Like most young Queenslanders that grew up playing football in the early 2000s, Charlie Dixon was an avid admirer of the dominant force that was the Brisbane Lions.

But now, the Cairns product is fixed on beating the team he once admired during their triple-premiership golden era.

“(Because of) my basketball background I only started watching them later but that was when they were winning their premierships and stuff so I suppose early days, I did yeah,” Dixon confirmed when asked if he barracked for the Lions in his early years.

Despite Gold Coast missing their key power forward in the opening QClash match earlier this season, the top eight hopefuls pounced on a depleted Lions team, smashing “big brother” by 53-points and snapping a five-game QClash losing streak in doing so.

But with Dixon now in the frame to join fellow key forward partners Tom Lynch and Sam Day in a potent three-pronged forward line, the towering big man says he is looking forward to building on the simmering rivalry that has grown in each of the seven derbies.

“Since our first game against them, there’s always been that kind of rivalry because they’re up the road,” he said.

Gold Coast remains one position outside the eight due to percentage, but can jump straight back in with a victory over its closest AFL neighbour.

But with six games still to be played this season, Gold Coast is refusing to look too far ahead, with Dixon telling reporters the team is taking each match “week by week.”

“I think we’re just going week by week at the moment,” he said.

“The game we have ahead of us then we can go from there.

“So week by week, (and) focusing on the opponent we have ahead of us then moving onto the next one.”