Perhaps Dayne Beams was the only one complaining following his stellar Brisbane debut, after getting what coach Justin Leppitsch believes is a sign of things to come.

The ex-Collingwood premiership winner was a standout in the Lions’ AFL pre-season win over St Kilda in Burpengary, north of Brisbane, notching 25 classy touches.

And that was the problem.

Beams’ dominance on Saturday ensured he copped a tag – a rarity for the former All-Australian during his days at the Magpies.

But Leppitsch reckons Beams better get used to it after an inaccurate Brisbane held on 0.7.16 (58) to 0.8.7 (55) in their NAB Challenge opener.

“Welcome to the new world, Beamsy. It might happen a bit more,” Leppitsch laughed.

“(But) he was good, wasn’t he?”

Leppitsch also liked what he saw from Daniel Rich (19 disposals) in his first game back from a lengthy knee injury in Brisbane’s quality midfield.

But his forward line is still a major headache before their official AFL round one clash with Beams’ former club Collingwood on April 4.

Life without retired champion Jonathan Brown was never going to be easy for Brisbane.

However, it may be a little more challenging than expected after Brent Staker (four touches, two behinds), Michael Close (five touches, one goal) and Daniel McStay (six touches, 1.1 in front) failed to impress up front.

“We are still struggling to mark the ball inside 50m. That will always be a test for us,” Leppitsch said.

“We didn’t answer any questions in that area today.”

Meanwhile, St Kilda coach Alan Richardson was ruing the first quarter injury to young gun Jack Billings (hamstring).

“We haven’t had scans or anything but that is a bummer,” he said.

“We are hoping that is just a couple of weeks but we will wait and see.”

David Armitage was the Saints’ standout, notching a game high 28 disposals.

And Richardson paid tribute to their No.1 draft pick Paddy McCartin (1.1), who showed flashes of brilliance up front.

“He gave us a good contest late in the game, going back with the flight and wore one for his trouble,” Richardson said.

“He had to come off with the blood rule and get the old mummy bandage on, and he wanted to get back out there.”

Richardson was left scratching his head over their tentative start.

“We were way too conservative,” Richardson said.

“We were very easy to defend because we were so stagnant with our ball use.

“If the Lions had kicked straight it would have been over by halftime.”