THE Brisbane Lions never stood a chance in their 93-point defeat at the hands of Geelong on Sunday.

Venturing out to the intimidating Skilled Stadium in slippery conditions, it was never going to be the Lions’ day and its final score of 5.3 (33) was its equal-lowest score since the merger of Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears in 1997.

Coming up against the AFL’s best midfield, coach Michael Voss sprung a surprise by starting skipper Jonathan Brown in the engine room.

But Brown’s presence was no match for the dominance of Jimmy Bartel, Gary Ablett, and Joel Selwood who fed beautifully off the ruck work of Mark Blake and Shane Mumford.

The Lions’ well-documented ruck woes were evident as Jared Brennan, Mitch Clark and Lachlan Henderson – none of whom are genuine ruckmen - battled against the Cats pair, losing the hit-outs 65-16.

The Lions went goalless in the first term, while Geelong banged on five in pouring rain.

The rain soon subsided but the Geelong goals continued to flood in. The visitors didn’t manage a major until the four minute mark of the second term when the Lions got the fast break, pushed forward and Justin Sherman ran in to take two bounces and kick a goal.

The first bit of convincing play from Brisbane came when Simon Black spotted up Brown 40m from goal. The Lions skipper went back and slotted it through.

A little while later Geelong defender Matthew Scarlett bombed it in the air. The precocious Daniel Rich took the mark under pressure from Mackie, ran on and kicked the goal.

Other than that there was little to enthuse about for the visitors.

Black got plenty of the ball with 24 touches, as did fellow veteran Luke Power (20) but there were too many winners in the opposition ranks.

Travis Johnstone had a quiet day and Bradd Dalziell’s ball-winning ability deserted him for the day.

On the positive side, Rich once again showed poise beyond his years and Josh Drummond held his own when rebounding from defence.

Brown had another stint in the middle in the third term but Michael Voss may as well have thrown the name magnets in the air and seen how they landed, such was Geelong’s dominance.

He was back in more familiar territory in the fourth quarter and asserted his authority with a booming goal from outside 50 with a slippery ball.

The rest of the fourth quarter was a largely uneventful affair apart from a brilliant goal deep in the pocket from Gary Ablett that had the Geelong fans in raptures and the Lions fans seeking the closest exit.

Geelong  5.4  13.8  15.11  18.18 (126)
Brisbane Lions 0.2  3.3  4.3  5.3 (33)

GOALS
Geelong: Hawkins 3, Mooney 3, Stokes 3, Ablett 2, Byrnes 2, Rooke 2, Bartel, S Johnson, Varcoe
Brisbane Lions:  Brown 3, Rich, Sherman

BEST
Geelong: Ablett, Mooney, Selwood, Hawkins, Mackie, Blake, Enright, Byrnes
Brisbane Lions: Black, Patfull, Brown, Adcock

INJURIES
Geelong: TBC
Brisbane Lions: TBC

Reports: TBC

Umpires: McBurney, Kamolins, Findlay.
Official crowd: 15,580 at Skilled Stadium

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.