THE Brisbane Lions have extended their recent domination over Carlton, with the visitors inflicting a strong 33-point win over the Blues at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.
It might have been a miserable Melbourne night but it was certainly hot under the closed Dome roof as the Lions ran riot early to set up their second-biggest win of the season, 18.17 (125) to 12.20 (92).
The result also lengthened the Lions' reign of terror over the Blues, which first started in round 13, 2002, and has extended to eight straight victories for the Queenslanders since.
Carlton has not beaten the Lions since round eight, 2001, and were most recently handed a 117-point defeat in round 16 last year when the two sides met at the Gabba.
The Lions led from the word go, and held a sizeable advantage at every change after assembling the win in a cracking first-term. They headed into the quarter-time huddle with a 37-point cushion, took a 42-point buffer into the half-time break, and entered the final stanza 41 points in front.
They benefited greatly from the return of a handful of stars that missed their round-seven encounter with Geelong a fortnight ago, with Simon Black (groin), Jonathan Brown (quad) and Travis Johnstone (hamstring) all coming back into the side.
The trio responded from their week of home-and-away abstinence with a combined 11 goals.
Black was devastating with 28 disposals, six clearances and two goals, while ex-Demon Johnstone was lively with 32 touches and three majors.
Brown, fresh from his performance as the skipper of Victoria last weekend, followed up from the 10-goal bag he snared against the Blues last year with a swag of six majors.
Other returnees Jason Roe, in his first game for the year following a quad injury, had 11 touches, while Josh Drummond managed 13 possessions and booted a thumping goal from outside the 50m arc in what was his first appearance since round two.
Jamie Charman and Mitch Clark combined well in the middle with the pair racking up 39 hit-outs to Carlton's 29, while Luke Power was more than useful with 32 disposals and six clearances.
For the Blues, Brendan Fevola carried on his promising form from the Hall of Fame Tribute match with 5.4, Heath Scotland was the primary ball-winner with 39 disposals, and young defender Michael Jamieson kept Daniel Bradshaw to a mere 1.1 before injuring his shoulder in the third term.
The big Lions' co-captain in Brown got off to a promising start and booted three goals in the first term opposed to Jarrad Waite. The quarter was largely dominated by the Lions as Charman got on top in the ruck and the visitors more than doubled the Blues' entries into attack.
Black had a scintillating opening term with 12 touches, while Carlton's Scotland, who was facing Anthony Corrie, equalled his statistics and was looking handy. Justin Sherman was also restricting Chris Judd well.
The start of the second saw a handful of match-up changes, with the Blues opting to trial Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin against Brown and leave Waite loose in defence, while Troy Selwood left his early opponent of Marc Murphy and took on Scotland.
But, for each side, there seemed no stopping their in-form players. Brown added another goal to his tally and continued to be imposing up forward, while Scotland racked up another eight touches.
Power began to assert his authority in the third after starting alongside Kade Simpson, and ended as one of the Lions' best after another hard-running performance, as did Tim Notting (22 disposals, five marks).
Having assembled their comprehensive lead early, the Lions went about maintaining that advantage in the second half. While Fevola upped his work rate and at one stage had the Blues within six goals, the Lions were able to answer each Carlton major with one of their own.
While the temperature inside the Dome was a balmy five degrees warmer than the wet night outside, any heat was well and truly gone from the game as the sides regrouped for the final assault.
The Lions snared the first goal of the last term through Johnstone and, as had become the pattern, the Blues responded smartly through Fev.
But with the foundation laid in the first half, the Lions were able to easily hang on despite a spate of late errors.
The Lions will return home to host St Kilda, which went down to Collingwood on Friday night, next Sunday at the Gabba.
CARLTON: 2.2 4.8 9.14 12.20 (92)
BRISBANE LIONS: 8.3 11.8 16.13 18.17 (125)
Goals
Carlton: Fevola 5, Wiggins 2, Murphy 2, Betts, Russell, Judd
Brisbane Lions: Brown 6, Johnstone 3, Black 2, Hooper 2, Adcock, Rischitelli, Drummond, Corrie, Bradshaw
Best
Carlton: Scotland, Murphy, Waite, Jamieson, Judd
Brisbane Lions: Johnstone, Brown, Power, Black, McGrath, Sherman, Charman
Injuries
Carlton: Jamieson (shoulder)
Brisbane Lions: TBA
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Chamberlain, Ryan
Official crowd: 38,675 at Telstra Dome
