The visitors, boasting 19 listed players, outplayed a comparatively undermanned Swans side for the majority of the contest, winning 19.11 (125) to 9.3 (57).
The match was originally slated as an evening curtain-raiser to the Swans v Carlton AFL clash at the SCG, but torrential rain during the week led to a reschedule.
The respective leaders of the Northern and Eastern Conferences instead locked horns at Blacktown at 2pm, meaning Brisbane had exactly five days between their last start against Labrador and the Sydney stoush.
But if they were fatigued from the short turnaround, the Lions didn’t show it, racing to a 14-point quarter-time lead, courtesy of five majors to three in the opening half hour.
The reigning premiers continued to flex their muscle from there on in, stretching their ascendancy to 28 points at the main break, and 59 points at the last change, before rounding out the victory with a four goals to three last term.
The win was the Lions’ 12th of the year, and its second against the Swans at Blacktown in 2013.
The Lions’ Round 11 loss to Gold Coast remains the only blight on a near-perfect season, and Leigh Harding’s charges remain a game and plenty of percentage points clear of Southport atop the ladder.
Harding praised an “incredibly even contribution” from his players, with the former Kangaroos crumber also delighted by his side’s “great ability to win the contested football and extract it cleanly.”
Individually, Jesse O’Brien was a standout, with 23 touches, eight tackles and a goal, Josh Green and Aaron Cornelius bagged four majors each, and Patrick Karnezis, Patrick Wearden, and Jared Polec all racked up more than 25 possessions.
SCOREBOARD
Brisbane Lions 5.4 9.6 15.8 19.11 (125)
Sydney Swans 3.2 5.2 6.3 9.3 (57)
GOALS – Lions: Green 4, Cornelius 4, Newell 3, Bartlett 3, Michael 2, O’Brien, Paparone, Mayes. Swans: Towers 2, Cunningham 2, Membrey 2, Davis, Lycakis, Marsh.
BEST – Lions: O’Brien, Karnezis, Green, Cornelius, Polec, Wearden. Swans: Cunningham, Lloyd, Armstrong, Wray.
