The Brisbane Lions NEAFL side was outhunted and outworked on Saturday against the Aspley Hornets.

Trailing by two points at three-quarter time, the Lions were unable to match the Hornets in the last quarter and eventually went down by 19 points.

Development Coach Paul Henriksen was disappointed in the effort from the outset.

“Right from the start of the game, Aspley came out and were really were strong at the contest and overburdened us at the contest,” Henriksen said.

“That set the tone for the rest of the day, that we were second to the ball and lagging in behind them.

“They were just hungrier than us.”

A score-line of 2.8 (20) to 2.6 (18) at half time had many fans assuming the conditions were difficult, but Henriksen said that this wasn’t the case.

“The conditions were perfect for footy, but there was only two goals scored at half time [by each team].”

“It was a highly pressurised game and very low scoring.”

Emerging defender Mitch Hinge was a standout for the Lions, finishing with 23 disposals, four contested marks, eight intercept possessions, seven score involvements and a goal.

“I’m really happy for Mitch, he’s put a lot of work into his game in recent weeks – putting a focus into what he wants to improve.”

“He’s got that balance right between defence and attack and it’s really pleasing for him to have a great performance and get some reward for effort.”

The Lions travel to the Nation’s Capital this weekend to take on the Canberra Demons and Henriksen is expecting to see a much larger appetite to win the ball. 

“The contest has to be our first focus – our ability to win that first contest and move the ball from there.”

“Our ball movement needs to improve. It’s been down the last few weeks and we haven’t been able to score as much.”

Bounce is at 12pm on Saturday. The match is not live streamed.