HARRY McKay conquered the goalkicking yips and Carlton conjured one of the great wins in its storied history, overturning a 46-point deficit to take down Brisbane by a solitary point at its Gabba fortress on Friday night.

Inspired by dual Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow and finished off by his partner in crime McKay, the Blues stunned the 33,367 local fans to win 13.8 (86) to 12.13 (85).

LIONS v BLUES Full match coverage and stats

With just 90 seconds remaining and his team trailing by five points, McKay took a powerful mark and went back to calmly slot the matchwinner from 45m. 

It was his third goal of the night and snapped Brisbane's 14 consecutive wins at its home ground.

On a rough season opener for the Lions, they will also now sweat on scans for influential half-back Keidean Coleman, who sat out the second half with a suspected ACL tear.

But all the plaudits should go to Michael Voss and his men, who had their own injury problems with Sam Docherty (jarred knee) also sidelined for the second half.

The Blues looked absolutely gone early in the second quarter after successive Lincoln McCarthy goals had them trailing by 46 points, but that's when the magic started in an extraordinary comeback.

Curnow kicked four goals either side of half-time to turn the tide, forcing Brisbane to move Jack Payne off him and swing Darcy Gardiner, who was playing forward, into defence.

The Blues slowed down Brisbane's ball movement, and with George Hewett (27 disposals), Adam Cerra (25) and Patrick Cripps (23 and a goal) arresting the midfield momentum, silenced the crowd with eight successive goals to snatch the lead.

Joe Daniher stopped the rot with a towering mark to re-take the lead for Brisbane and set-up a mouth-watering final term.

The teams exchanged goals, with Charlie Cameron giving the Lions the lead with five minutes remaining, before McKay buried his demons to play hero.

Brisbane could not have been more impressive in the first quarter, kicking seven goals to two to open a 32-point advantage.

They were ferocious defensively, swarming Carlton with some bone-rattling tackles, and then swiftly swept the ball from half-back to advantageous positions for their forwards.

Carlton's defence, missing injured Jacob Weitering, looked frazzled as the Lions' forwards found space and repeatedly got goal side of their opponents.

Hugh McCluggage settled the early nerves with a superb set shot from the boundary line, before evergreen Dayne Zorko kicked a couple and Cameron got in on the party after a gift handball from Gardiner.

Cal Ah Chee's exquisite snap from 40m after an expert front-and-square crumb was the highlight of the opening exchanges.

Brisbane looked like romping to victory early in the second term with a 46-point lead, but Carlton wrestled back some control through goals to David Cuningham and Curnow, who had rarely been sighted until that stage.

Curnow puts the cape on
With his team seemingly out of the match and trialing by almost eight goals, it should be no surprise that Charlie Curnow put on his Superman cape to almost single-handedly turn the tide. He kicked one before half-time and then in a 10-minute burst early in the third, completely turned the game. He out-pointed Jack Payne three times for three goals to finish with four for the evening.

Kiddy's knee concern
Right on the stroke of half-time, Keidean Coleman suffered a knee injury that took him out of the remainder of the game. While the Lions initially diagnosed the injury as a hyperextension, coach Chris Fagan later revealed the club suspects an ACL tear, with Coleman to have scans on his knee in the coming days to determine the full extent of the injury. The 23-year-old was kicking the ball from defence when his knee collided with Blue Lachie Fogarty, who was closing in to apply pressure. Coleman crumpled to the turf and was helped from the field.

High-flying Joe
With Carlton in total control having kicked eight successive goals from midway through the second term to midway through the third, it took a moment of Joe Daniher magic to momentarily halt momentum. The mercurial Daniher soared high at the top of the goalsquare to pull down a contender for Virgin Australia Mark of the Year, before playing on to kick a much-needed goal.

BRISBANE     7.2     9.5     10.11     12.13 (85)
CARLTON      2.0     4.4     11.6       13.8 (86)

GOALS
Brisbane: McCarthy 2, Cameron 2, Zorko 2, Rayner, McCluggage, Hipwood, Daniher, Bailey, Ah Chee
Carlton: Curnow 4, McKay 3, Kennedy, Fogarty, Cuningham, Cripps, Cottrell, Carroll

BEST
Brisbane: Wilmot, Neale, Zorko, Gardiner, Ah Chee, Andrews
Carlton: Curnow, Cripps, McKay, Hewett, Young, Saad, Cerra

INJURIES
Brisbane: Coleman (knee)
Carlton: Docherty (knee)

SUBSTITUTES
Brisbane: Kai Lohmann (replaced Keidean Coleman at half-time)
Carlton: Jack Carroll (replaced Sam Docherty at half-time)

Crowd: 33,367 at the Gabba