BRISBANE Lions coach Michael Voss said Saturday night’s six-point loss to Carlton at the Gabba had more to do with his team’s passive play than disputed umpiring decisions.

Looking agitated at being on the receiving end of a 16-8 free kick count, Voss bit his tongue when quizzed on the officiating.

Carlton’s eight-goal hero Brendan Fevola converted twice in the second half from free kicks, while at the other end of the ground Lions captain Jonathan Brown seemed to go unrewarded numerous times despite having legitimate claims.

"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.

"For me ... 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."

However, Voss reiterated the loss, which leaves the Lions at 6-5, had more to do with his team’s cautious approach.

After slashing a 30-point three-quarter time deficit to a single straight kick, Voss praised his players' commitment but was critical of their play in the first three terms.

He said they needed to be more willing to take the game on to have future success.

"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.

"You’ve got to risk that to try and generate your own play and we didn’t decide to risk anything for the night. The only time we decided to risk it was when we knew the game was absolutely on the line."

Voss heaped praise on utility Jared Brennan, who kicked four goals, and midfielder Simon Black, whose 33 possessions was his best output of the season.

He said despite Fevola’s brilliance, there was little his defenders could do when the midfield was so reactive.

Voss added Josh Drummond’s calf injury sustained in the first quarter could possibly keep him out of next weekend’s clash with Hawthorn.

"You walk away extremely disappointed from the day but you also realise that you rock up Monday and it’s game on again," he said.

"For us we lick our wounds, get upset with what happened and another opportunity that we perhaps let go.

"But we’re still in the race, we’re still up there and we can’t afford to get too down on ourselves with our good start to the season."