Beams spent the better part of two months of the sidelines with a fractured bone in his foot, before returning through the NEAFL in Round 7.
An impressive first-up performance against Southport was enough to put him into senior calculations, and ultimately earn a call-up in time for the Kangaroos match.
With a Bye scheduled for the Lions this weekend, Beams can now rest up after his first senior hitout, and re-load for the remainder of the season.
“It’s probably worked out well that he gets the week off,” Physical Performance Manager Brett Burton told LIONS TV as part of the Bupa Recovery Report.
“He gets used to playing senior footy and the intensity, and then gets a week off and is ready to go again.
“Fingers crossed for him he doesn’t have any more injuries for the rest of the year.”
Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch said the Match Committee were more inclined to select Beams last week given he’d completed a full pre-season.
“He’d done a full pre-season. He did that (foot) injury just before Round 1, so he’d done a full four-month lead-in,” Leppitsch said.
“It wasn’t as if he was completely underdone, he just had four weeks off his legs. That’s what gave us a bit more confidence that he could get through the game.
“We got him in…possibly a week or so early, but that’s kind of where our list is at the moment.
“We have to do that to bring players who we think are part of our future in, and to get them the exposure.”
