North crush Brisbane Lions by 82 points

Jarrad Waite was the figurehead of an impressive North Melbourne bounceback at Etihad Stadium, where the hosts hammered Brisbane by 82 points.

Nick Dal Santo hurt his left hamstring and Daniel Wells had ice on his left leg after being substituted off at halftime, but otherwise it was only good news for North.

Waite made an underwhelming club debut in the Kangaroos’ 77-point loss to Adelaide, failing to kick a goal and clutching three marks in round one of the AFL season.

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).

The ‘Roos had plenty of standouts.

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 in the rout.

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

Waite set the tone after quarter-time when he booted three goals in the space of 10 minutes.

Tasmanian cult hero Ben Brown bobbed up with three goals and competed hard all day.

Ziebell, Lindsay Thomas, Shaun Higgins and Drew Petrie kicked two goals apiece as North increased their lead at every break.

The home side found space easily and moved the ball quickly, while they won the contested possession count 143-119.

North’s mettle will undergo a more taxing examination on Saturday night when they host Port Adelaide, with Dal Santo almost certain to be sidelined after tweaking his hamstring in the third quarter against Brisbane.

Jed Adcock, Redden, Ziebell and Swallow were involved in some skirmishes that broke out during the clash.

The Lions never lifted after their initial salvo, however off-season recruits Allen Christensen, Mitch Robinson and Beams impressed for the outclassed visitors.

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