A dejected Chris Fagan appeared to fight back tears on the boundary line of the Gabba after Brisbane had slumped to its third loss of the season, this one against Collingwood, the very side that had ripped their hearts out six months earlier in 2023's dramatic Grand Final. In a showing of support and solidarity, the club's co-captain and superstar midfielder, Lachie Neale, draped his left arm over his coach's shoulders, muttered some words of encouragement, before the despondent pair quickly disappeared down the race.
At 0-3, the Lions were staring down the barrel of their worst year of the Fagan era. Season-ending injuries to key personnel, including Keidean Coleman and Tom Doedee (and not long after, Darcy Gardiner and Lincoln McCarthy) had taken a seismic mental toll, while talk of a tumultuous offseason began to surface, one that included a now infamous trip to Las Vegas that led to speculation about a rift amongst the playing group. For the first time in his career, Fagan found himself under immense scrutiny as the club appeared to be spluttering towards an off-season that would likely bring about sweeping changes.
"We certainly haven't had the start we had hoped for, which is very unusual for us," Fagan told a small group of reporters in the bowels of the Gabba, following that 20-point loss to Collingwood. "All I know is there's 20 [games] to go. There's a long way to go. We've got a bit of work to do to find ourselves [but] form comes and goes, and it can come back. These guys have been good players, so we won't be pressing the panic button. I've trusted them for a long time, and they've delivered."
On Saturday afternoon at the MCG, Fagan's unwavering belief in his playing group was justified in the most magical fashion as Brisbane crushed Sydney 120-60 to win the club's fourth AFL premiership and cap a year of mental toughness and remarkable resilience.
The Lions overcame injury, first the ACLs and then the loss of ruck Oscar McInerney just days out from the Grand Final. They overcame that horror 0-3 start, which two months later looked equally as dire, having tallied just four wins from their opening 11 games. They overcame their Round 23 loss to the Magpies, one that all but confirmed their fate of missing out on a top four berth, forced to win the premiership the hard way. Now, these Lions are just the second team in 25 years to win the flag without the aid of the double chance.
But nothing has epitomised the club's resilience quite like this finals series. They fought back from a seemingly insurmountable 44-point hole on the road against GWS to record one of the most improbable finals wins in league history. Then, seven days later, overturned another 25-point deficit, this time to defeat Geelong in a nail-biting preliminary final. A month ago, the Lions were 1-3 in road finals under Fagan. Now, they're 4-3.
Perhaps it was only fair Brisbane faced little adversity in Saturday's Grand Final waltz against the Swans. The Lions led wire-to-wire, putting their nose in front early, courtesy of some opening quarter brilliance from Kai Lohmann and Hugh McCluggage, before erupting for a seven-goal second term to put nine and a half fingers on the premiership cup by the main break. Even with some wastefulness from the set shot, they never looked like relinquishing that lead, playing irrepressible football to humiliate Sydney on the last Saturday in September for the second time in 24 months.
"One of the best feelings you can ever have as a professional athlete," former club captain Dayne Zorko tells ESPN. "To reach the pinnacle of your sport is pretty awesome, and to do it with this group of players, who all year we've been getting written off ... we hung fat, and we knew what we were capable of. Every year we've been able to keep fronting up and overcome the hurdles we've failed in previous years. All year we've believed. It's incredible."
Key to Brisbane's success was their efficiency. The Lions used the ball at a mind-boggling 82% effectiveness throughout the contest, and scored from 30 of its 51 inside 50s. They found 158 marks, 22 of them coming inside the forward 50 arc. When the ball hit the deck, it was Brisbane hunting first, finishing +20 in tackles, despite dominating possession. And this time, for Fagan, there were tears on the boundary line; tears of joy after finally scaling football's Mt Everest.
"Unbelievable. Bit of a dream really. I'm just so happy but also relieved a little bit. If we didn't win it, the media would be putting pressure on the club again, and rightfully so," reliable defender Ryan Lester tells ESPN. "The way I see it, it's reward for turning up year after year after year, and this year we got the luck that we needed, somewhere along the way. For a long time we've probably been spoken about as a talented team, but I hope that's really changed now after this finals series. We're a talented team but we're tough and we fight, and we stay in there. And that's what we've done this finals series."
This Brisbane premiership has been long in the making. Over the past six years, no club has deserved flag success more. The Lions have been the most consistently excellent team, winning at least 14 games and reaching, at minimum, semifinal weekend in each season since 2019. No team has won more games. No team has contested more finals. No team has won more finals. Now, they finally have the one piece of silverware that's eluded them.
Despite being a perennial contender under Fagan for the majority of his tenure at the club, there's a legitimate argument to be made the Lions' premiership window is really only now fully opened.
The age of the average Brisbane team selected this season ranks them as the third-oldest in the league, but that's a touch misleading when it comes to assessing the club's future. The bulk of its core, including Cam Rayner, Jack Payne, Zac Bailey, Brandon Starcevich, Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry, Eric Hipwood, Harris Andrews, Josh Dunkley, Coleman, and Doedee are all in the prime 24-27-year age bracket, while the only key players who will enter 2025 aged 31 or older are Neale and former skipper Dayne Zorko. Both of them are fresh off All-Australian campaigns and, if the Grand Final is any serious indicator, are showing no signs of slowing down.
With Norm Smith Medal winner Will Ashcroft, as well as Kai Lohmann, Darcy Wilmot, Jaspa Fletcher, Logan Morris, and Harry Sharp, Brisbane may also possess perhaps the most impressive crop of players aged 22 years or younger. They'll soon be able to add the highly touted Levi Ashcroft to that group, who is a certainty to be taken as a father-son selection in November's AFL Draft.
Next season, Brisbane's defence, which this year ranked second in the competition for points conceded, will be bolstered by the returns of both Doedee -- who is yet to suit up for his new club -- and Coleman. Offensively, the Lions were one of only three teams in 2024 to rank top five in all four major scoring metrics, and that's factoring in their sluggish 2-5 start to the year, where they averaged just 73 points per game.
No side enjoys more territory than the Lions. No side is better in transition. And no side has a more efficient midfield. In fact, Brisbane doesn't really have any weakness in Champion Data's premiership standards report. Fagan's team ranked top six in 28 of the 32 metrics that have proven key to premiership success in the modern era, checking off more of those boxes than anyone else in the competition. Perhaps its why Fagan never lost faith despite a trying and testing first half of the season.
"Somehow, a team that finished fifth on the ladder, and had to play every week, has won the flag," said Fagan on the dais. "To the players, what a group of footballers you are. You've shown enormous resilience this season. At one stage we were 13th, but you found a way and I'm so proud of you. We're going to have some fun together over the next few days."