The Lions' first Gabba sellout since 2010 was one to forget as Collingwood dominated 18.15 (123) to 8.13 (61) on Easter Thursday.

The manner of the loss was as worrying as the margin for Fagan, who lamented his side's inability to escape their own half and admitted some of his players were battling for form.

Essendon were too slick last weekend as they ended the Lions' three-game unbeaten start to the season, with Fagan agreeing they'd been "off the boil" since then.

"We've got a few out of form, that's true," the coach said.

"The NEAFL team has been in pretty good form, some guys there will be a chance for next week.

"We won our first three games, so no need to change the team, then you lose one so you think 'well, give them a chance'.

"We've now lost two so we have to have a bit of a look at the team."

Changes might be forced in any case, with key defender Harris Andrews and midfielder Rhys Mathieson second-half casualties with hamstring injuries.

The coach was disappointed to dish up such a performance in front of the 34,017-strong crowd but tried to keep things in perspective.

"Although we've been excited by the three-nil start there's still always the fact there's a lot more improvement to come in this group and nights like tonight remind you of that," he said.

"We've just been off the boil the last couple of weeks.

"We're a developing team, so stick with us and hopefully there will be a few more crowds of that size against other teams."

Australian Associated Press