Brisbane's comprehensive 60-point thrashing of Sydney in the 2024 AFL Grand Final would suggest that the Lions were the team to beat this season, or that they had an unstoppable streak of momentum throughout the finals series.
However, that could not be further from the truth.
The Lions were seemingly down for the count at multiple stages this season, yet ultimately prevailed with the premiership cup in their hands.
Brisbane only snuck into the top eight by Round 16, but in the AFL's closest season, the Lions always were a shout to avenge their 2023 grand final heartbreak. With the odds stacked against them, what were the key moments that set Brisbane in motion for an unlikely premiership?
"We weren't going to go down that path"
Basking in the changerooms after sealing the first Brisbane Lions premiership in 21 years, Dayne Zorko let 3AWย in on "a little secret".
"At Round 12, myself, Joe (Daniher), and Ryan Lesterย sat down withย Harris Andrews and we said: 'Might be time we start playing the kids, we might have to turn to next year," Zorko said.
At the time the Lions were struggling, sitting 13th on the ladder with a record of four wins, six losses, and one draw. They had just lost to an energetic and brash Hawthorn outfit, with their ambitions for returning to the grand final transforming into wishful thinking.
Brisbane were rocked by an underwhelming 0-3 start to the season, followed by another month of mediocrity to record a 2-5 win-loss ratio at Round 7. After bouncing back with two wins (one of which was a 119-point drubbing of Richmond) and a draw, the Lions' loss to Hawthorn was a belief-sapping loss.
Following deliberation with the leadership group and coach Chris Fagan, the call was made.
"We came up with a real clear plan that day that we weren't going to go down that path. There was still so much football to go," the former Lions skipper said.
It was this innocuous leadership conversation that spurred a butterfly effect all Lions fans can be grateful for.
Brisbane would go on to win nine consecutive games, including a 43-point away win over an in-form Bulldogs side, a 79-point away win over Port Adelaide, and a two-point win over ladder-leaders and soon-to-be grand finalist Sydney.
From the Round 12 loss to the Hawks, Brisbane climbed from 13th to second on the ladder by Round 21, just two premiership points behind the Swans in first. Just over two months prior, Brisbane debated playing the kids and turning their focus to 2025. But by August, Brisbane's premiership window was wide open again.
Fagan's faith
Brisbane had earned itself a top-two spot by Round 21, but fourth quarter fadeouts against GWS and Collingwood in Rounds 22 and 23 knocked Brisbane out of the top four by the season's end.
The Lions were again tasked with defying history.
Since the introduction of the AFL's final-eight system, only one side had won the premiership from outside the top-four, with the Western Bulldogs winning from seventh in 2016. The two other teams to appear in grand finals from outside the top-four were GWS in 2019 and the Bulldogs again in 2021. The Giants finished sixth whilst the Bulldogs placed fifth, and both were brutally beaten, with grand final margins of 89 and 74 points respectively.
History was not on Brisbane's side.
However, the AFL's oldest coach Chris Fagan maintained full faith in his side's ability. Criticised for a potential lack of matchday adjustments and tactics, Fagan's connection and trust in his players evidently shone through during the finals.
After a scintillating elimination final performance against Carlton, the Lions found themselves down by 44 points halfway through the third quarter of the semi-final. GWS had burst out the blocks, with Coleman Medallist Jesse Hogan putting on a clinic.
Zorko reflected following Brisbane's semi-final win that it wasn't a positional switch, or gameplan tactic, that suddenly erased the enormous deficit.
"For him it was just a simple message; just keep doing what you're doing, it's going to turn... ultimately it did," Zorko said.
What happened from the 19th minute of the third quarter has been widely replayed. After an inaccurate 4.13 to begin the match, Brisbane would then kick 11.2 to GWS' 3.2 in a staggering comeback victory.
"His ability to just steady the ship, hold down, put a lot of trust in us to dig ourselves out of it, keep our game plan really simple," Zorko said.
The Lions found themselves in a similar position just one week later. 25 points down to Geelong at the MCG, Brisbane's season and premiership hopes were on the brink.
Once more, without much structural change, the game turned. X-factor players Zac Bailey and Cameron Rayner stood up in the clutch, as Ryan Lester and Callum Ah Chee became unheralded heroes. Even without Oscar McInerney in the latter portion of the match, Joe Daniher held his own magnificently in the ruck. Fagan's trust in his men shone through, as the Lions' confidence never wavered in times of crisis.
Back-to-back comeback victories ensured one of the most stunning paths to a grand final ever seen. But, as Fagan stated post-grand final, crisis creates opportunity. Brisbane had survived two crises and were now blessed with the opportunity to right their wrongs of 2023.
Eric's epic ends all doubt
Sometimes it's just your day.
Extraordinarily, it's fairly obvious to tell in grand finals. A magical goal from sensational skill or a genuine fluke is certainly not unheard of on the last Saturday in September.
The tightest grand finals in recent memory had miraculous drop punts seal the game, with Dom Sheed's inch-perfect boundary line goal in 2018 and Steele Sidebottom's 2023 55-metre set shot delivering premierships for West Coast and Collingwood respectively. Likewise, a goal from the centre square by Tom Boyd sealed the Western Bulldogs' 2016 drought-breaking flag.
Then there are the outrageous kinds where a goal proves everything is going your way. Will Langford's phone box dribble goal from the boundary in 2014 capped off Hawthorn's dominance that day, whilst Luke Hodge's banana in 2015 hinted at what was to come. Christian Petracca's dribbler in 2021 amidst the Demons' third-quarter blitz highlighted the turn of the tide in that match too.
Eric Hipwood's ridiculous snag in the second quarter was the moment that demonstrated it was Brisbane's day. Not dissimilar to Petracca's goal in the 2021 grand final, Hipwood's goal came in the middle of Brisbane's blitzkrieg, snatching Sydney's premiership hopes in just 14 minutes of play.
Hipwood received the ball on the boundary line, slipped over, regained his footing and hacked the ball off a step from his left boot. The football went straight through the middle.
"It was a bit of a lucky one. It just ended up slicing through. When that went through I thought, 'It's our day.' I can't remember ever kicking one from there, especially like that," Hipwood said toย AFL.com.au.
WOW HIPWOOD!
What a goal!#AFLGF pic.twitter.com/Gnnk1igeN5
— 7AFL (@7AFL) September 28, 2024
From that moment, there was no looking back from the Lions. A team that had suffered heartache just 12 months ago, and had worked tirelessly to overcome a poor start to the season, could now rejoice.
From 0-3 and 2-5, trailing by 44 points in a semi-final, trailing by 25 points in a preliminary final and without their ruckman in the decider, Brisbane's journey to premiership glory is a true underdog fairy tale. In a bizarre season that is one of the AFL's closest in history, it's fitting Brisbane's rollercoaster campaign earned the 2024 premiership.
