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Brisbane lost their first two games of the AFL season but coach Chris Fagan likes what he has seen ahead of their big clash with Collingwood.

Brisbane are winless heading into a crunch round three AFL clash with Collingwood but coach Chris Fagan is confident the Lions will be better off for their tough start to the season.

Upset by Sydney in their season opener, Brisbane then copped a heartbreaking one-point loss to Geelong last Friday.

But Fagan said he had been encouraged by the way his team were playing, rather than dwelling on the two negative results.

"The task we had last week against Geelong, to beat them down there, was a difficult one and if a little bit of luck had gone our way we would have those four points," Fagan said.

"I was encouraged by last week's performance and, in some ways it was one of our better performances, over the last four or five years since I've been at the club.

"I've never been one to concern myself too much with the wins and losses - it's more about how we play the game, and that's what we're looking for (on Thursday) night.

"We've had a good run the last couple of years - we've rarely lost more than two games in a row, mostly one. (We) haven't lost many games at all.

"So all teams in their life-span get challenged at different times and we're facing a challenge now but whatever happens, we'll come out the other side of it a better team."

Thursday night's game was shifted from the Gabba to Marvel Stadium with the Lions remaining in Victoria after the Geelong clash amid Brisbane's coronavirus outbreak.

Fagan called on Brisbane to be strong at the contest from the opening bounce.

"For Bucks' (Nathan Buckley) entire coaching time at Collingwood, they've always been a great contested ball clearance team - it's where the game all starts," Fagan said.

"So that's going to be a massive battle - whoever wins that I'm pretty certain will win the game."