BRISBANE LIONS coach Leigh Matthews says his side's 26 point loss to the Crows came down to one important element – his team "got smashed in the contested footy".

"We battled away in the end but we were very poor early," Matthew said after the match.

"The contested part of the game we were a mile down in. The contested marks, the ball wins, the clearances. The stuff that starts the game; they [Adelaide] got hold of us there.

"We haven't been that far down in that [aspect of the game] for a long time."

The raw stats detail the extent of the contested ball carnage – the Lions lost contested marks 18 to four, lost clearances 37 to 18, and lost hard ball gets 67 to 40.

Adelaide turned that advantage into a mountain of possession, racking up an enormous 445 touches to 334.

Eight Adelaide players had 25-plus possessions, but just one Brisbane player (Luke Power) passed that mark.

Matthews decided not to go with hard tags on the Adelaide midfield, saying that tactic failed the last time the two sides met in round  seven.

"Our midfield bunch … we decided to go head-to-head. We tried to tag them last time we played and it didn't work either.

"Just at the moment I guess the Adelaide midfield bunch has got hold of our guys.

"But that aside – I don't know whether Adelaide used the ball that well. They seemed to dominate the game and have only won by four goals and six scoring shots."

Matthews said he was proud of the way his players persisted, despite the seeming inevitability of a loss.

"In this environment, where you're five or six goals behind at three-quarter time on the other's home ground, that's a recipe for really falling away.

"They didn't fall away; there's good fabric within the group, which I think is really optimistic to build on."

"I've been really proud [all year] of the way they've persisted. They've kept going, and they've always looked like they've had the urge to compete and stay united and stay disciplined."

Brisbane have lost Joel Patfull (cracked collarbone), but Matthews expects Jason Roe and Joel McDonald will be available for next Saturday night's game against Geelong.

 The Lions will know by the time they play whether they will still have a crack at making the finals.

"There might still be chances for playing finals – I don't know," Matthews said.

"Our greatest challenge to be honest is to have a crack against the best. I think we've had a really competitive last eight or 10 weeks.

"Now you've got a chance to test yourself against the very best – the team that really has been slaying everybody.

"Even if there's not [a chance to make the finals], I think that's a great way to finish off your round 22.

"That's a great challenge … there's a lot to gain next week, to test yourself."