When the Brisbane Cricket Ground was last dubbed the 'Gabbattoir' - Michael Voss was skippering the Lions to three AFL premierships, Jason Akermanis and his handstands were thrilling sell-out crowds and Jonathan Brown was a young buck on the rise.

Oh how times have changed.

Voss of course now coaches the club he did so much for on the field, Akermanis can expect a frosty reception when he dons the red, white and blue of the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night at the Gabba, while Brown is one of the competition's most revered players.

It isn't completely dissimilar though.

It would be more than a little leftfield to suggest the Lions are en route to another flag, but barring any disasters, the club will be playing finals football for the first time since 2004.

The other parallel is Brisbane's home record, which currently stands at 7-2 with losses to form sides Collingwood and Carlton being the only blemishes.

The club stands to finish the year with their best record at the Gabba since 2004, when they dropped a total of zero games in Brisbane - ending an era where the Lions tasted defeat only five times in four years on their own turf.

It is not going to be easy though. This weekend the fifth-placed Lions host the fourth-placed Bulldogs and a double chance in the finals is up for grabs.

Voss' mental toughness and strength were cornerstones of the Lions dominant record at home in 2001-04 and the first-year coach is quick to admit he yearns for the club to once again establish such a stronghold at the Gabba.

"We look at Geelong and I think most people over a couple of years have seen just how difficult it is to win at Skilled Stadium," Voss said on Friday.

"That's a unique thing (home ground advantage) that we have and while you've got that, you have to maximise it…when you're at home you've got one little advantage."

"What it equates to in kicks, marks and handballs - you're never too sure, but we do have a home crowd and that is a factor."

Voss was not about to underestimate just how hard a test the Bulldogs, traditionally quite a strong team at the Gabba, would hold this weekend though.

"We've got a very, very good team who plays well here, so it's going to be a big challenge for us, but hopefully we can continue that form while we're at the Gabba," he said.

"It is something we're trying to build up here, because we only get teams that come up once a year to play us - or twice if we're fortunate enough to host a final at any time."

While the results have obviously been pleasing, Voss has been most impressed by the Lions' competitiveness in Brisbane this year.

"The games that we've played here, we've certainly been in the finish and that's all you can ever ask."

"I once owned a racehorse and all I ever wanted it to do was to be in the finish, so I could get a bit excited, and for us it's a little bit the same."

Voss confirmed there would be no late changes to his side, despite the late decision to make Friday's training session a closed one.

The high-stakes match will see Travis Johnstone return to play his second game in nine weeks for the Lions.

Voss was tightlipped when asked about the importance of the match for the out of favour midfielder.

"We need all our players up and going at this time of the year, it's critical…we need Travis like we need everyone else to be in good form coming into the finals."

"It's important for all our players, at this time of the year it's all important," Voss quipped when the topic was raised again.

A mishap at a local theme park where Will Minson was stuck against a net was the biggest news to come out of the Bulldogs camp.

There was no damage done to Minson and Dogs coach Rodney Eade was happy to laugh off the incident, but there was no smirk when discussion turned to more serious matters, -- such as the side's woeful inaccuracy in the shock loss to West Coast last weekend.

"There were no excuses, we certainly created enough opportunities last week - we had 32 scoring shots and didn't play very well," Eade said.

"We've been pretty pleased with our accuracy for the year, I think we were probably No.1 in the competition, but last week hurt us."
"You've just got to take your chances when they present, the competition is too even and too tough to let chances slip."

Eade was looking forward to the return of forwards Robert Murphy and Scott Welsh from injury, along with what Akermanis would produce in what could potentially be his last game in Brisbane.

"He's been up and about, he's obviously looking forward to coming back to his home state," he said.

"His form for the first 10 or 12 weeks was fantastic, and I think his last three or four weeks have been more back to his match-winning, where he can turn a game."