CHRIS Fagan tried hard to keep a lid on his delight, but the Brisbane coach cracked plenty of smiles following his team's resounding win over West Coast on Saturday night.

After trailing by 27 points at quarter-time, the Lions ran roughshod over the Eagles to run out 44-point victors – the club's first win over a reigning premier since 2009.

Fagan conceded it was a good time to catch the undermanned Eagles, but paid tribute to the resilience of his young outfit.

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"The players are excited by the fact they just beat the team that won the premiership last year," he said.

"They probably couldn't have dreamed that two years ago.

"I think they dreamed a bit this week about it though, I think there was a little bit of belief there."

Fagan said the improvement over the past two years and the off-season acquisitions of Lachie Neale, Lincoln McCarthy and Jarryd Lyons was enough to have everyone believing.

The trio were all instrumental in the victory, but there was barely a Lion that didn't contribute.

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"It's only one game but I was just proud of our blokes today," Fagan said.

"We were 27 points down at quarter-time, things weren't looking good.

"It was a good show of mental strength.

"Sometimes young teams crumble when the premiership team do that to you in the first quarter, but I thought we showed really good resilience."

"It's just one week, I wish it was 15 weeks doing that, but it's just one.

"We've got to stay fairly calm about it I think."

Fagan was quick to point out next week's opponent – North Melbourne – belted the Lions at Marvel Stadium when the teams met last season.