North crush Brisbane Lions by 82 points

Key forward Jarrad Waite and ruckman Todd Goldstein dominated Brisbane as North Melbourne strolled to a 82-point win at Etihad Stadium.

Todd Goldstein (L) of North Melbourne wins a ruck contest

North Melbourne have dominated the Brisbane Lions in an 82-point win at Etihad Stadium. (AAP)

Brad Scott acknowledged it was an emphatic response, but North Melbourne's quest for round-one redemption is far from complete.

Scott was impressed with every facet of his AFL side's 82-point thumping of Brisbane at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

But with a home match against Port Adelaide up next, Scott suggested the Kangaroos are yet to make amends for their 77-point loss to Adelaide.

"We've still got to prove that we're a better side than we displayed last week," Scott said.

"That's going to take a few weeks I suspect.

"It's been a long week because we had a lot of work to do."

Jarrad Waite was the figurehead of a dominant bounceback.

Waite made an underwhelming club debut, failing to kick a goal and clutching three marks in round one.

On Sunday, the ex-Carlton forward booted a career-best seven goals and held 12 marks as North triumphed 20.13 (133) to 7.9 (51).

"He was terrific ... he'll fit in with our forwards really well," Scott said of Waite, who was signed as a free agent in the off-season.

"But like any forward, they're often only as good as their supply."

Todd Goldstein dominated the ruck contests with 37 hitouts, helping Andrew Swallow, Ben Cunnington, Brent Harvey, Sam Gibson and Jack Ziebell bust the game open.

Goldstein also tallied 23 disposals and laid eight tackles to rival Waite for best-on-ground honours.

"The response was emphatic and it needed to be," Scott said.

Nick Dal Santo (hamstring) and Daniel Wells (leg) failed to complete the game due to minor niggles, but otherwise it was only good news for North.

Brisbane started brightly, building an 11-point lead in the opening quarter.

Jack Redden and Dayne Beams were getting plenty of the ball for the Lions, while stand-in skipper Daniel Rich had unleashed a couple of pinpoint passes.

It had all the makings of a tight tussle, with both sides moving the ball well and crashing packs hard.

Instead, the Lions wilted woefully as the Kangaroos piled on 14 of the next 15 goals.

"A lot of hard work," coach Justin Leppitsch replied, when asked how his club would turn things around after opening their campaign with two losses.

"We've shown that our game style can hold up, we've done it and won games.

"Sometimes you lose a bit of confidence and go back to what you want to do, not what the right thing to do is."

Tasmanian cult hero Ben Brown bobbed up with three goals, while Ziebell, Lindsay Thomas, Shaun Higgins and Drew Petrie kicked two goals apiece as North increased their lead at every break.


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Source: AAP


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