Brisbane coach Chris Fagan says the club has learnt from its mistakes in last year's corresponding clash with Geelong at the Gabba as weather forecasts a wet contest.
Last year, the Cats adjusted to the trying conditions more effectively than the Lions, running out eventual winners by 26 points as the home side overpossessed the ball by hand.
In anticipation of the game that could see up to 60mm of rain, Brisbane went to work on the fundamentals of territory football.
"It just becomes a simpler game," Fagan said on Friday.
"It's a contest-to-contest game. Take the territory sort of game. We made the mistake last year of overhandballing in those conditions, which helped cause our demise.
"It'd be fair to say they handled the conditions a lot better than what we did. We took the time yesterday to focus in on that."
The Lions will welcome back premiership forwards Kai Lohmann (ankle) and Charlie Cameron (calf) to the senior side, with the latter's first match of 2025 coming on Saturday.
It will be the first time this season that Fagan will have his preferred forward line, with debutant Will McLachlan and Conor McKenna making way.
"You think it'd be a ground-level game, so two nippy blokes in the forward line that can swoop on to a loose ball are pretty handy inclusions," Fagan said.
"It is the forward line we've had all pre-season but haven't had the first couple of games.
"It'll be interesting to see how that goes.
"Ball movement might not be the big thing tomorrow night if it's wet, but if you move the ball well, you give yourself the best chance to score.
"Those two boys kicked 80 or 90 goals between them last year, so they're pretty handy to have back in the team."
Geelong midfielder Bailey Smith will return to the side, while Tom Stewart, albeit under an injury cloud after last week's loss to St Kilda, was named.
Fagan is still wary of Stewart's influence on games, declaring him a "superstar defender" and one of the best interceptors in the competition.
In their last outing, the Lions won the all-important preliminary final clash at the MCG in wet conditions on their way to a historic premiership.
The preliminary final rematch was initially scheduled for Opening Round but was postponed due to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
