A five-goal haul by inspirational skipper Jonathan Brown helped Brisbane to a convincing 17.9 (111) to 9.14 (68) win over Essendon in the AFL match at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Challenged by coach Michael Voss to make a statement following last week's humiliating loss to Geelong, the Lions responded with a commanding four-quarter display to record their first win over the Bombers since round 2, 2006.

Led by stellar performances from classy utility Jared Brennan and veteran trio Luke Power (24 disposals, 3 goals), Simon Black (24 disposals) and Travis Johnstone (28 disposals), Brisbane dominated from start to finish to get their win-loss ratio to 3-3 after six rounds.

Whether it was an emotional let down on behalf of the Bombers following their memorable Anzac Day win over Collingwood, or simply the Lions desperately looking to repair dented pride, the home side romped out to a comfortable lead in the opening term and were never headed.

With Brennan and Black controlling the stoppages, Brisbane continuously pumped the ball inside their forward 50m area to be duly rewarded; four of their five first quarter goals coming from set shots.

The Bombers had to wait until the 20 minute mark before young gun Heath Hocking slotted his teams first major.

Two more to the hard-working Jason Winderlich in the second appeared to at least breathe some life into the match.

However, Brisbane charged into the main break on the back of majors to Brown, Power, Justin Sherman and Scott Harding.

After sharing the honours in the third term, the home side ran away with things in the final period, with Brown and Daniel Bradshaw kicking five goals between them.

An ankle injury to champion fullback Dustin Fletcher in his 300th game only served to compounded an entirely disappointing evening for Matthew Knights and his men.

Fletcher was forced from the field shortly after half-time and did not return.

The only saving grace for Bombers fans was Matthew Lloyd's first goal in the third term, a kick that took his career tally to 900.

He added another in the final term, but could do nothing to stem the tide of football flowing in the opposite direction.

With 28 touches, tireless midfielder Jobe Watson was the best for the Bombers, whose polished speedsters where kept largely in check by the Lions relentless defensive pressure.

Brisbane coach Michael Voss lauded his players' character in bouncing back after such a deflating performance against the Cats.

"Last week was an important game for us because a loss like that has the potential to be confidence-sapping," he said.

"When you get belted like that you need to be able to come out the next time you play and get some sort of positive result.

"If you don't it can start to impact on your season and everything you have worked for over the previous five months can diminish pretty quickly.

"We needed a bit more of an honest effort from a lot of our players and I thought we got that."

Bombers coach Matthew Knights lamented his side's inefficiency inside their 50m area and said they were made to pay for a poor attitude.

"We come out every week with the intention of running hard, but the fact is Brisbane ran harder for longer than we did out there," Knights said.

"And they were much better than us in the forward half. We didn't have the composure you need and we didn't take our chances.

"You pay a price against any team in the competition for that.

Knights also dismissed suggestions his men were suffering a hangover following all the hype and excitement of last Saturday's Anzac Day match.

"It wasn't hard backing up from that - not at all," Knights declared.

"Good teams can string wins together and play consistent football. We've done nothing yet."

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