Difficult conditions, two late changes and a young Brisbane side looking to attack at every opportunity ... all things considered, it took a big effort from North Melbourne to walk away with the four points and improve to 2-0 in 2016.

This weekend’s fixture pitted the nine Round 1 winners against the nine losers. When the first three matches went the way of the winless teams, the pressure was on North to snap the streak.

After a slow start, Brad Scott's team was able to break the game open in the middle part of the game.

From early in the second term to early in the last, the visitors kicked 12 goals to five, turning a seven-point deficit into a 43-point lead.

Jarrad Waite was influential for the second straight week with five goals and 23 disposals.

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It’s the first time since 2009 that Waite has had back-to-back games of 20+ disposals.

Ben Jacobs’ late inclusion allowed him to reprise the tagging role which won him so many plaudits in the second half of 2015.

Although Jacobs went to Tom Rockliff last season, his task was Daniel Rich on Saturday, one he carried out to perfection.

Rich had 23 disposals and two goals against West Coast in Round 1. Against the Roos, he was restricted to just seven disposals and had limited influence on the game.

Questions to answer

In NMFC.com.au’s Definitive Preview, we listed three key talking points to track during the game.

1. How will North Melbourne restrict Brisbane’s desire to play an open, free-flowing game?

The Roos were able to slow the Lions down at almost every turn, which came in for special mention by Scott during his three quarter time interview with Fox Footy.

It was reflected in the numbers. Brisbane was only able to score a total of three points after gaining possession in its defensive 50.

North was able to score four goals in the same way, a substantial difference.

2. How will the visitors start and how does that carry through the rest of the afternoon?

North was perhaps a little lucky to only be down four points at quarter-time, with Scott labelling his team’s early ball use as ‘cute’.

However Brisbane missed a stack of early opportunities – 2.10 at one point in the second quarter. The key for North was being able to make the most of its limited forward forays, kicking two goals from its first two inside 50’s of the second term.

Then once they had momentum, the Roos were able to pull away and spend the majority of the second half comfortably ahead on the scoreboard.

3. How will the defensive setup look against a smaller Brisbane forward line?

As expected it was the Lions' smalls who posted the majority of their score. North’s ability to restrict their opposition on the counter, as mentioned above, made the job a bit easier in the defensive 50.

No Lion kicked more than two goals or had more than four scoring shots.