Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews said he was proud his undermanned team tested Geelong and avoided a flogging at Skilled Stadium on Saturday.
Matthews, whose team lost by 27 points after dominating much of the first half, said the Brisbane team of two years would have been 'smashed' by Geelong under similar circumstances.
Prior to this year, the Lions' past two visits to Skilled Stadium have produced losses by 50 and 77 points.
The Lions, already missing Travis Johnstone, Nigel Lappin and Josh Drummond, lost superstars Jonathan Brown and Simon Black, who were both late withdrawals on Saturday.
That meant Luke Power was the only one of the Lions' four co-captains who lined up against last year's premier.
"But when so much of your leadership isn't there and one of your power forwards isn't there it's easy to emotionally give it away," Matthews said.
"I think this team has got the belief that if it does the right things it's capable of competing against anybody."
"I said to the group after the game this same group of players two years ago would have got smashed down here. So there's a lot of growth in a lot of players who aren't necessarily household names."
Geelong coach Mark Thompson said his team's first quarter, when it conceded 11 scoring shots and had the inside-50 count against it 7-20, was one of its 'worst quarters of footy for quite some while'.
"We can't remember that (20 inside 50s) happening in the last two years," Thompson said.
"A big focus all week was to try and have a good start. We certainly didn't."
Thompson said it was pleasing his team was able to bounce back in the final three quarters.
"I worry about the slow starts but I also like the fact we were able to reset our goals and go back to our opponents and give them the respect they deserve," he said.
"Because they truly did deserve a lot of respect because they were winning a lot of the ball. And to play that sort of footy for the last three quarters was a real positive in our eyes."
Brisbane, which has won three of its first seven games, faces Carlton at Telstra Dome in a fortnight's time while the unblemished Geelong tackles last year's wooden-spooner Richmond at the MCG.