Lions expect to see Beams back

BRISBANE Lions coach Chris Fagan has declared influential skipper Dayne Beams will play again this season in a major relief to the AFL battlers.

Beams played a bare 60 seconds in the last-placed Lions’ 60-point drubbing by premiership pacesetters GWS Giants on Saturday night after being ironed out by Shane Mumford.

The midfielder was put in the firing line by an inept kick from Nick Robertson and lay prone on the Gabba surface for two minutes before being assisted off with a left shoulder injury.

Beams, who had his right shoulder reconstructed in late 2015, never looked like returning, raising fears his season was over. Fagan allayed those concerns after the 22.14 (146) to 12.14 (86) loss.

“We’ll know more once he’s had a scan but there isn’t an expectation that he’s going to need an operation,” he said.

“He’ll probably recover and play some footy, I just don’t know how long he’ll be out for, whether that will be one week or four weeks.”

Fagan was left to lament the absence of Beams, when both Dayne Zorko and Daniel Rich were largely invisible.