Poor goal kicking returned to rob the Brisbane Lions the chance of a second half comeback before they fell away to a 63-point loss to Melbourne at he MCG.

The Lions trailed by 32 points at halftime but came out of the main break with purpose to win their fair share of ball and look to wrest back ascendancy across the field.

But the visitors couldn't take their opportunities, kicking 1.5 to let the Demons off the hook.

Justin Leppitsch's undermanned side was outclassed but showed an improved intent and had its moments.

Dayne Zorko was again a leader for this side while Mitch Robinson (10 tackles) and Tom Bell also provided plenty of effort.

Debutant Rhys Mathieson had his moments and showed he will be a good player for the Lions in the years to come, while big young forward Jono Freeman took a string of big grabs, and fellow Queensland product Ben Keays continued to work around contests.

But the Demin double-act of Jesse Hogan and Jeff Garlett proved too much for the Lions, the tall-and-small duo sharing seven goals.

While at times the football was far from fluent, the win was Melbourne's biggest home success in four years.

Hogan's five goals were spread across all four quarters, while Garlett nabbed two and assisted three others in the first half when the match was on the line.

James Harmes also bagged four goals, three in time-on in the fourth quarter as the Demons blew the margin out.

The Demons' dominance was built in the second term, growing a buffer in the second quarter with four unanswered goals in seven minutes.

Melbourne won both the disposal and the tackle count but for most of the afternoon, this was no Lions horror show.

They took almost 45 minutes to hit the scoreboard in their heavy loss to Collingwood last week, but did so within 45 seconds against the Demons.

The Lions lowered their colours late, allowing Melbourne to kick nine of the last 12 goals to run out strong winners.

Melbourne improved their win-loss to 5-4 with the result, while the Lions have now lost five straight.

Leppitsch said his players had at least brought increased effort to the contest, but their skills prevented a more competitive showing. 

"You've got to be willing and able in this game and I thought we were willing today," the coach said.  

"It was only a small part towards the end where we needed to rev the boys up.

"The mistake rate was too high, probably in all facets, but at least it's a starting point."

MELBOURNE                 5.6   10.7   13.10   19.17 (131)
BRISBANE LIONS          2.3   5.5   6.10   9.14 (68)   

GOALS
Melbourne: Hogan 5, Harmes 4, Garlett 2, Michie, Kent, Kennedy, Newton, Jones, Watts, Viney, Stretch
Brisbane Lions: Bell 3, Lester 2, Zorko, Taylor, Keays, Freeman

BEST
Melbourne: Hogan, Bugg, Petracca, Garlett, Oliver, Watts
Brisbane Lions: Zorko, Robinson, Bell, Rich

INJURIES
Melbourne: Oliver (corked thigh)
Brisbane Lions: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Deboy, Findlay, Harris

Official crowd: 26,892

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