BRISBANE LIONS coach Leigh Matthews said his side is regaining its self-belief after watching the Lions advance to their first NAB Cup grand final in six years on Friday night.

The Lions last reached the pre-season decider in 2001 when they were thrashed by Port Adelaide before going on to become the first AFL club in 46 years to win three successive AFL premierships from 2001-03.

While his new-look side of 2007 is a long way short of premiership material just yet, Matthews said the club's surprising run to the grand final has given has not only given the players but also all Lions' supporters a welcome boost after the club slid to 13th place last year - its lowest finish since 1998.

"Our group is about trying to build some belief in itself because most people outside have got no belief in us," Matthews said after the game.

"You can talk the words but you have got to play together and play well together to establish a bit of belief and it (the last three weeks) has been important for us."

"But it's been important for our supporters too because they feel now as if there is short-term hope when three or four weeks ago they were pretty much convinced that we were just making up the numbers this year."

But while the Lions are likely to have to travel again next week for the grand final, Matthews said they would be boosted by the return of powerhouse forward Jonathan Brown for his first game of the season while Daniel Bradshaw and ruckman Jamie Charman could also return from injury as the Lions bid to win the pre-season competition for the first time.