JONATHAN Brown is no guarantee of playing round one despite making his comeback from a foot injury on Saturday, says Brisbane Lions coach Justin Leppitsch.

Brown finished with just two disposals in a quiet half of football in a practice match against the Sydney Swans.

The former Lions skipper has endured a frustrating pre-season dogged by an ongoing foot problem, and Leppitsch said the match committee had "a big discussion" ahead of round one against Hawthorn on March 22.

"We'll see how his progression's going and see how he's right for two weeks time," Leppitsch said.

"We'll have a big discussion on whether he's ready for that game or the one or two after.

"(We) Just have to make sure we do the right thing by him when his body's ready."

While it is hard to imagine Brown being left out when he is fit to play, Leppitsch said he had a lot to ponder following the 27-point loss at Burpengary.

Despite trailing on the inside-50 count just 20-19 at half-time, the Lions were down 27 points at the main break and rarely looked dangerous going forward.

Richmond recruit Luke McGuane was quiet in the first half but broke the shackles in the second, finishing with two goals, while second-year forwards Michael Close and Marco Paparone also had quiet days.

"It was disappointing that we couldn't capitalise with that forward structure that was there (in the first half)," Leppitsch said.

"We did mix it up in the second half there and got a better result. There's a few things for us to think about."

Leppitsch admitted he was still tinkering with his defensive structure that may include Daniel Rich coming off half-back.

Starting with the ball in Rich's hands from defence gave the Lions far more fluency and potency from their back half.

"There's still three or four things I'm unsure of that might take two weeks, four weeks, five weeks to figure out.

"Is Mitch Golby a better half-back or wingman? Is Daniel Rich a better half-back or inside mid?

"They're the sorts of things we'll have to find over time depending on our game style and what we think."

Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting