An offer from Brisbane coach Chris Fagan to rest sparked star midfielder Lachie Neale's return-to-form in the Lions' impressive 24-point victory over Collingwood.
Down on his stellar best for the last month, Neale gathered 31 possessions and had a team-high 10 clearances as the Lions won the top-of-the-table showdown to take a giant step towards claiming a crucial qualifying final at the Gabba.
The 2020 Brownlow medallist confessed during the week he had been disappointed with his recent output and vowed to turn it around.
Fagan revealed after Friday night's triumph - the Lions' sixth-straight over Collingwood - that Neale had been struggling with illness and injury.
"Walking off the ground last week, I said 'mate, you can have a week off next week if you think it's gonna help you'," Fagan said.
"I think that might have sort of been like 'nah coach, I'm not having a week off, I'm going to prove to you that I'm going to be right to play'. That's just Lachie Neale.
"This week was the first time he's been able to get out on the track and train normally and I think he got a lot of confidence from that.
"He's a pretty tough sort of guy, but the season had worn him down just a little bit physically."
Brisbane will finish no lower than second if they can account for St Kilda at the Gabba next Saturday, which would secure an important home final.
The Lions might not need to leave their Brisbane fortress, where they have won 11-straight games, until grand final week if they win their first two matches in September.
"We knew at three-quarter-time we're going to finish top-four, we just didn't want to go back into our shells worried about that second spot," Fagan said of the last quarter surge to bury Collingwood.
"Just go for it and see what happens."
Brisbane lost their round-18 match to Melbourne at the MCG by a point despite being 24 points clear midway through the final quarter.
Since then the Lions have won tight games against Geelong, Fremantle and Adelaide, while seeing off a late challenge from Collingwood, who are known for their trademark come-from-behind wins.
"The thing about your losses, they actually help you more sometimes than your wins," Fagan said.
"Not taking any credit away from Melbourne but we, and I, botched the last five or six minutes of that game.
"It was a hard lesson to learn but a good lesson and yes when we found ourselves in that situation the last four times since that game funnily enough it's worked out."
Utility Cal Ah Chee (back) and forward Linc McCarthy failed to finish the game against the Magpies, but Fagan is hopeful the pair will be right for finals.
