JUSTIN Leppitsch knows his team let North Melbourne off the hook on Saturday.
The Brisbane Lions coach was simmering but remained measured when he spoke to reporters following the 34-point loss, saying that missed opportunities killed his team.
The Lions led by four points at quarter-time and missed five set shots in the opening 10 minutes of the second term before the Kangaroos took a strangehold on the match.
Leppitsch admitted the air went out of the Lions' tyres after that.
They tried hard, which the coach was proud of, but turnovers, dropped marks and missed goals eventually took their toll.
"It was a pretty frustrating game, I must say. Probably as frustrated as I’ve been for a number of reasons," Leppitsch said.
"One, because you don’t take your opportunities. Everyone is watching in the crowd that you are probably one handball away from a goal and it doesn’t quite eventuate if you over-run the ball.
"I guess they are the things that we hope to work on over time.
"Just one of those games that you look back and say "geez, there were some opportunities there".
Despite having less of the ball, the Lions generated one more inside 50s and had just four less scoring shots.
They also won the final quarter.
Captain Tom Rockliff (calf) and Daniel Rich (hamstring) left the match early, but Leppitsch said both were minor problems and might not need scans.
The pair of prime movers battled to say the least, with Rockliff having just 10 touches, and Rich a career-low seven after being tagged by Ben Jacobs.
They weren't the only experienced Lions to struggle, with returning defender Daniel Merrett giving away three goals through free kicks and former Carlton midfielder Tom Bell battling to have an impact.
"The positive is the effort’s there," Leppitsch said.
"Even on a night where maybe only five or six of our players could put their hand up and say they had an average or above average game, it's not a bad result.
"Normally we’d have 15 pretty good players and still get a result like that last season.
"There were enough of our good players down tonight also, if they were up and about, who knows?"
Leppitsch said that although the skill errors might eventually cost players their positions, it wouldn't be in the near future.
He said effort would come over errors when selecting his team.
"We've got to make sure we stay positive through it," he said.
"We've played two pretty good teams straight up. We've had some pretty good footy as well, and some parts that are not.
"We have to keep a level head as to where we're at, who we're playing and what we can deliver on any given day."
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