Brisbane's triple-premiership stalwarts Jonathan Brown, Simon Black and Luke Power have starred as the Lions downed Carlton by 12 points in an AFL shootout at Telstra Dome.

The Lions fought back from a 13-point half-time deficit to win 21.10 (136) to 18.16 (124).

Brown scored three goals and set up many others, picking up 27 disposals and 15 marks in a dominant display up forward.

Black and Power played crucial roles in the midfield to swing the game the Lions' way in the second half, with 26 disposals each, after an exciting first-half performance by the Blues.

The crucial moment of the see-sawing goalfest came 12 minutes into the final term, when Lions speedster Ash McGrath goaled to put his side in front.

The two teams scored an astonishing 35 goals between them in the first three quarters, but neither side could manage a goal in the final term until McGrath broke the deadlock.

It came in almost comical style, with a wayward Justin Sherman snap landing in the goalsquare, where three Carlton players waited.

But two of them, Setanta O'hAilpin and Heath Scotland, spoiled each other's attempts to mark, with McGrath rushing in between them to soccer the spilled ball through for a goal.

Lions' full-forward Chris Johnson marked on the lead and goaled twice in the next four minutes to put his side 17 points in front and put the contest beyond Carlton's reach.

Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews said his side was fortunate to still be in touch at half-time.

"They were very good in the first half or we were very poor, whichever one, but fortunately we took our chances, that kept us in touch on the scoreboard," Matthews said.

"We were a bit sickly in terms of stopping the opposition from scoring (in the first half), which is one of the things we're trying to build our game on and we've done that reasonably well, but not tonight.

"Fortunately we got goals ourselves."

Matthews said he'd always suspected Carlton might fade late in the game, given they had a match in Perth last Sunday and a day less than the Lions to prepare.

"It was a short week for them after coming off Subiaco, I was always hoping that would mean they would have a tough game to play the game out strongly," he said.

"We've been playing all our games out strongly, so I was confident in that."

But Carlton coach Denis Pagan refused to use that as an excuse, saying the two Perth teams had to make that long trip every second week.

He said a broken hand to second-gamer Ryan Jackson in the first few minutes of the game, which kept him from playing any further part in the match, had hurt the team's running capacity.

But Pagan said the major difference was Brown's performance and the Lions' ability to seize their chances when it counted.

"Fancy playing full-forward and having (27) possessions, (Brown) was probably the difference between the two sides, his poise, composure, ability to stay cool under pressure was terrific," Pagan said.

He said the Blues, by contrast, had made some crucial mistakes in the last term which had turned the game.

"The three players in the goalsquare that crashed into each other, that demoralised everybody, and Jarrad (Waite) must have ate some of the turf or something, he lost his way a little bit in one play, that probably demoralised them," he said.

"I couldn't be critical of those guys, you can't blame it on one incident, we had our chances, they were just better than us when it mattered in the finish ... they took their chances, we just didn't."

But Pagan said there were plenty of positives, particularly the strong first-half performance of Whitnall, after he had struggled during the first few rounds of the year.

"He looked like the Red of old," Pagan said.

"We'll continue to work at it, I know Lance will continue to work at it and I'm sure Lance will only get better."

Brisbane had earlier stayed in touch thanks mainly to Brown's superb performance up forward and some incredible accuracy in front of goal.

The Lions had 18.1 on the board at one stage in the third quarter and had eight fewer scoring shots than the Blues in the first half.

Carlton piled on 14.8 in the first half, including nine goals in the second quarter, with captain Lance Whitnall roaring back into form with three goals in the first half.

Goalsneak Eddie Betts also kicked three first-half goals, while Ryan Houlihan and Heath Scotland were on top in the midfield before half-time, as the Blues benefited from a long and direct gameplan.

But the game turned Brisbane's way in general play in the third quarter, thanks mainly to Black and Power, with Cheynee Stiller and Tim Notting also providing some good run.

Oddly, given Brisbane's excellent kicking for goal for most of the match, it was only a string of missed set shots by the Lions late in the third quarter, two of them to Brown, that allowed Carlton to hold onto a one-point lead at the last change.

But the Blues could manage only 1.5 in the last term as the Lions pulled away.

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