Port Adelaide's physical attention on Brisbane star Lachie Neale was "a bit over the top", Lions coach Chris Fagan says.
The Power targeted Neale from the outset with Cam Sutcliffe – who played with Neale at Fremantle and was in his wedding party – given a tagging role in his first game for the club since being picked up in the Mid-Season Rookie Draft.
But it wasn't just Sutcliffe who roughed up Neale, with Tom Rockliff and Dougal Howard giving away back-to-back 50m penalties for off-the-ball contact on Neale in the first quarter.
"I thought it was a bit over the top," Fagan said after the 48-point win.
"He got pounded, didn't he?
"But, hopefully, what it shows, is we're not a one-man band in our midfield.
"We've got a lot of guys in there who can contribute.
"You can try and stop one, but others pop up, that's the deal if you're trying to build a good footy side, is that everyone can shoulder the load and we were able to do that tonight.
"We sort of knew it was coming, that was the banter all week."
The Power dropped the tag from Sutcliffe after half-time, with Neale finishing with 24 disposals, including 17 contested possessions, 10 clearances and five inside 50s.
"Cam was in Lachy's wedding party, so that probably would've been a bit uncomfortable for him, but he's got to do his job that he's asked to do," Fagan said.
"Lachy handled it well and our team did, too.
"We didn't go crazy, we kept playing the ball and I think it really helped us in that first quarter, our focus was to win the footy."
The Lions booted seven unanswered goals in the first 22 minutes of the game to set up the victory.
Charlie Cameron starred in his 100th game with four goals, Dayne Zorko kicked three to go with 24 disposals while former Sun Jarryd Lyons had 36 disposals, 17 contested possessions, nine clearances and nine tackles.
"JL is as honest as they come and he was outstanding tonight," Fagan said.
"He was really clean, didn't fumble.
"He does fly under the radar, but we're really glad we have him."
Fagan said he hoped to have midfielder Hugh McCluggage (hamstring) and forward Eric Hipwood (knee) back to face North Melbourne at the Gabba next Saturday night, while veteran defender Luke Hodge will be available after he was rested.