A calf injury reduced key defender Josh Drummond to the role of spectator early in the Brisbane Lions' nail-biting six-point AFL loss to Carlton at the Gabba.

But frustrated Lions coach Michael Voss said Drummond was not the only player in Brisbane colours sitting back and watching as he slammed his side's "safe" brand of football.

The usually perky demeanour of the rookie Lions coach slipped slightly following Saturday night's gut-wrenching defeat.

And fair enough.

Drummond is not expected to recover in time for their daunting trip to Launceston against defending premiers Hawthorn next Sunday after breaking down in the first term and not returning.

He adds to a shocking injury list which already includes the likes of defenders Daniel Merrett and Joel Patfull and ruckmen Matthew Leuenberger and Jamie Charman.

Despite his perennial grin, Voss was also clearly fuming over a 16-8 free kick count in Carlton's favour.

"If I am grinning it is a wry grin," Voss said.

Blues superstar Brendan Fevola capitalised on crucial free kicks on his way to eight goals to keep the fast-finishing Lions at bay.

But Voss says he'll approach the AFL after hinting that Lions captain Jonathan Brown did not receive the same treatment from officials.

"This is where it comes back to your parenting when your mum says 'if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all' and I fall into that category right now," Voss said.

"I know it's pretty glaring, pretty obvious. People make their own opinions of it (and) obviously I've got to make sure I respect the system and go through the right channels."

Perhaps what really ticked Voss off the most was the Lions' performance - or lack thereof - in the first three quarters.

Despite fighting back from 30 points down at the final break to come within a kick of the Blues, Voss claimed Brisbane had too many "passengers".

"We played a very safe brand of football. We didn't challenge the opposition in any way whatsoever and in some ways got dictated to in how the game was played," he said.

"Once we decided to change that around and have a different attitude to how we moved the ball, then the game started to turn on its head and the pressure was back on Carlton.

"But we played too safe for too long.

"The only time we decided to risk it was when we knew the game was absolutely on the line."

Utility Jared Brennan was "absolutely outstanding" with a four-goal performance while Simon Black had a game-high 33 disposals.

Carlton moved to a 6-5 record, the same as Brisbane.

But in a final slap in the face for Voss, the Blues leapfrogged the Lions into the top four on percentage.

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