BRISBANE Lion Luke Power has labelled Saturday night's match against the Western Bulldogs as season-defining.

All season the Lions have spoken about the 12 wins needed to make the top-eight, but barring a mathematical anomaly that box has already been ticked after Saturday night's draw against Essendon.

The Lions now have their eyes fixed on the top-four and a vital double chance in September and Power said it started with a solid performance this Saturday night.

"It's a massive game and could define our season," he said.

"We've shifted our focus to beating the Western Bulldogs this weekend and that gives us an opportunity to get in the top four and get that double chance."

The triple premiership player said he had the highest respect for the Bulldogs and their coach Rodney Eade.

Despite being likely to miss the likes of Daniel Cross, Robert Murphy and Shaun Higgins through injury, Power said the Bulldogs had dangerous players all over the park.

"Matthew Boyd gets that hard ball and has been having a really good season and [Adam] Cooney is dangerous around the stoppages," he said.

"[Jason Akermanis] Aker is their leading goalkicker and needs to be watched and [Lindsay] Gilbee is a good user of the ball, so they've got plenty of weapons, especially if Murphy comes back as he adds another dimension to their team.

"I'm sure it'll be a ripping game and it'll come down to who tackles best and who wins the contested ball. It'll be up to us to own that corridor again."

Power, who played nine season with Akermanis in Brisbane, said his former teammate was "red hot" and had to be stopped from running forward.

He said the Lions would have to get goal-side and put body pressure on the Brownlow Medallist to stop his influence.

If things go to plan, the Lions will make their first finals appearance since 2004, but Power said they were not content to make up numbers.

"I don't think we've played the full 120 minutes out yet and I think that's something we need to look at. It's not necessarily a bad thing because it means we've got room for improvement," he said.