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Brisbane have shown their finals credentials by withstanding a barnstorming start by Hawthorn to seal a comfortable AFL win at the Gabba on Saturday night. The Lions were blown away from the outset with the Hawks kicking five unanswered goals in the first term. And the hosts didn't hit the lead until after the siren in the third term before surging to a 12.13 (85) to 10.6 (66) victory.  The Lions' 7-4 record showed they were finals contenders by momentarily moving into the top four with their third straight win over the Hawks in front of 25,051 fans. Brisbane looked set to again give coach Chris Fagan heart palpitations after enduring one point results in the past fortnight - a win over Adelaide and a heartbreaking last-round loss to Fremantle. They reeled in a 25-point first term deficit to lock up the scores in the second term 39-39 before threatening a close finish by leading at the final interval by seven points. However, Fagan's nerves were finally settled when Cameron Rayner audaciously volleyed a goal before the inspirational Dayne Zorko booted truly moments later to blow the deficit out to 18 with five minutes remaining. The Hawks (5-6) couldn't break their Lions hoodoo in a blow to their hopes of staying in touch with the top eight. Brisbane have now claimed five of their six home games, winning contested possessions (145-118) and inside 50s (53-46) on Saturday night. For the Lions, Jarryd Lyons had 33 touches and Lachie Neale 30 while Rayner, Eric Hipwood, Rhys Mathieson and Charlie Cameron all kicked two goals. For Hawthorn, James Worpel had 24 touches and Mitch Lewis two goals. The Hawks hit the ground running to lead 5.1 (31) to 0.6 (6) at the first break after at one stage dominating clearances 7-3. Whatever Fagan said at the first break worked as Brisbane hit back hard. They kicked four of the first five goals of the second term and dominated inside 50s 28-20 by half-time to cut the deficit to 7.3 (45) to 5.9 (39). The third term became an arm wrestle but Brisbane finally hit the lead for the first time in the match despite their radar being off. Ben Keays kicked yet another behind in front to give the hosts a one-point buffer before Mathieson finally booted truly from 40m on the siren to make it 9.11 (65) to 9.4 (58) at the final break.
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