Lions mentor returns after almost 12-months on the sidelines

He ruptured his ACL last year against Osborne in round 8, robbing the Lions of their best defender.

Haines had been training at full pace for the past month and emerged unscathed in his first match back.

"I've been training for a while now and got the final tick of approval to resume playing last week," Haines said.

"I completed testing with Matt Koroneos who runs MK Movement out of Craigieburn.

"So I ended up playing on the weekend.

"It felt a bit awkward to be back playing at the start but I found trying to coach from the sidelines a bit boring at times.

"I played forward on the weekend which was also something a bit different."

Haines was able to have an impact on the scoreboard after he booted two goals.

The Lions kicked atrociously in the loss against the vastly improved Magpies who won the clash 9.11 (65) to 4.21 (45).

Chiltern recruit Michael McWilliams also played his first match of the season for the Lions after missing the first four rounds with work and family commitments.

Dual best and fairest winner Luke Bokic hasn't played since suffering a quad injury in the opening round and is still another fortnight away from returning.

Haines said the Murray Magpies had improved dramatically under first year coach Dylan Dos Santos.

The Magpies have won three matches to sit outside the top-six by percentage.

They play CDHBU, Brock-Burrum, Jindera and Holbrook in the next month.

"Full credit to the Magpies they have already won a few matches and are a lot more competitive than previous years," Haines said.

"Some of their recruits look to be handy players and they were missing their best midfielder in Spencer Jones alongside Reilly Mitchell

"Dos Santos is a reliable defender and they have got a few flashy forwards like Michael Mummery that also looked dangerous and hard to match-up on.

"So I don't think sides will be able to treat the Magpies lightly going forward."