Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews said it was unfair to label the Lions chokers despite their poor record in close games this AFL season.

The Lions' loss to North Melbourne on Saturday night was another this season in which they have held the lead late in the final quarter but been unable to hang on.

Last week they threw away an eight-point lead against Richmond in the closing stages while in round 14 they surrendered an 11-point lead to Melbourne.

The defeat to the Kangaroos meant the Lions dropped out of the top eight, but despite another fading performance, Matthews was adamant it wasn't a case of choking.

"That is going too far, it's just going too far," Matthews told reporters when asked about the chokers tag.

Matthews said he could understand why the tag could be applied, but believed the narrow losses were simply a case of inaccuracy in front of goal.

"The definition of (choking) is when you are in a winning position and you don't win so for a couple of weeks we have given people ammunition to make those comments," Matthews said.

"(On Saturday night) we played well but we lost the game because we didn't take the chances when we got them (and) pure accuracy conversion wins and loses you games.

"The last two weeks we have kicked inaccurately and conversion accuracy is one of football's great skills.

"Getting the ball in the first place is difficult but converting is the cream on the cake and winning and losing comes from that."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP