Brisbane Lions' midfield depth paves way for comeback win over North Melbourne

MIDFIELDER Tom Rockliff says his side's undermanned on-ball division inspired the Lions to a 12-point win over North Melbourne.

NO Simon Black. No Brent Moloney. No problem.

Midfielder Tom Rockliff says the undermanned Brisbane on-ball division inspired the Lions to a 12-point win over North Melbourne at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Black (groin) and Moloney (calf) were both missing from the Brisbane line-up, leaving the Lions with a giant ball-winning void to fill.

North Melbourne took full advantage early through Andrew Swallow, Jack Ziebell, Todd Goldstein and Sam Gibson and dominated the clearances, contested possessions and total disposal counts for a majority of the first three quarters to establish a commanding 33-point buffer.

However, the likes of Rockliff (28 disposals, 11 tackles, eight clearances), Daniel Rich (22 disposals, eight inside 50s), Jack Redden (20 disposals, six clearances) and Sam Mayes (20 disposals, six inside 50s, three goals) engineered the stunning fightback.

"We always felt like we could win. At halftime, we knew we weren’t getting our hands on the ball but if we could change that, we gave ourselves a chance," Rockliff said.

"In the third quarter we started to lift and we felt we had the run in the legs.

"The boys are really starting to click as a group and hopefully we can string together a few wins now."

Despite the heroics of the victory over the Kangaroos, Rockliff said the focus had quickly swung to this Saturday’s clash with Melbourne in Darwin.

"We have to put out our best performance of the year," he said.

For the second time in four weeks, Brisbane ruined the homecoming of a favourite son.

As players, the Gabba was a field of dreams for Chris and Brad Scott but their 2013 visits to Queensland have been nothing short of a nightmare.

Their teams have led Brisbane by a combined total of 85 points deep into the third quarter.

Yet they have walked off the Gabba with a combined total of zero premiership points after both Geelong (52 points up in Round 13) and North Melbourne (33 points up on Saturday) succumbed to scorching Lions comebacks.