BRISBANE Lions coach Justin Leppitsch has conceded his players were "reluctant runners" in what he labelled the flattest performance for more than a month in Sunday's 24-point loss to Melbourne.
The Lions failed to control Melbourne's first-half scoring burst, in which they conceded seven goals to one, which ultimately cost them the game at the MCG.
Leppitsch said his side's inability to first compete in the air and then run and create was unnerving, especially after a solid month of football where they made Adelaide, Fremantle and the Sydney Swans earn every bit of their victories.
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"We didn't look on top of the ground at all, we were very reluctant runners today," Leppitsch lamented after the game.
"It's definitely the flattest we've played for four or five weeks."
To make matters worse, the Lions were forced to substitute star onballer Pearce Hanley out of the game with a hamstring concern at half-time.
"He's struggling to get continuity. He tightened up in the hamstring again so we subbed him out," Leppitsch said.
"It's the second time we've subbed him out as a precaution, so who knows whether he'll miss any weeks. Last time he did miss a week."
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Dayne Beams was also severely restricted, especially while tackling, by a right shoulder injury that Lepptisch said he'd been "carrying all season".
The Lions mounted a second-half comeback, of sorts, but failed to translate their ascendancy onto the scoreboard, kicking 3.7 in the second half to give them just four majors for the game.
Leppitsch was mystified by his team's struggles to start the game with the right intent, particularly, as he noted, the Lions had their best side in of the season.
"I'm not sure why it took a half; individually each reason's different," he said.
"We'd been really good in that area in the last month – our compliancy's been good and we've been up and about.
"We lost our way for the first half and a bit and we couldn't kick enough goals to get the scoreline back."
Leppitsch nominated Allen Christensen's strong performance as one of the few positives to emerge out of the game.
Christensen was the Lions' best four-quarter contributor and appears to be going from strength to strength after a slow start to the season because of back surgery in the second-half of 2014 while still on Geelong's list.
"He's another guy that's come in from another club that's setting a standard for us this year and that's the standard we want," Leppitsch said.
"He's getting better and better with each week."
Leppitsch also praised the work of key defender Harris Andrews, while he added young forward Jonathan Freeman could be brought into the side in coming weeks to assist Daniel McStay who is "unfairly" having to carry the Lions' forwardline.
