LAST year Brisbane danced on thin ice following the mid-season bye, and this year it wants to re-establish the Gabba as a cauldron feared by opponents.

For so many seasons the Lions’ home ground was an almost guaranteed four premiership points, but the wheels have wobbled a touch in the past 18 months.

Following an unbeaten 2023 (13-0), Brisbane had an 8-4 record at the Gabba last year, while 2025 has proved even less fruitful to date with a 4-3 ledger.

Speaking on Tuesday morning following the mid-season break, Cam Rayner said the home record was something the Lions wanted to address in the back half of the year.

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Rayner: "If you don't play your best footy against anyone you get found out"

Cam Rayner speaks to the media ahead of the Lions round 17 clash at home against Port Adelaide.

“We want to make the Gabba a really hard place to come to,” he said. “Since I’ve been at the footy club, it really has, and I want to get back to doing that.

“That just comes back down to the way we play and the mindset of being hunters there and taking it to teams.

“Hopefully we can get that going again this week.”

Brisbane hosts Port Adelaide on Saturday night; a team that hasn’t won there against Chris Fagan’s men since 2017.

“I feel like every team that comes to the Gabba wants to knock us off there, as we did when we were younger, we’d chase teams at their home ground and try to beat the teams near the top of the ladder,” Rayner said.

“Teams that come to the Gabba obviously set themselves for it and get really excited about the opportunity to try to beat us there, and I’m looking forward to flipping that script around.”

Rayner said Brisbane was happy with its first half of the season, sitting in second position with 10 wins and a draw from 15 matches.

It’s a stark contrast to last season’s bye where they sat in 13th place with just four wins from 11 matches, sparking Fagan’s now famous “if you’re walking on thin ice, you might as well dance” mantra that would drive his team to a premiership.

“There’s been some things that have worked really really well and some things we’d like to tidy up,” Rayner said.

“You’ve got to make sure you’re hitting form at the right time, and I feel like this group is building in the right direction at the moment.

“The game against Geelong was a good step forward and hopefully we can continue that on.”