Brisbane coach Michael Voss savaged his team's lack of hardness in Saturday night's upset AFL loss to Melbourne, but strongly defended captain Jonathan Brown.

After starting the season with four-straight wins, the Lions were behind from the start at the MCG and did not kick a goal in the final term to lose by 50 points.

There was plenty of speculation about Brown's fitness in the lead up to the match and he was off his best, only kicking one goal.

But Voss said Brown was not to blame and said there were no excuses for failing to match Melbourne's commitment.

"It's a very grinding season and if you're five per cent off, you're going to get a bit of a touch-up, this is a really good reality check for us ... yeah, reality bites," Voss said.

"They played harder than us and we were caught napping, some of the so-called big tough men were just left behind a little bit.

"They gave us a bit of a lesson." Brisbane have had some tough games in the first month, but Voss said it was simply an inept performance.

"It was embarrassing ... it was the way we played, that was the embarrassing part," Voss said.

"They (Melbourne) put their heads over the footy more, they wanted the footy more, they ran harder, they had the courage to run, they spread quicker - we weren't willing to be able to do those sorts of yards.

"Things we've been able to do against opposition, they clearly did to us - they were very impressive." Apart from Brown's below-par performance, Brisbane also lost key defender Daniel Merrett with a hamstring injury.

They clearly missed Justin Sherman, who was a late withdrawal with a corked thigh, and Luke Brennan (hamstring).

"He was fit enough, he was right to go," Voss said of Brown.

"It wasn't Jonathan Brown's fitness, it was certainly the way we moved the ball.

"We were very stagnant and the opposition, their pressure was very good.

"When you're moving the ball slow and half-backs are dropping off and able to sweep out, anyone looks slow - he wasn't the only slow bloke on the field, we had plenty of them." Brisbane's next opponent will be in-form Sydney, who also have four wins, next Saturday night at the SCG.

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