Mr Nice Guy Michael Voss is considering turning nasty.

The rookie Brisbane coach has had a gutful of his Lions losing their roar before the first bounce and only finding it when their AFL encounters hit desperation stakes.

To ensure his team starts with the intensity and aggression required in Saturday night's clash with a hungry Port Adelaide, Voss is looking at taking a fire-and-brimstone approach before the match.

Instead of going from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde during a game, like the weekend's loss to Western Bulldogs where he blasted the Lions' first half as insipid, the mild-mannered coach is ready to "sting" his team into action early.

"I might replicate a scenario where I'm going to say (pre-match) `guys we're six goals down and you're going to cop a spray'," Voss said on Monday.

"They seem to whip into action pretty well when they're under a bit of fire and they need to get things going.

"I joke about it but maybe that's what we need for this week and maybe I'm too nice before the game rather than halftime and start finger-pointing at the start of the game.

"We will look at all those things."

The Lions have generally started slowly in each match this season, but most particularly against the Bulldogs and in their draw with Essendon a week earlier.

Brisbane produced their best start against Collingwood at the start of the month, a game in which Voss admitted he'd fired up more than usual.

"We haven't started well across the whole year," he said.

"It's all completely around want. Do I want to do it? And want comes with intensity and we haven't showed the want in the last couple of weeks."

With Brisbane now officially qualified for their first finals series in five years, Voss has warned his players they will waste a huge opportunity if they fail to play four-quarter football.

"Throughout the course of the year they have shown they can fight out games, but at the moment we lack the intent to do it over four quarters," he said.

"It's as though we have to be stung in the backside before we think `we have to do something about this situation'."

On the flipside, Brisbane, who have now dropped to seventh, believe they can match it with any team when they "get it right".

"The thing I've been most disappointed about over the last few weeks, we've had opportunities to show that level of intensity and we haven't achieved that yet," Voss said.

"Port have always shown that when their backs are to the wall they can lift a little notch and we have to show the same attitude coming into this game."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP