BRISBANE let a huge opportunity slip through its grasp when it was defeated by the Western Bulldogs, and coach Chris Fagan knew it.

"I felt when we came in at half-time, albeit the Dogs probably the last five minutes of that second quarter got on top of us, I thought it wasn't unrealistic for us to have been four goals in front at half-time, with the amount of ball that we'd had inside 50 and the shots that we had," Fagan told reporters after the 16-point loss at Mars Stadium.

"It's not like we missed hard shots. 

"Obviously it was a little windy out there and a little wet, but that was the critical factor at half-time, why we hadn't taken advantage of our play."

DOGS SINK LIONS Full match coverage and stats

Victory would have meant a 6-2 record. With seven games left at the Gabba, finals would have been all but assured.

Instead, the Lions are among a chasing pack that are set to be fiercely contesting spots for a September berth for the rest of the season.

Exciting forward Eric Hipwood had a nightmare opening two quarters in front of goal, booting 0.5 before kicking truly to nail a couple of chances.

He came into the clash on Saturday afternoon with 12.8, and his radar had been working well.

Fagan was at least pleased to see the 21-year-old recover from his early dismal conversion rate.

"The good thing is he got back on the bike and kicked a couple after half-time, so he didn't mentally disintegrate," Fagan said.

"Sometimes that happens. He's been kicking them as well, pretty much all the season, but today he just had a bad day."

WATCH Chris Fagan's full post-match press conference

Going into the third term, the Lions trailed by two points but lost the match in that quarter, allowing the Dogs to take control around the midfield.

Then when Brisbane had opportunities, it was unable to capitalise.

Part of the problem was an inability from the Lions to keep their feet.

"We need to talk about footwear because we slipped over a lot today," Fagan said.

"I don't think they did. We certainly went to ground more than what they did, which proved costly."

Onballer Jarrod Berry was poked in the right eye and left the field early in the final term but Fagan was confident he would be right for next Saturday's match against Adelaide, while Zac Bailey hurt his left hamstring early in the contest and looks set for another stint on the sidelines, having been in his first game since round three after another hamstring concern had kept him out.