The Brisbane Lions have secured third position on the ladder and will play Collingwood in a qualifying final at the MCG next weekend, after they steamrolled the Western Bulldogs by 84 points at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.

However, the 26.14 (170) to 13.8 (86) win came at a cost, with tagger Brad Scott stretchered off early in the first quarter with a broken ankle and Aaron Shattock hurting a knee.

Scott would have been the obvious candidate to mind champion Collingwood skipper Nathan Buckley next weekend, but the Lions will now have to look elsewhere.

And All-Australian defender Chris Johnson came off late in the piece after receiving a knock on the shoulder, further adding to Brisbane’s concerns. He surprisingly came back on the ground and kicked a goal, but could only lay a tackle with one arm.

For most of the night, the powerful Brisbane unit did as it pleased against the lowly Dogs, experiencing little difficulty in recording its 14th victory of the season and kicking its highest score for the year in the process.

The Lions found some unlikely goalkicking heroes in small forwards Ashley McGrath and Shaun Hart, who both booted four goals each in the first half.

McGrath finished the night with six majors, tripling his career tally from three to nine.

Regular spearhead Alastair Lynch also chipped in with four majors, as the Lions fine tuned their assault on a third consecutive premiership.

Brisbane booted three of the first four goals of the match through Hart, Daniel Bradshaw and McGrath, but the Bulldogs showed some early fight, kicking the next three.

Full-forward Matthew Croft and resting ruckman Luke Darcy were strong targets inside the attacking 50 and Darcy’s second goal of the term put his side in front by five points.

But the Bulldogs fell away badly in time-on, allowing the Lions to boot four goals in the final five minutes, Hart snaring two of them.

Brisbane’s 19-point quarter-time lead was reduced momentarily when Croft booted his second goal of the night early in the second term, but the Lions then moved into top gear, kicking four goals in the next six minutes to assume complete control of the game.

McGrath then stretched the margin out to an even seven goals with a terrific individual effort. The speedy youngster, who has played most of his 28 games in defence, chased down opponent Robert Murphy, grabbed the loose ball and slotted it through on his non-preferred right foot for his fourth major of the evening.

After the Lions established a 37-point lead at half-time, the Bulldogs gave a small yelp in the third quarter. They reduced the margin to 24 points, with Nathan Brown booting two of their four goals for the term.

But just when it looked as though Brisbane had lifted its foot from the pedal, the Lions again shifted up a gear, finishing the quarter with four unanswered goals and stretching the margin back out to 49 points.

Alastair Lynch had been reasonably well held by the inexperienced Brian Harris up until this point. But the veteran used his strength in typical fashion to break clear from his opponent and score two goals during the surge.

Despite Lynch’s solid effort, Harris offered Doggies’ fans some hope for the future with some impressive work in defence and also claimed the honours for mark of the night with a soaring effort over his opponent in the opening minute of the final term.

Then the floodgates opened, with the Lions slamming on seven goals to two for the quarter and firmly reminding the Bulldogs just why they have collected the wooden spoon this year, with just three wins and a draw.


WESTERN BULLDOGS: 4.1, 7.3, 11.7, 13.8 (86)
BRISBANE LIONS: 7.2, 13.4, 19.8, 26.14 (170)

GOALS: Western Bulldogs: Darcy 4, Croft, Brown 3,Giansiracusa, Birss, McGuinness.
Brisbane Lions: McGrath 6, Lynch, Hart 4, Akermanis, Lappin, Bradshaw 2, Brown, Charman, Keating, Power, Black, Johnson.
BEST: Western Bulldogs: Hahn, Darcy, Smith, Johnson, Birss, Kretiuk.
Brisbane Lions: Power, Hart, Lappin, McGrath, Black, White.
INJURIES: Western Bulldogs: None.
Brisbane Lions: B Scott (ankle), Shattock (knee) and Johnson (shoulder).
CHANGES: Western Bulldogs: Dimattina (ankle) replaced in the selected side by Cross.
Brisbane Lions: Michael replaced in the selected side by White.
REPORTS: None.
UMPIRES: Ellis, Nicholls and Woodcock.
CROWD: 22,361 at Telstra Dome