When opportunity comes knocking against last season's preliminary finalist, you need to not only answer the door but walk through and slam it shut behind you.

The Lions had an impressive opening quarter and a half against North Melbourne, leading by four points at the first break and creating a string of opportunities early in the second term off the back of hard running and slick ball movement in front of 18,021 fans.

But four missed set shots in a row from kickable positions inside 50 left the Lions at a score of 2-11 and with a one-goal advantage, instead of a commanding 30-point lead.

From that point, midway through the second term, North capitalised on a string of Lions errors to gain the ascendency and go on to win 17-15-117 to 11-17-83.

A holding the ball decision against Dayne Zorko right on halftime when he was tackled around the neck saw North go into the main break with a 21-point advantage.

It was a tough call for Zorko who was best on ground in the first half for the Lions, coming back from suspension, with 15 possessions at 85 per cent efficiency and two goals.

Lewy Taylor and Allen Christensen were also good across the front half of the ground in the opening half, while Pearce Hanley, Claye Beams and Tom Cutler toiled hard.

As the second quarter progressed and into the second half, basic errors spread into a number of areas across the field for the Lions.

Dropped marks, fumbled handball receives, intercepted kicks and slipped tackles combined to make it hard for the home team to get a foothold back into the game.

Losing skipper Tom Rockliff to a calf problem that hampered him for much of the game didn't help either.

North stretched out to a 37-point lead at the final change, while a 9-1 free kick count in favour of the Kangaroos in the third quarter also made things tough for the Lions.

Dan McStay, Darcy Gardiner and Harris Andrews all fought hard and had some crucial spoils as North threatened to go further away in the second half.

The Lions ran out the game reasonably well to actually win the final term by 4 points but never really threatened - the closest they got was 28 points down with a few minutes remaining.

Zorko, Hanley (both 24 possessions, Zorko 2 goals), Taylor (22 possessions, 2 goals) and Bewick (19 possessions) were the main movers across the day for the Lions while Cutler had his moments with his 17 touches.

Stef Martin continued to work hard, racking up 18 disposals and 7 marks while almost cutting even with Todd Goldstein in the hit outs 28-29.

The young forward combo of Josh Walker (11 disposals, 8 marks) and Josh Schache (9 disposals, 5 marks) also had moments to excite Lions fans.

Schache's class shone through in just his second game at AFL level, and first at the Gabba, with a number of strong marks and composed touches.

For the Lions, racking up 28 scoring shots on the back of last week's 102 points against West Coast in Perth will give them plenty of encouragement.

But the inaccuracy in front of goal and basic errors that gifted goals to the Kangaroos should make the Lions feel that this was one that got away in front of a strong home crowd at the Gabba.

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: Rockliff (Calf), Rich (Hamstring)
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

More news from Round 2:

  Reserves Match Report

  Watch: Leppitsch Post Match

  Watch: Green Post Match

  The Best Photos From Round 2