It was Anzac Day in Canberra, and the Brisbane Lions’ 2024 season was in freefall.
The Lions had just been out-kicked, out-possessed, out-marked, out-tackled and generally out-played by GWS at Manuka Oval for a 54-point loss that left the 2023 losing grand finalists at 2-5 and in all sorts of strife.
Coach Chris Fagan had to find a way to get his players back up to keep their season going, and he did. He told them that looks were deceiving and that looking past the scorelines, Brisbane was actually playing some serious football.
In short, he gave them belief, and something to play for — and his Lions responded in spades.
Twenty-three weeks later, the pride of Brisbane town were back on top of the footy world for the first time in 21 years after a ferocious mid-season comeback and a finals campaign for the ages capped by a grand final beyond their wildest dreams.
For Lions fans, coaches and players it was the ultimate vindication, 12 months after the heartbreak at the MCG when they fell four points short against Collingwood.
The back of the grand final banner for the Lions simply read “Believe” — and the script of the game that followed could have easily been from Ted Lasso, the AFL edition.
It ended in love from the fans, joy from the players and an emotional hug between Chris Fagan and AFL great and Brisbane triple premiership coach Leigh Matthews, as the Lions finally moved on to their next winning chapter.
For the players and coaches, the four-point loss to Collingwood last September still burned, as did the two-decade gap between flags for the club as a whole.
This time there were no doubts, there were no questions, as Brisbane booted 12 goals to two between quarter time and three-quarter time to blaze their way onto the AFL’s honour roll.
After a tight, nervy first quarter — which nevertheless yielded seven goals combined — the rest of the game was like Brisbane’s script.
Everything was working out — the down the corridor was working, the OG style chip-mark down the wings was paying off as well.
At the heart of it was Lachie Neale, who despite being hampered by a foot injury through the finals was desperately unlucky not to come away with the Norm Smith Medal. He had 32 touches and nine clearances, the latter two more than the combined efforts of Sydney’s star trio of Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and Errol Gulden.
Josh Dunkley kept Heeney — one of the dominant players of the season — quiet.
Kai Lohmann finished with four goals, as the Brisbane young gun electrified the MCG with his attacking skills. (Getty Images: AFL Photos/Dylan Burns)
Then there was Kai Lohmann, the darling of the Lions fans, who was everywhere, slicing the Swans open and kicking three first-half goals that pretty much did for the game.
The Lions were winning clearances, forcing turnovers, and outdoing the Swans at their own game.
Late in the second term, another Swans turnover was fed back the other way and Lohmann this time found Eric Hipwood in the right forward pocket.
The Lions tall forward dodged around the corner, stepping inside a Swans defender, and duly snapped one from the depths of hell to leave Brisbane fans in disbelief and the Swans swinging at 35 points down.
Sydney’s tall forwards made no impression: Logan McDonald was subbed for Braeden Campbell early in the second half, but by then the damage was done.
With Oscar McInerney watching on from the bench after special dispensation from the AFL, his replacement Darcy Fort may have lost the hit-outs to Brodie Grundy, but he sparked five scores off his own play and gave the Swans something else to think about.
One of the phrases that Fagan had used to rev up the Lions was, “if you’re on thin ice, you might as well dance” — that all-or-nothing approach got Brisbane through two tumultuous finals comebacks against the Giants and Geelong.
But they never needed to dance on thin ice in the grand final.
This was more like playing at the South Pole.
The Lions ticked every box. Clearances: check. Uncontested marks and possessions: check. Take the opposition game away: check.
Straight kicking? Not so much early, but it didn’t matter because Fagan’s men overwhelmed the Swans.
They killed them on the turnovers, they shut them down with pressure.
The final quarter and a half was a celebration.
Late in the third term, Rayner intercepted a desperate kick from Errol Gulden, and he went long out the back for Callum Ah Chee.
The crowd knew what was coming and the roar was already building to ear-splitting levels before he ran onto it and kicked it from 10-15 out.
Then late in the final term, with Lions roars and versions of the club song on high rotation in the stands, Brisbane forced another turnover and the roars from the crowd to “kick it to Joe!” were answered.
The Lions’ number three marked in the pocket, steadied and drilled the kick to set off the cheers of the day.
For Sydney, there were no answers. The middle period of the game ended the game, and the red and white could not reply. A few final-quarter goals to Luke Parker and Chad Warner only served to provide a bit of respectability and ensure the final margin was not as high as the 81-point loss two years ago.
For the Lions, there were stories everywhere, starting with Jarrod Berry, whose giveaway of 50 led to Collingwood’s winning goal last year, kicking a goal of his own and being part of winning a flag for his late mum, Jedda.
There was Will Ashcroft, whose knee injury last year left the Lions without a key attacking spark in the grand final, coming full circle and winning the Norm Smith Medal for his 30 touches, five clearances and a ripping goal.
Callum Ah Chee capped a brilliant finals campaign with another four goals.
There was Cam Rayner, who stood tall for the Lions, including taking the hanger of the grand final in the right forward pocket from a great kick from Joe Daniher. He became just the sixth number-one pick in a VFL/AFL draft to win a flag.
There was Dayne Zorko, whose fantastic rebound game had been the spark for Brisbane’s attack all season, even if his defence was occasionally suspect. He had a day out of his own. Zorko ended the day with cap backwards in the rooms, throwing out beers to his teammates like fizzing handballs before thumping an esky to get the rhythm going for a joyous rendition of the Lions’ song.
And there was Daniher, who finally won a flag after the years at Essendon, the much-criticised move north, the frustrations of his often-errant kicking for goal.
It was a vindication for him, too.
But in the end, it was all about Fagan, whose failures to get his team to the promised land had added to the pressure.
He also had the ongoing fallout from the Hawthorn racism saga to deal with, plus the tough start to the year where it looked like things might be falling apart.
But he always believed in his players, and they always believed in them — and that belief paid off in two-and-three-quarter hours of redemption and history made at the MCG.
Geelong coach Chris Scott spoke earlier in the finals of the price players and coaches pay for admission to the finals and the chance to go for the ultimate prize in footy.
Whatever happens from here — whether there are retirements from the likes of Zorko or Daniher or whether they get to add more flags or not — this team has finally delivered on its potential and for everyone who loves the Lions, that is priceless.
