Greater Western Sydney could be without influential forward Toby Greene for weeks and his absence was felt as the misfiring Giants ground their way to an ugly 34-point AFL home win over Brisbane.
GWS never trailed at any stage on Saturday but neither did they look like tearing apart the winless Lions, and the home team recorded a 10.17 (77) to 5.13 (43) victory at Spotless Stadium.
Greene, who had already had toe and hamstring issues this year, missed the game with a foot problem.
GWS coach Leon Cameron said results of tests done on Friday showed Greene didn't have a fracture but a "hot spot" and the club's medical staff wasn't sure yet how long he would be sidelined.
"I don't think he'll play next week and it might be three or four weeks. We're just going to have to wait and see," Cameron said.
Matt de Boer tallied a career-best 34 touches for GWS, who were also well served by fellow veterans Brett Deledio and Ryan Griffen, plus Lachie Whitfield, Tim Taranto and Stephen Coniglio.
But the service into the forward 50 was erratic and with Greene missing, Jon Patton spending time in the ruck and Jeremy Cameron well contained, they lacked attacking spark.
"We're rapt with the defensive side of our game but no doubt our offensive side and our connections centre-forward let us down a little bit today," Leon Cameron said.
Brisbane had a decent share of ball in the first half but kicked just 1.6.
They didn't notch their first goal until 11 minutes into the second quarter and GWS kicked three goals late in that term to pull away.
"That seems that seems to be all it takes with our emerging group. They just find little ways against good teams to lose," Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said.
"But what was really pleasing was in the past at halftime we could have been considered to be on the ropes and an easy kill for GWS.
"In the second half there was one-point the difference on the scoreboard so I thought the team showed plenty of fight."
Daniel Rich made an impressive return from injury for Brisbane, who won the third quarter but couldn't get the margin below 26 points in the last.
They broke even in contested possessions and enjoyed a 47-4 advantage in the hitouts, with Stefan Martin dominating against makeshift ruckmen Patton and Adam Tomlinson, but GWS controlled the game at ground level.
"We made a choice with Patton and Tomlinson because of Martin's dominance at ground level and I thought the choice worked," Cameron said.
"As much as we wanted to get our hands on the footy in the air, I thought our mids positioned up pretty well and I also thought Tomo and Jon made contributions around the ground."
GWS forward Zac Langdon injured his right knee, while the Lions' Nick Robertson was placed on report for striking Harry Himmelberg.
