If anyone was going to play the West Coast Eagles back into form, it was going to be the Brisbane Lions.

But even the erratic Lions found a way past the woefully out of sorts Eagles 17.11 (113) to 9.13 (67) , condemning the once mighty West Coast to their seventh straight AFL defeat at the Gabba - one short of their club record.

Four goals by forward Daniel Bradshaw sealed the Lions' much needed 46-point victory that keeps them in the top eight hunt.

Despite their shocking run the Eagles would have still arrived at the Gabba with a spring in their step.

The Lions had stumbled to two straight losses against sides outside the top eight just as they looked poised for a top four push - and history indicated Brisbane looked set for a third disappointment.

Of their 34 previous games, the Lions have only won only seven and drawn one against the Eagles.

And since 2003, West Coast have won eight of nine clashes.

In fact Brisbane have not downed the Eagles at the Gabba since round 20, 2002 - a run of four straight losses.

The Eagles certainly had a sniff when they trailed by just five points midway through the second quarter.

However, the Lions finally roared, piling on five straight goals to lead by 35 points by halftime.

West Coast attempted a rear-guard action with the final three majors of the third quarter to reduce the damage to 33 by the final break.

But the majority of the Gabba crowd of almost 28,000 went home whistling the Lions theme after Brisbane cemented the win with the first three goals of the fourth.

Eagles ruckman Dean Cox was magnificent, grabbing 36 disposals.

But Lions debutant and East Fremantle utility Bradd Dalziell, 21, was just as inspirational, picking up 32 touches to outpoint the old guard of Luke Power (31 disposals) and Simon Black (27).

Despite being touched up early by Cox, Lions ruckman Jamie Charman was still telling for Brisbane, kicking three goals.

Lions coach Leigh Matthews admitted he did not expect such a debut from Dalziell - the No.52 pick in last year's national draft - "in his wildest dreams".

"You'd have to say so. The way he was able to play big minutes, get involved in the flow of the game - he did the type of game that he has been playing in the reserves," he said of Dalziell who surprisingly started ahead of the benched Black.

But Matthews still lamented the fact the Lions could not put the lowly Eagles away to boost their percentage.

"I would have liked to have won that by more but you do what you do," he said.

"We have fallen at a couple of hurdles so it's nice to jump one, that's the most important thing."

Despite the Eagles' recent stranglehold over the Lions, Worsfold had realistic expectations for his depleted side.

His player list was hit hard again this week with the suspension of Daniel Kerr and injuries to defenders Adam Hunter and Brett Jones.

In another blow, Darren Glass suffered a quad strain.

"Our aim for tonight was to go out and give it our best shot, and other than a 10-minute period in the second quarter, I thought we did that," Worsfold said.

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