The Lions had to play out most of Saturday's clash against GWS without Andrews, their vice-captain and key defender, after he was knocked out cold by an elbow from star forward Cameron.

The incident is likely to lead to a lengthy suspension for Cameron, who already had a poor tribunal record - but unlike Andrews, he was able to play out the match.

Cameron proved crucial to the Giants' cause in the end, kicking three goals as they prevailed by 27 points.

The Lions, meanwhile, were left with only three players on the bench and Fagan said he was forced to move Josh Walker from the forward line into defence to compensate.

That, in turn, allowed GWS to take a number of key marks in Brisbane's forward 50 during the second quarter, when the visitors eked out what proved a winning edge.

Social media lit up with calls for the AFL to introduce red cards to punish players like Cameron for such occurrences of foul play.

And while Fagan admits there is an injustice about what happened, he isn't about to petition for change.

"It comes up, doesn't it? It's so hard for the AFL though to decide on that," he said.

"If an umpire makes a mistake and a big final's lost because of it and the player goes to the match review panel and (finds) there's nothing much in it, it's a real tough issue.

"I know it hurt us tonight, and if Cameron is rubbed out, the teams (GWS) plays down the track will be the beneficiary of the fact that he's not playing and we weren't tonight.

"I reckon you could argue for and against that over a beer for 10 hours ... (but) I don't think we need a red card system."

Australian Associated Press