Jonathan Brown dined on a feast of drama before finally delivering the killer blow to a die-hard North Melbourne for a 31-point Lions win at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Brown finished with six goals, the same as partner-in-crime Daniel Bradshaw, as Brisbane secured a third straight AFL victory to leapfrog the Kangaroos on the ladder.

The 18.21 (129) to 15.8 (98) win sees the Lions jump from eighth to sixth and further enhance their growing reputation as a team to watch.

Brown kicked 6.7 and took 13 marks, but Brisbane fans feared he may have played his last game of the season when helped off midway through the third term of a pulsating match.

The 22,118-strong crowd held their breath as the reigning Coleman Medallist grimaced in pain after badly hyper-extending his left knee in the forward 50 and was put in the care of club doctors.

At the time the plucky Kangaroos had typically fought their way back from a 40-point halftime deficit to be within striking distance of a nervous and inaccurate home side, trailing by 19.

But Bradshaw took up the slack to steady the Lions with two straight goals either side of Brown storming back for a surprise reappearance.

It was enough to give Brisbane a 32-point advantage at the final change which they never gave up.

Brown's sixth for the night just before time-on hammered the final nail in the Kangaroos' coffin.

Final rites could have been delivered much earlier if not for set-shot wobbles, including three posters from their spearhead and co-captain.

"I'll take that post home with me tonight and burn it," Brown quipped.

"I hyper-extended the knee pretty badly (early in the season) and it was just starting to come good but it was a bit slippery tonight.

"I'll work pretty hard on it and hopefully I'll be right to get up next week."

The Lions were eyeing an easy win after a dominant first-half performance that was only marred by inaccurate goalkicking.

Brisbane were seemingly in control at 11.12 (78) to 6.2 (38) with both Bradshaw and Brown bagging three goals apiece and Simon Black steering a midfield carve-up of the Kangaroos.

But with Brent Harvey and Drew Petrie leading the way in a rearguard action, the visitors threatened a stunning comeback.

The heavy rain forecast for Brisbane didn't eventuate, allowing the game between the two top-eight sides to be played in perfect evening conditions.

The Kangaroos jumped out of the blocks best, kicking two of the first three goals in a scrappy opening but then had to wait another half an hour of game time for their next score.

In that time the Lions booted six straight goals to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews was pleased with the way the Lions responded to the Kangaroos' second half pressure, especially with Jason Roe, Ash McGrath and Josh Drummond all finishing early with hamstring problems.

"We didn't take all our chances, they took all of theirs so that kept the scoreboard close but we dominated most parts of the game so we've continued on a good patch."

Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley lamented a midfield caning by the Lions, led by Simon Black with a game-high 30 touches.

"We got outpointed in the midfield, that was a pretty disappointing area of our game," said Laidley.

"We didn't win enough balls."

He drew on the performance of first gamer Gavin Urquhart and fellow youngster Matt Riggio as the two biggest positives.

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