For 13 rounds, Geelong could not be beaten - now they have suffered back to back defeats.

Still smarting from last round's six-point loss to St Kilda, a depleted Cats were skinned 16.12 (108) to 9.11 (65) by a revitalised Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night.

It was a remarkable comeback by the Lions following their 93-point round five loss at Geelong.

It marked the first time Geelong had suffered consecutive losses since round five, 2007.

The loss - in front of a healthy 34,274-strong crowd - was only their fifth in their last 60 games.

And it was the first time Brisbane had beaten Geelong since round 13, 2005.

As good as the Lions were, there is a temptation to put an asterisk next to it denoting that six Cats players were unavailable.

And not just any Cats players.

The likes of Brownlow Medal favourite Gary Ablett, key defender Matthew Scarlett and the inspirational Cameron Ling were among the group who failed to back up from last round's thriller against the marching Saints.

Still, that would be underselling the effort by a pumped-up Lions.

Brisbane had used their round five shocker at Geelong as inspiration to turn their season around.

They won six of their next nine but appeared to have taken a step backwards with their 48-point brain snap at Port Adelaide last round.

But no one should doubt the Lions' mental toughness any more.

Lions skipper Jonathan Brown was inspirational, bobbing up everywhere early to go on to kick four goals and grab 23 possessions and 15 marks.

And Ash McGrath (30 possessions) played arguably the best game of his eight-year AFL career.

The win was even more impressive considering they lost vice-captain Jed Adcock with a suspected knee injury in only the fifth minute.

In another worry for Geelong, former Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel was placed on report in the third term for striking Luke Power.

Bartel was then escorted off the field early in the fourth term after he and his shadow all night, Brisbane's Cheynee Stiller, collided with the goal post in a nasty incident.

A seven-goal second term stole the match away from Geelong.

After the Lions jagged a two-point buffer at the first interval, skipper Brown racked up two goals, 12 disposals and eight marks to help the hosts jump the Cats 10.7 (67) to 6.5 (41) at the main break.

Debutant Jack Redden kicked one of only two Brisbane goals in the third term as the hosts held on to a 12.10 (82) to 7.9 (51) lead at the final change.

The result was sealed by two straight goals by - you guessed it - Brown as the Lions (9-6 record) held on to a stirring victory and stayed on track for a top four finish.

Lions coach Michael Voss clearly did not want Cats' casualties to be the talking point of the game, jumping in before a question was asked at the post-match press conference.

"You will probably write about who wasn't there as opposed to what we actually did," Voss said.

"Do you want me to say anything outside of that?

"For us the build-up has been about who wasn't there but give credit to the guys and what they have been able to do.

"To beat Geelong - who has done that in the last two or three years?"

Voss said he believed Adcock had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury on his right knee.

Meanwhile, Cats coach Mark Thompson didn't want to use the omissions as an excuse.

"It wasn't such a bad thing losing last week but coming up today, we (didn't) intend to lose this game today, and we should have played better," he said.

"We're not happy, the players aren't happy and we've got a fair bit of work to do as a club."

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