In a match that more resembled a "final" than a home and away fixture, one man led Brisbane in the key component of its one-point victory over Adelaide, Lions coach Chris Fagan said.

That man was captain Dayne Zorko. 

Although Lachie Neale (39 disposals and 12 clearances) was unquestionably the best player at the Gabba, Zorko led his team's pressure for all four quarters.

With most statistics between the clubs level – much like the scoreboard – the one glaring difference was the tackle count, won by the home team 81-57.

Zorko had a match-high 12 of those, which sat nicely alongside another match-high, pressure acts (35).

"He's the best in the league at it and he sets a great example for his teammates," Fagan said. 

"I thought our pressure was great today and our tackling was very good and one of the reasons why we found ourselves with such a good lead with six or seven minutes to go.

"He leads the way."

Fagan is not wrong. Zorko leads the AFL in both categories.

Brisbane almost blew a 26-point fourth-quarter lead but deserved its victory 

Aside from his disposals, the other thing Neale has helped bring to the Lions is a depth in the midfield.

Zorko added 20 disposals and a goal to his big day, while Hugh McCluggage (26), Mitch Robinson (23 and a goal), Jarryd Lyons (21, 11 tackles, one goal) and Jarrod Berry (20) also contributed well. 

"It was a tight ebb and flow game, like a final," Fagan said.

"Several times they came at us and were able to steady and go away again.

"It was third versus fifth, so in a way it was as big as any game we've played, it ranks alongside the Collingwood game from a few weeks ago in terms of significance and we probably didn't handle that night that well and we handled today much, much better, and that's good progress."

Fagan said he was "rapt and relieved" to escape with the club's fourth win from five matches at the Gabba in 2019. 

Brisbane has now beaten West Coast, Port Adelaide, Sydney and the Crows at home – all teams they've struggled to defeat in the past decade. 

"It'll be interesting to have a look at the tape for the last seven or eight minutes, I think we'll get a great deal of learning out of that, but you need to play in those games to learn how to play them," Fagan said.

"There'll be some things there we all shake our heads at, but at the end of the day we did enough right to come away with the points."