The Brisbane Lions will be sweating on the results of scans for two of its key players with Pearce Hanley and Dayne Beams hampered by injuries in Sunday’s 24-point loss to Melbourne at the MCG.

Hanley was subbed out of the game at halftime with a hamstring complaint and coach Justin Leppitsch wasn’t overly optimistic about his chances of lining up against North Melbourne on Saturday night.

"He's struggling to get continuity. He tightened up in the hamstring again so we subbed him out," Leppitsch said.

"It's the second time we've subbed him out as a precaution, so who knows whether he'll miss any weeks. Last time he did miss a week."

Beams was severely restricted, especially while tackling, due to a right shoulder injury. 

“He’s been carrying it through most of the year. He soldiers on though," Leppitsch said.

The Lions have now been relegated to the bottom of the ladder after a poor showing against the Demons.

"We didn't look on top of the ground at all, we were very reluctant runners today," Leppitsch said.

"It's definitely the flattest we've played for four or five weeks."

Leppitsch was baffled by Brisbane’s slow start after selecting the best side of the season.

"I'm not sure why it took a half; individually each reason's different," he said.

"We'd been really good in that area in the last month – our compliancy's been good and we've been up and about.

"We lost our way for the first half and a bit and we couldn't kick enough goals to get the score line back."

Leppitsch may be forced to make changes ahead of the encounter with the Roos and will have plenty of options.

Young forward Jonathan Freeman could be brought into the side to assist Daniel McStay, while rookie Zac O'Brien amassed a game-high 36 disposals, five marks and five tackles in the NEAFL. Draftee Liam Dawson and backman Tom Cutler also impressed.