Brisbane coach Michael Voss admits he is struggling to explain his side's inconsistent form within matches during his first two AFL games in charge.

The Lions were outscored eight goals to one by Carlton during the second quarter of Saturday night's match at Etihad Stadium, thrashed in the midfield during that period as the Blues built a 41-point half-time lead.

While Brisbane fought back to within two goals during the final term, they were unable to completely bridge the gap.

They were also forced stage a fightback in the opening round against West Coast, after trailing by 25 points at the first change, a match the Lions managed to win.

But Voss said Brisbane were unlikely to be successful too often if they continued throwing in such poor quarters.

"It's obviously disappointing that we're having these patches at the moment where we're not playing four quarters," he said.

"The signs are there, but we're just obviously not playing out the game in its entirety which you need to do."

He was unable to give a reason for the lapses.

"It's probably early days at the moment to cast any sort of judgment on that," he said.

"Obviously when you play a game there's a degree of concentration and focus you need to have over a long period of time.

"If you have that loss of focus or concentration you just sort of lose your edge then you obviously struggle to be able to play against good teams and certainly (against Carlton's) great midfielders and obviously hope to still win the game."

But Voss was able to take some positives from the way his side fought back in the second half and particularly the performance of second-game midfielder Daniel Rich, who helped spark the revival.

"He was one of the proactive ones, once we looked proactive and we wanted to take that on, he was one of the ones that did do that," Voss said.

"We're obviously looking for that all the time, when you've got a second-gamer who's doing that it's pleasing to see."

Carlton coach Brett Ratten also highlighted the performances of some of his young midfielders, such as Bryce Gibbs and Marc Murphy, while singling out less heralded former Brisbane midfielder Richard Hadley for praise.

"It's great now Rich (Hadley) has backed up two weeks in a row," Ratten said.

"Playing at (Etihad Stadium) everyone talks about speed and that, but you've still got to go and win the 50-50 (contests).

"I think Hadley had about 27 possessions and really went inside the game and won it."

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