BRISBANE has allowed its opponent to "throw the first punch" in the past fortnight, and young forward Eric Hipwood says that has to change against Gold Coast on Saturday. 

Hipwood was not literally referring to Brisbane needing to trade blows with its QClash rival, but to be more aggressive around the contest. 

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After an exciting 3-0 start to their season the Lions have got the wobbles the past two weeks with heavy losses to Essendon and Collingwood. 

In both matches they were beaten at contested footy (-27 and -17) and then made to look slow with poor pressure on the outside. 

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Hipwood conceded it was "tough sleeping the first couple of nights" following the Easter Thursday fizzer against the Magpies and said the Lions had to get back to what they did best.

"It was frustrating because we couldn't play the way we wanted to play," he said.

"Credit to Port Adelaide (in round three), Collingwood and Essendon, they really stopped our ball movement and it was frustrating.

"If we go back to what we know, contested footy, hard-at-it footy, the result will look after itself. 

"The other teams have definitely thrown the first punch, they've smashed us at contested footy and we know Gold Coast are a hard-at-it footy side." 

Despite their 73-point loss against Adelaide on Sunday, the Suns have a distinct brand in 2019 and that's to be hard around the contest and difficult to score against.

With both teams owning a 3-2 record, it's the first time in the 17 contests between the Queensland rivals there's been genuine ladder ramifications on the match. 

"It's a long season so you're going to ride the highs and lows," Hipwood said. 

"We've got a young, emerging group and you're going to have inconsistencies in performances. 

"There's plenty of upside to it (season) so far. 

"Gold Coast have had a fantastic start, some hard grinding wins, it's going to be a tough game."