THE BRISBANE Lions displayed their best form of the season in their demolition of Collingwood, according to senior coach Justin Leppitsch.

Just a week after suffering an embarrassing 105-point loss to Adelaide at home, the Lions rebounded by scoring an extraordinary 67-point win over the Magpies.

"You don't know what you're going to get, do you, when you rock up to play a game of footy as a coach," Leppitsch said.

"But two contrasting weeks for us, in terms of energy levels and output."

Leppitsch acknowledged that the Lions were given a "leg up" by the fact Collingwood lost Jamie Elliott (hamstring), Scott Pendlebury (quad), Ben Reid (hamstring), Travis Cloke (ankle) and Dayne Beams (knee) to injuries before and during the match.

But he was adamant that his team's performance should not be downplayed. 

"We still did our part and played our best football probably for the year, so that was pleasing," he said.

"I suppose that does show a bit for our resilience. I guess getting smashed in the last quarter last week show we didn't have a lot of resilience either.

"I said to the players, 'Nothing's as good as it seems, nothing's as bad as it seems.' 

"We're not as bad a team as we were last week, but also understanding tonight that we (played) a very depleted side that had their issues as well.

"We were able to take advantage of that, but we have to keep that in check as well."

Leppitsch was delighted with the form of the many youngsters in his team. 

Key forward Jono Freeman, who was playing just his second game, was particularly impressive, booting four goals on his first visit to the MCG.

"In a lot of ways I've been fortunate, or not, that I've had to play some of these kids, through the depth of injuries we've had on our list," Leppitsch said.

"The exciting part is that I've been forced to back them in and myself in and the judgement of our recruiters to get them out there, and they've repaid those things."

The Lions' form against the Magpies demonstrated that a six-day break after an afternoon game in Brisbane was not such a great hurdle to overcome.

Leppitsch was certainly not going to follow the lead of Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson and criticise the AFL for handing the Crows and Lions short breaks after they did battle on a 25-degree afternoon at the Gabba in round 20.

"We were poor in the heat last week," he said. "We probably could argue we don't want the freezing cold games in Melbourne, actually, on a Saturday night. 

"They're too cold for us, but we seemed to adapt OK."

The downside for the Lions on Saturday night was the knee injury suffered by big man Daniel Merrett during the last quarter.

Merrett was taken from the field on a stretcher after wrenching his knee when he stepped on a teammate's foot.

"It's within the knee, the right knee," Leppitsch said. "There was a comment that it could be just a hyper-extension.

"We're hoping and praying that it's something as minor as that and not the full deal.

"Obviously, scans will determine that."

Youngster Darcy Gardiner was subbed out of the game in the last quarter after experiencing some ankle soreness.

"He could've played the game out, but he's a kid in his first year, so we thought we'd get him out and get him rested," Leppitsch said.

The coach was delighted with the form of ruckman Stefan Martin, who gathered 32 disposals and won 27 hit-outs in a dominant performance against Brodie Grundy and Jarrod Witts. 

"He's had a great year," Leppitsch said. "He'd be leading our best and fairest on average, I think, but no, he's coming home with a storm.

"He might even win the Brownlow. What do you think? If he gets enough three-voters you never know."

Martin was due to resume his partnership with injury-prone big man Matthew Leuenberger when the Lions host Fremantle at the Gabba next Sunday.

But Leuenberger injured a toe while playing in the NEAFL on Saturday and Leppitsch said, "We may not see that combination this year, the way it's looking."