BRISBANE Lions coach Michael Voss says his side was simply outclassed by the Crows in Alice Springs, despite the match being statistically closer than the final score suggested.

Adelaide ran out 51-point winners, but had just four more possessions than the Lions.

"Adelaide moved the ball a lot better than us," Voss admitted.

"The stats sort of say it was fairly even but their efficiency to be able to go to attack from defence was quite fluent, and that got us on the hop a number of times.

"We need to ... have a look at how it happened, why it happened, what was the breakdown and go from there."

Voss said the comprehensive defeat acted as a reminder that his list still has some way to go, but denied it would affect his players' confidence.

"We had a very young team out there tonight who were exposed to AFL footy for the first time, so you've always got to be a little bit patient with some of that," he said.

"Sometimes these nights just show that you've got a little bit more work to do. It's all part of being able to see what works and what doesn't work.

"They [Adelaide] had a fairly handy side in so you've got to be realistic."

Of the young Lion cubs to impress the coach, Voss singled out Jared Polec and ruckman Billy Longer, who was subbed on for the second half.

"He provided a presence around the stoppages I thought," Voss said of Longer.

Presence was something the Lions missed dearly, especially that of injured forward and captain Jonathan Brown.

While Brown will spend another lengthy stint on the sidelines, the man who accidentally sent him there, Matt Maguire, performed admirably in defence.

Maguire was the architect of many rebounding efforts throughout the night, finishing with 23 disposals and nine marks.

The Lions fly back to Brisbane on Sunday to prepare to face Carlton in Maroochydoore next Saturday, with Voss looking to finalise his starting 22 as round one approaches.

"We've got a couple of weeks now to go in the NAB Cup, that means we're going to pick as strong a side as we possibly can from here on in," he said.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs

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