Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews still believes the Lions have a shot at making the finals - but using the historic West Coast win as a platform to reach a higher playing level will not form any part of his game plan.

The pragmatic Matthews even thinks it will be a challenge returning Brisbane's jubilant playing group to the 'neutral emotional state' required to record backup wins against the Demons and the Blues over the ensuing weeks.

Perhaps burnt by allowing expectation to get ahead of his inexperienced squad earlier this season, Matthews said the 27-point victory at Subiaco - the club's first win in the West since 2001 - should be excellent for team morale.

"But it's come and gone and it's Monday now and next week's on," he added.

"The emotion of last week has to start subsiding. We're into the next phase which is Melbourne on Saturday night."

"But certainly it was a nice moment."

Matthews' sentiments have dramatically altered since the aftermath of Saturday's famous win when he raced down to the boundary line at the siren to congratulate his troops and subsequently rated the victory as one of the highlights of his long career.

But with the Lions still languishing 10 points adrift of the top eight, he is acutely aware of the need for balance approaching the final third of the home-and-away season.

"The challenge every week is to get yourself in what I would call your neutral emotional state," said Matthews.

"If you've lost badly it's a challenge and if you've won exciting and euphorically it's a challenge."

"Neutral being confident," he added. "Not over-confident, not under-confident."

Saying that, he recognised the long-term benefits such a display could inject into a side which had previously not won in seven rounds.

"Hopefully it will help us next Saturday night but it will certainly help us in that growth of people and their belief," he said.

"Belief is an overrated word - determination is more important than belief. As long as you act and play determinedly, the belief will take care of itself."

"But the deep down belief that I belong in this competition and can play well in this competition is what you're trying to get all players to achieve, and Saturday night would have helped many that haven't maybe had that belief."

However, beating the Eagles might well be in vain if Brisbane fails to backup that victory with wins in its Gabba meetings over Melbourne and Carlton - the strugglers two of the three sides currently below the Lions on the ladder.

"We're playing sides that are around us on the ladder on our home venue," he noted.

With caretaker coach Mark Riley at the helm, the Demons beat Carlton by 23 points at the MCG but Matthews said he saw no significant differences in tactics from the way Neale Daniher had been coaching the side in recent weeks.