"We probably chose some easy options and were a little bit lazy on defence sometimes," Neale said.
"We didn't dig in, and basically you're shitting on your teammates when you don't do that.
"(It happened) in open space as well, where guys should have passed it.
"Some of those handballs, take the first option then with the kick, trust yourself. Some guys were probably doubting their skills.
"Maybe guys bought into how good we are and how well we're going. It's a great reminder and this year especially, it's so even.
"We certainly know we're not ahead of the rest and are still chasing.
"We haven't achieved anything yet. We want to be the hunters."
Neale will contest a striking charge, via written submission, he received for a third-quarter incident involving Carlton midfielder George Hewett.
The dual Brownlow medallist said it was "strange" that Hewett's act was graded as careless and his intentional.
"I feel I probably didn't deserve a fine so we might fight that and see how it goes," Neale said.
"If the umpire paid a free kick, I might not have retaliated. I got a bit of a whack high."
