BRISBANE coach Chris Fagan said the ball was in the right man's hands as Zac Bailey jump-started the Lions' season on Thursday night.

Fagan was still buzzing in his post-match press conference after 21-year-old Bailey drilled a long-range goal after the siren to propel Brisbane to a one-point win over Collingwood.

"I couldn't look," Fagan said. "And I reckon my mum would have been at home saying a Hail Mary as the ball went through.

"He's actually quite a cool customer Zac, so I'm not surprised he kicked it through.

"(It was) a great moment for him in his football life and a great moment for our footy club fortunately.

"He didn't have his greatest game tonight, but he had his biggest moment.

"I'm glad he had it in his hands."

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Brisbane was staring down the barrel of a 0-3 start to its season as it trailed for all but three minutes against the Magpies.

Despite its heartbreaking loss to Geelong last Friday, and the unexpected disruption of having to stay in Melbourne for the past week, Fagan said he was not surprised by his team's resilience.

In fact, he said he was looking forward to the response after hitting a rare "bump in the road" to start the year.

"It certainly helps to get a win on the board and get yourself back in the hunt because 0-3 is not ideal," he said.

"In the end they were just rewarded for persistence. 

"Many times, it looked like Collingwood would just win the game, but our guys hung in there and in the last second get over for a win.

"This is my fifth year with this group. As a footy club we were no good four years ago, and that group of boys have found a way to become a good football side, so they've got plenty of grit, you have to have that to get to where they've got themselves to.

"It's only one game … but it's a win that's full of meaning for us.

"When they look back on their careers at that game tonight, that'll put a smile on their faces. It'll put a smile on mine."

One man who wasn't smiling was Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.

Although the Magpies did a lot right, they let a 15-point final-quarter lead slip.

Buckley said defending the entire ground as players fatigued, as well as poor execution with the ball, were problem areas.

"There's a lot of things we could have done better and when you lose a game at the death you're not as positive as you might have been otherwise," Buckley said.

"We didn't move the ball as efficiently as we would have liked.

"We didn't execute well enough going inside 50. Harris Andrews took six marks, (Ryan) Lester took four and (Marcus) Adams took three marks from our kicks.

"That's too many. They're good players. Harris Andrews was a thorn in our side.

"You'd like to see a few more of them come to ground and see what you can make of them."

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Buckley was full of praise for ruckman Brodie Grundy, who had 21 hitouts to advantage to go with 28 disposals in a dominant all-round performance.

However, he said Brisbane got on top around the stoppages in the final quarter and were able to take valuable ground going forward.

"Seven scoring shots to three in the last quarter was telling, and ultimately they were able to get over the line," he said.