BRISBANE has bounced back in style, beating Melbourne by 18 points at the Demons' home deck on Saturday afternoon.

Dakota Davidson stood tall in a low-scoring game with three goals in the 5.3 (33) to 2.3 (15) win at Casey Fields.

Ally Anderson was absolutely everywhere, claiming a new AFLW record 43 disposals, and gaining 599m. She regularly found space and time, with Melbourne only sending defensive midfielder Shelley Heath to run with her in the final quarter.

After Brisbane was opened up by North Melbourne last week, it was focused on using run and carry outside the contest to create similar problems for the Demons.

The visitors effectively used the full width of the large Casey Fields deck, changing lanes to move the ball towards goals in a way that was particularly difficult to defend.

Jade Ellenger's work from half-back challenged the run of Melbourne's forwards, recording 17 disposals and 345m gained, as did Sophie Conway (16 disposals, 10 tackles) and Orla O'Dwyer (13 disposals, 341m gained) on the wings.

Meanwhile Lions captain Breanna Koenen shut down her Melbourne counterpart Kate Hore, keeping the Demon to just 10 disposals and a late goal.

DEMONS v LIONS Full match coverage and stats

It was ultimately a battle of defences, with both backlines doing a mountain of work deep. Melbourne was up against it, living dangerously on the last line, but stood up reasonably well thanks to the work of Gab Colvin (five tackles, five intercepts), and Maeve Chaplin (10 disposals, seven intercepts).

But while they tried hard as stoppers, moving the ball out of defence was a trickier prospect as the Lions set up beautifully to trap the ball in the front half.

Poppy Boltz was impressive in the air down back, taking two strong intercept marks in the first half to hem the Demons in, while Jen Dunne's relentlessness in Brisbane's defence caused some problems for Melbourne's forwards.

Debutant Alyssia Pisano got the Demons going late in the third with the side's first goal for the game, leading impressively at the footy and going back to kick truly. It sparked her side after they had been blanketed by the Lions right across the field.

But it wasn't quite enough, as Brisbane put the foot down in the last quarter, never really allowing the Dees to take advantage of that momentum.

A rollercoaster debut
Melbourne's first draft pick of 2023 Alyssia Pisano made her debut in unusual circumstances. Initially listed as an emergency, a wrist injury to Lauren Pearce during the week saw her added to the side. Her constant movement inside 50 was important for the Demons throughout the first half, but there was little reward for the first-gamer on the stat sheet. But she persisted, and opportunity presented itself. Late in the third quarter, a channel opened inside 50 for Pisano to lead toward Tyla Hanks. The ball landed on her chest, and Pisano was able to turn and convert for Melbourne's first.

Smith goes bang
In career game No.50 Taylor Smith added to her highlight reel. After a strong tackle 55m from goal landed her a free kick, she looked up to see Dakota Davidson sitting close to goal and screaming for the footy. Smith did the right thing and sent the ball long to her teammate, but fortuitously it bounced over the one-on-one's head and went through for a goal.

Ally Anderson's leather poisoning
By half time Ally Anderson had gathered 21 disposals, halfway toward the AFLW record held by North Melbourne star Ash Riddell. The space she was afforded across the field was remarkable, and after coming within one of the clearance record last week, she snuck past Riddell's disposal record by one, finishing with 43 touches to go with seven clearances and seven tackles.

"Just an incredible day from Ally," Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich said post-game.

"I keep seeing her physically improve, year on year… she just keeps getting better so it's a great lesson for everyone that just because you've played eight or nine years, that you haven't reached your peak, and you can always find some improvement."

Next up
Melbourne is back at Casey Fields to take on an impressive North Melbourne outfit on Sunday afternoon, while Brisbane returns home to Brighton Homes Arena for a marquee Friday night fixture against Collingwood.

MELBOURNE              0.2    0.3    1.3   2.3 (15)
BRISBANE                  2.0    2.0    3.3   5.3 (33)

GOALS 
Melbourne: Pisano, Hore
Brisbane: Davidson 3, Smith, R.Svarc

BEST 
Melbourne: Hanks, Mackin, Goldrick, Paxman
Brisbane: Anderson, Boltz, Koenen, Davidson, Dawes

INJURIES 
Melbourne: Zanker (right elbow)
Brisbane: Nil

LATE CHANGES
Melbourne: Lauren Pearce (wrist) replaced in selected side by Alyssia Pisano
Brisbane: Nil

Crowd: 1534 at Casey Fields