Dayne Beams showed that you don’t have to be captain to lead from the front, putting in a team-best performance for the Lions in their 18 point loss to the Swans at the Gabba tonight.

Beams earned plaudits from the football world this week after standing down as the Lions’ skipper, putting his hand up to admit that the loss of his father earlier this year was detracting from his ability to lead the club.

While he handed the captaincy to fellow midfielder Dayne Zorko, Beams said he would still continue to play for the Lions.

Carrying on from a recent run of good form, Beams racked up 38 disposals and a goal on his way to being Brisbane’s best on ground in tonight’s game.

After the game Lions Coach Chris Fagan paid tribute to Beams’ effort, saying he was the stand out in an even team performance.

“The really good players, they shine when the conditions get slippery,” Fagan said.

“There’s no doubt he (Beams) made a significant contribution tonight, it was a fantastic game by him.”

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After two successive high-scoring games at the Gabba, including last week’s first win over the season against Hawthorn, Fagan lamented his team’s ability to make an impact on the scoreboard.

“We didn’t fall down in too many places, you could probably say kicking for goal,” Fagan said.  

“I think they kicked 6.3 and we kicked 4.6, in a game that was as tight as that, sometimes it comes down to those things.

“The other thing I thought they did was they won the ball when it hit the ground in our front half a bit too much, and repelled from those situations.”

Fagan said despite their poor finishing, he was proud his young side matched it with a battle-hardened Sydney outfit in the wet conditions.

“We proved though that we could play against a big-bodied side in conditions that probably suited them more than us,” he said.

“We really toughed it out and I loved that about the performance tonight.”

Another positive Fagan drew from the game was the efforts of young defenders Darcy Gardiner and Harris Andrews.

Andrews broke up many Sydney attacking forays with 23 spoils, while Gardiner kept Lance Franklin to just one goal.

“I just thought we played Darcy (Gardiner) on Jeremy Cameron a few weeks back against GWS and he did a really good job that night,” he said.

“I feel Like Jeremy Cameron is a little bit similar to ‘Bud’, so trusted him to get the role done, and he played a fantastic game tonight.

“He told me after the game that the conditions helped, but I honestly think that he played a great game. Harris played equally as well.”

Fagan said Matt Eagles was expected to miss a few weeks with an abdominal injury he suffered in the first half.