A sickening collision that could sideline inspirational Brisbane Lions skipper Jonathan Brown for up to six weeks was deflating enough.

And key utility Brent Staker suffering a potentially season-ending knee injury was a real heartbreaker.

Then Lions coach Michael Voss watched his side let a 17-point last term lead slip against Fremantle at the Gabba to lose 13.16 (94) to 14.8 (92) on Saturday night.

Yet Voss could only find positives.

While admitting "we should have won", Voss paid tribute to his young side which played the final term with one man on the bench after he used his sub minutes before losing Staker and Brown in the third term.

"You walk away with two things sometimes - the four points and pride in the performance," Voss said.

"(Against Fremantle) we walk away with one.

"I can't fault them. I am proud of what the guys did.

"Guys were going down and there was not much we could do about that.

"Still, the desperation, willing themselves to the contest, was nothing short of sensational."

The Lions hung in despite a bloodied Brown leaving the field with multiple facial fractures after accidental contact with Luke McPharlin's knee - an incident that could sideline him for four to six weeks.

"We've had him for one game and potentially he is gone," Voss said of Brown.

"(But) we hadn't had him in the pre-season anyway.

"If we lose Browny ... it shouldn't alter our forward structure too much."

Fremantle coach Mark Harvey sounded like a Lions fan afterwards, cutting journalists off at the start of the post-match press conference to dip his hat to Brisbane.

"I would just like to say that I thought the Brisbane Lions were fantastic tonight," he said.

"The way they fought out the game under a lot of duress, a lot of injuries - their young players really tried to get them over the line."

Youngsters such as last-minute replacement Claye Beams - brother of Collingwood's Dayne.

Summing up Voss' luck, Beams was drafted into the match on Saturday after veteran midfielder Luke Power withdrew with a back injury sustained while shifting furniture at home.

But Beams impressed - along with fellow debutants Ryan Lester and Rohan Bewick - despite sustaining suspected hip/rib damage in a heavy second term collision with that man McPharlin.

Despite clearly being in trouble, Beams remained on the field due to the sub rule and kicked two goals.

But Voss was eventually forced to substitute Beams with Amon Buchanan in the third term - and within 10 minutes both Staker and Brown went down.

Asked about the timing of his substitution, Voss said: "It's a rule we're all adjusting to, and while we're adjusting to it, it's got teething issues.

"For us, we've just got to work our way through that - I think we pretty much got it right.

"I don't think we would have done too much differently."

Compounding Voss' woes, key forward Mitch Clark needed assistance in the final term after being left bloodied and dazed due to a stray elbow.

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