The final quarter fade-out signalled the fourth loss for the Bulldogs in five matches and gives coach Rodney Eade plenty to think about ahead of Friday night's match against Essendon at the Telstra Dome.
A wasteful Bulldogs lost 13.12 (90) to 10.19 (79) as the Lions kicked five goals to two in the last quarter.
It was a case of missed opportunities as the Bulldogs dominated for large patches of the match but missed targets and more importantly missed shots at goal.
Daniel Giansiracusa kicked three goals but was quiet in the second half, while Brad Johnson kicked two, but was guilty of some uncharacteristic mistakes.
For the victors, Jonathan Brown kicked three in an enthralling battle with Brian Lake, while livewire Rhan Hooper also kicked three from limited opportunities.
There was no one guilty party in the Bulldogs disjointed goalkicking performance, with former Lion Jason Akermanis, Mitch Hahn and Ryan Griffen all squandering gettable final quarter shots.
A game that seemed to lack intensity and polish came to life in the final quarter as the lead changed hands three times in a crazy 10 minute flurry to start the term.
It brought the 27,315 home fans, including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to their feet.
Goals by Hooper and Luke Power inside the first three minutes gave the home team their first lead of the match before Jarrod Harbrow's clever left footer and Nathan Eagleton's trademark bomb from 50m rested the lead back.
But it was the last time the visitors would lead as Michael Rischitelli bombed from 50, Daniel Bradshaw marked and goaled, and Joel Patfull sealed it with a running effort from 35m.
The Bulldogs had 80 more possessions, primarily from chipping it around in the back half, but seemed to lose composure in a second half that yielded just three majors.
Adam Cooney had a game high 31 possessions, while Matthew Boyd (26) had a tight battle with Brownlow Medallist Simon Black who had 23 touches.
Eagleton and Lindsay Gilbee offered plenty of run from the back half as a staggering 13 Bulldogs notched up 20-plus possessions.
But it was not enough as fifth-gamer Bradd Dalziell again starred for the home team, knocking up 27 possessions and being involved in nearly everything good for the hosts.
Matt Moody and Jared Brennan also did well, while Patfull was superb in defence.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a seven-point lead at quarter-time after a scrappy first quarter.
After Lions livewire Hooper kicked two goals in a minute to reduce the early deficit to a single point, Gilbee re-established the lead with a booming goal from 55m.
However Brown's late goal, after good lead-up work by Dalziell and Jed Adcock, cut the Bulldogs lead to 4.4 (28) to 3.3 (21) at the break.
Giansiracusa and Murphy began to take control in the second term, but the Bulldogs failed to take full advantage.
The slippery number 13 took two contested marks, one between Patfull and James Hawksley, and another over Colm Begley, and added two majors as the visitors led by 10 at the major break.
After being kept quiet in the first, Murphy exploded in the second as he began to give Patfull the shake, kicking one goal and taking a number of marks.
But late goals by Robert Copeland and Brown, on the end of a bullet Hooper pass, reduced a lead that had got out to 21.
It was a case of missed chances in the third term as the Bulldogs kicked 1.6 to the Lions' 2.4 to go into the final quarter with a narrow 10-point cushion.
While Johnson slotted his second from a tight angle mid way through the quarter, he missed a relatively easy checkside kick earlier, and was mirrored by easy misses to Giansiracusa and Boyd.
Youngster Dalziell sparked the home team, taking three bounces before kicking to the top of the square for Brown to mark with the flight of the ball, after earlier kicking his maiden goal in AFL with a clever banana kick from the right pocket.
Brisbane Lions 3.3 6.4 8.8 13.12 (90)
Western Bulldogs 4.4 7.8 8.14 10.19 (79)
GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Brown 3, Hooper 3, Bradshaw 2, Copeland, Dalziell, Power, Rischitelli, Patfull
Western Bulldogs: Giansiracusa 3, Johnson 2, Griffen, Gilbee, Murphy, Harbrow, Eagleton
BEST
Brisbane Lions: Dalziell, Patfull, Macdonald, Black, McGrath
Western Bulldogs: Cooney, Eagleton, Lake, Boyd, Gilbee, Cross
INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: nil
Western Bulldogs: nil
Reports: nil
Umpires: McBurney, Farmer, Chamberlain
Official crowd: 27,315 at the Gabba
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the club.
