Frankly these pussycats have nothing to lose - absolutely zilch in the face of relegation.
The Chris Boyd-coached metropolitan cats have nine lives - one for every week of competition in the NPC - and three remain.
They have hit rock bottom but whatever happens before the playoffs from October 17, this season surely couldn't be any worse than the 55-7 humiliation at the hands of Counties-Manukau in Pukekohe last Saturday.
"Well, they feel responsible as they should and we all should because it's a collective thing," Boyd said.
Ironically for that very reason the visitors should be deemed dangerous in tomorrow night's Ranfurly Shield challenge against holders Hawke's Bay Magpies.
Coach Craig Philpott and his assistant, Danny Lee, will have drummed into their troops to never contend with a team who have everything to gain, going into the 7.35pm kick off at McLean Park.
City slickers one season and city lickers the next, the Lions have run the gauntlet of every imaginable fear, albeit coming out the other end looking worse for wear.
Not only has the tribe spoken but it keeps incessantly burping it up like stale beer the day after a night out to forget.
With the Wellington Rugby Union, media and former representatives demanding reasons and desperately seeking solutions, the players will want nothing more than another shot at redemption to at least defer the fingerpointing ritual to post-Christmas period.
Any old shield, as it were, will do to deflect the pain of a winter of despondency.
But then again, it isn't just any shield up for grabs tomorrow night. It's the Log of Wood, the symbol of provincial rugby supremacy in the country.
Not everything will be forgiven or forgotten, of course.
The rugby faithful aren't that easily distracted but at least it'll give those baying for black-and-gold blood a glimmer of what-ifs in seven straight losses.
"At the end of the day people are passionate about rugby in this country and they all tend to have their opinion," Boyd said last night in Napier.
While the Championship pill will be a bitter pill to swallow in their first demotion from the NPC since its inception in 1976, Boyd will resort to a fair bit of reverse psychology.
Salvaging some pride will be a good starting point but there's an even better incentive - using the shield as a foundation for rekindling any remaining strands of self-esteem although Boyd knows nothing's a given.
"Mate, Ranfurly Shield is a one-off game. It's a big thing in New Zealand rugby so it's an opportunity for us to play because many people go through a career and don't get that opportunity," said the coach who threw his hat in the ring in 2007 for a stint with the Magpies.
Only All Black loosie Victor Vito, lock Ross Filipo and midfielder Tu Umaga-Marshall have had a taste of shield footy since the Lions lost the prized timber to Canterbury in 2009.
Lock Mark Reddish won't play tomorrow because he's under a concussion cloud although the team won't be named until midday today.
The challengers have dug themselves into a hole so he expects everyone to toil tirelessly to find solutions to end the rot.
While mindful the Magpies are also coming off a loss to giant-killing North Harbour, Boyd didn't expect any hiccups from the hosts tomorrow because they had rested key players for the shield.
Lee was loath to rest and rotate against Harbour and that has come to pass. It won't do much for the fluidity and cohesiveness of the Magpies but prudent selection should rectify that.
