A Jarrad Waite-inspired North Melbourne has cruised to its second straight win to start the season, accounting for a wasteful Brisbane Lions by 34 points on Saturday.
After trailing by four points at quarter-time, the Kangaroos totally dominated the rest of the way, winning 17.15 (117) to 11.17 (83) at the Gabba.
They were professional, while the Lions bumbled and fumbled most of the match.
Waite was the standout for the victors, kicking five goals – three in the decisive second term – and finishing with 23 disposals, six marks and five tackles.
He outclassed Lions defenders Dan McStay and Daniel Merrett, and typified his performance with a goal on the half-time siren after tackling nippy midfielder Dayne Zorko.
He gave off another goal with a great centre pass to Nick Dal Santo.
"We were probably a bit cute early and Brisbane are a very good counter-attacking team," coach Brad Scott said.
"Everyone knows they kicked over 100 points last week over in Perth, and if you make mistakes, they're able to capitalise on that pretty well.
"I thought overall, we took out a lot of ways for them to score, and then we were the recipients of scoring from turnovers as well."
North Melbourne's midfield was excellent, led by Daniel Wells (23 disposals) Andrew Swallow (22) and Jack Ziebell (22).
They won the disposals (354-296) contested possessions (145-111) and clearances (38-28).
Ben Jacobs was a late inclusion for Kayne Turner (hamstring) and did a brilliant tagging job on key Lion Daniel Rich, keeping him to a career-low seven disposals.
Rich, who left the field early with a tight hamstring, was not on his own though, as the Lions left too much to too few.
Captain Tom Rockliff picked up a calf niggle and didn't play the final term, but was unusually quiet with just 10 touches, while Sam Mayes and Tom Bell also struggled to contribute.
The Lions trailed by 43 points early in the last quarter and fought hard to reduce the margin, but will rue their skill errors.
They dropped chest marks, turned the ball over frequently and generally handed the game to North Melbourne on a plate.
"It was a pretty frustrating game," Lions coach Justin Leppitsch said.
"Everyone is watching in the crowd that you are probably one handball away from a goal and it doesn’t quite eventuate if you over-run the ball.
"I guess they are the things that we hope to work on over time. We still scored pretty well, which was good."
Lewy Taylor (22 touches and two goals), Dayne Zorko (24 and two goals) and Pearce Hanley (24) were their best.
The match turned on its head in the second term where North kicked six goals to two.
It's a quarter that will make Leppitsch cringe when he watches again, as his team shot themselves in the foot with five missed set shots in the opening 10 minutes.
It drained them of their confidence to take the game on and North Melbourne took over.
Usually reliable kicks like Taylor, Hanley and Claye Beams were among the culprits.
BRISBANE LIONS 2. 7 4. 11 7. 12 11. 17 (83)
NORTH MELBOURNE 2. 3 8. 8 13. 13 17. 15 (117)
GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Green 2, Taylor 2,Zorko 2,C Beams, Bell, Lester, Rockliff, Walker
North Melbourne: Waite 5, Brown 3, Dal Santo 2, Gibson 2, Harvey 2, Goldstein, Petrie, Ziebell
BEST
Brisbane Lions: Hanley, Zorko, Bewick, Taylor
North Melbourne: Waite, Wells, Ziebell, Jacobs, Brown, Swallow, Goldstein
INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: TBC
North Melbourne: Thompson (soreness) replaced in selected side by Hansen; Turner (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Jacobs
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Deboy, Kamolins, Nicholls
Official crowd: 18, 021 at the Gabba
