Efficiency and turnovers again hurt the Brisbane Lions on Saturday, helping Melbourne to a 14.16 (100) to 10.14 (74) victory at the Gabba.
The 26-point loss played out in very similar circumstances to the Lions’ Round 1 defeat at the hands of St Kilda.
A slow first quarter saw the Lions playing catch up for the remainder of the match.
The Demons held a 31-point lead at the first change and won contested ball by 16 and inside
The Lions outscored the Demons in the remaining three quarters and enjoyed more inside
Charlie Cameron was the best for the Lions and looked dangerous every time he touched the ball. The livewire forward finished with three goals and 16 disposals at 100% efficiency.
Fellow small forward Allen Christensen was also dangerous and kicked three goals in his 100th match. Bundy made five forward 50 tackles, which showed the defensive pressure he is also bringing to his game in 2018.
The Lions totalled 15 forward 50 tackles and recorded eight more than the Demons overall.
Dayne Zorko made a game-high 11 tackles to go along with 20 disposals, nine clearances and one goal.
Chris Fagan was impressed by Zorko's ability to fight the hard tag that Bernie Vince from the Demons employed.
"We talked about playing to his strengths, going to some of their players, blocking for teammates and I thought he did that really well tonight," Chris Fagan.
"I thought that was a big step forward for him.
"He was really honest about it, he wanted to get better at it because it had become a bit of a trend, but tonight he bucked the trend I think."
Stoppages are proving to be a strong point for the Lions in 2018, scoring 36 points from this source on Saturday compared to 17 points for the Demons.
The Lions were well beaten in disposal efficiency, moving the ball at 60% by foot and 73% by hand compared to the Demons' 67% and 77%.
Cleaning up this efficiency will again be a key focus heading into Saturday's Round 3 clash with Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
