The Lions did most of their damage in the first half, leading by 39 points at the major break, before the Kangas showed some second half fight.
They kicked six goals to four in the third quarter, and got as close as 19 points before eventually losing 18.21 (129) to 15.8 (98).
The loss leaves the Kangaroos inside the top eight with five wins and a draw from 10 matches ahead of next week's clash against premiers Geelong.
Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie and Matt Campbell all kicked three goals for North Melbourne.
However at the other end of the ground they had no answer for Brisbane's two-pronged
forward line with Daniel Bradshaw and Jonathan Brown destroying an opposition for the second time in seven days.
The pair repeated their effort against St Kilda last week, finishing the match with six goals each
.
Brown was unstoppable, kicking 6.7 and taking 13 marks.
Michael Firrito and Josh Gibson played on the duo all night but had no answer for their speed and power.
During its third quarter surge, where they kicked the opening three goals, North's hopes were lifted even more when Brown went off with an injured left leg.
However the 22,118 spectators breathed a sigh of relief when he returned 10 minues later to run the game out.
In greasy conditions, Brisbane dominated the centre clearances and inside 50s but North hung around as they do so well.
Trailing by 32 at the final change, Daniel Harris goaled in the first minute of the last term, and when Campbell roved cleverly for his third a few minutes later, they were still in the hunt.
But Brown's sixth sealed the deal mid way through the quarter.
Adam Simpson tried valiantly in the middle of the ground and racked up 29 possessions, while Harvey waged a great four-quarter duel with his tagger Justin Sherman.
Daniel Pratt had a strong return to the Gabba and Queenslander Gavin Urquhart showed good signs in his debut for the Kangaroos.
But the damage was done in the first two quarters when North Melbourne turned it over far too often when they went forward of centre.
The Kangaroos went inside 50 just six times in the first quarter, and wth Brown kicking 2.3 on Gibson, the Lions led 4.7 to 2.2.
Brady Rawlings did a good early job on Luke Power while Simon Black was getting on top in the middle against his primary opponent Ed Lower.
The tone for the match could have been summed up in the first two minutes of the second quarter.
Firstly Bradshaw marked and goaled before Brown man-handled Gibson to mark strongly 60 seconds later.
The goals stretched the lead to 29 points and the Lions were away.
Harvey tried to inspire his team and began to break the Sherman tag with his continual hard running and bagged two goals for the quarter.
But his tagger Sherman bagged two of his own and thr Lions led 11.12 (78) to 6.2 (38) at half time.
North breathed life back into the contest early in the third when Daniel Pratt, Hamish McIntosh and Petrie all goaled inside the first seven minutes to bring the margin back to 23.
The teams traded goals and North got as close as 19, but Bradshaw steadied the ship with the final two goals of the term.
Brisbane Lions 4.7 11.12 15.17 18.21 (129)
North Melbourne 2.2 6.2 12.3 15.8 (98)
GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Brown, Bradshaw 6, Sherman 2, Johnstone, Notting, Charman, Corrie
North Melbourne: Harvey, Petrie, Campbell 3, Pratt, Harris, McMahon, McIntosh, Hale, Jones
BEST
Brisbane Lions: Black, Brown, Power, Notting, Bradshaw, Charman, Merrett
North Melbourne: Pratt, Simpson, Harvey, Harris, McIntosh, Urquhart
INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: Roe (hamstring), McGrath (hamstring), Drummond (hamstring)
North Melbourne: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Armstrong, McInerney
Official crowd: 22,118 at the Gabba
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
