THE BAR has been set for talented Brisbane Lion Daniel Rich after he returned to form with an impressive display in his side's 31-point loss to St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, coach Chris Fagan says.

Rich attracted criticism following a 14-disposal performance against Essendon in round two.

However, he was superb versus the Saints, racking up 32 disposals, nine inside-50s, eight rebound-50s and a goal.

Rich's lethal left foot helped the Lions, and he nailed a goal from the centre square in the second term.

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Fagan moved Rich to the backline after playing him in the midfield for the first two matches of the season and said after the game Rich deserved the attention that came his way.

"His work rate was right up. On the old metres gained stat, he was about 850m for the game, which is significant," Fagan said.

"That's probably the best game that Daniel's played for a long time.

"He copped a bit of criticism last week from commentators for his output. He probably deserved that, but his response today was fantastic and he showed us what he was capable of.

"He's set the bar now and the challenge each week will be to perform at or around that level on a consistent basis."

Rich won the NAB AFL Rising Star in 2009 after he was drafted with the seventh overall selection the previous year and his toughness and ball use had him pegged as one of the more exciting talents in the competition.

However, inconsistency has plagued the West Australian in recent seasons.

The Lions found themselves down six goals to one early in the second quarter before they kicked into gear.

Fagan blamed overuse of handball for many of St Kilda's opportunities.

"They created a lot of turnovers, which I think we contributed to ourselves, but in the end that's why they won the game. I think they kicked 9.17 from turnovers, and a lot of those would have been just handball chains from us," he said.

"We're not there yet as a team with our decision-making and our skill, but we'll get there. It's just going to take a little bit of time."

Defender Darcy Gardiner was forced off the ground in the second quarter with a corked right quad that quickly swelled up, and didn't return. Fagan was not sure whether Gardiner would be fit for next Sunday's clash with Richmond at the Gabba.

The coach had no issue with St Kilda veteran Leigh Montagna's decision to run a few seconds off the clock in the last quarter when he held on to the ball in the goalsquare, instead of kicking it immediately.

"Joey's been a humble champion for a long time and I wouldn't have thought that there was anything more in that than him just being a smart player," he said.