Chris Fagan would hang the fireman’s helmet up in the change rooms each week.

Every time things got a little harder for the Brisbane Lions this year, and Fagan needed another little spur or reminder, they returned to their firefighter theme.

Last year, it was about ‘dancing on thin ice’.

Over the past few months, the Lions were all about ‘running towards the fire’.

It was an idea which came from hard nut Jarrod Berry who first heard it in a boxing clip, and raised it with the coach.

In the clip, the boxing trainer shouts at his prized fighter ‘run towards the fire’, and it hit a note with the Lions as they overcame a mounting injury list and difficult draw to go all the way, again, this season.

“It all started in round 15 when we played Geelong in Geelong,” said co-captain Harris Andrews.

“We lost to the Giants the week before and we felt like we played a bit safe at times when the stakes were really high.

“So, from that moment on, we just wanted to run towards the fire. No matter what happened.

“We had a fireman come in and talk about what it was like actually running into a fire and all the things that go into that.

“It is all just a testament to ‘Fages’ as a coach because it was a great theme which really worked for us.

“Put the helmet on, buckle up, and get in there.”

Teammate Zac Bailey, who overcame four missed shots on goal in the first term, said the theme was the perfect hook through September, after falling in the first final to the Cats.

The adversity and underdog status fuelled them.

“Everyone wrote us off,” Bailey said.

“So that is what we had to do, run towards the fire. Go towards the challenge. Be unafraid.

“Every time we had a big loss or something has happened this season, we have been able to respond. So we did.”

The fireman who spoke to the Lions was long-time Brisbane fan and first class firefighter, Mick Brumley, from Cannon Hill fire station 7.

Brumley would pick up his morning coffee from the same Brisbane cafe as Fagan.

And one morning when the pair were talking by chance, the senior coach asked if Brumley and his station officer, Justin Francis, could speak to his players about the dangers of their day jobs.

And Brumley donated a spare white helmet so it could go on the road with the Lions.

“I was sitting there looking at them (players) thinking they are my heroes and they are looking back at me (in a similar way), so it really was a great honour,” Brumley said.

“I am generally on the hose, and I go into the buildings and that sort of thing, but I rely on the people in my team to help look after me.

“Whether it is the pump operator so I have got water, or making sure I’m out (of the building) before I run out of air.

“That teamwork is what I spoke about and how we deal with adversity, looking after each other and relying on our training.

“They (Lions) asked me ‘What do you do when you are faced with a dangerous situation?’ You look at your team members.

“One time there was a guy lying on a powerline and I thought ‘If I get electrocuted here these guys should be able to bring me back’ (to life).

“So we have got a close crew. The camaraderie is strong.

“And there are some similarities (to football), I guess.”

For the Lions, it put their contest work and indeed their entire season into some context, according to gun forward Kai Lohmann.

“The firemen was inspiring, very inspiring,” Lohmann said.

“What they do is risk their lives every time they go to work.

“So it really put things into perspective for us, so we could really take it on. Go for it.”

This year, Brisbane was faced with the retirement of gun spearhead Joe Daniher, significant injuries to key players Jack Payne, Eric Hipwood and Keidean Coleman as well as the late-season blows to Lachie Neale (calf), Josh Dunkley (ankle) and Berry (shoulder).

Their twin tower key forwards, Ty Gallop, 19, and Logan Morris, 20, have played only 51 games combined.

Plus they were handed the league’s toughest fixture, according to Champion Data, and were shut down for a week on the eve of the season after a cyclone hit Queensland.

In September, they bounced back from a first-week loss and twice won on the road against Collingwood and Geelong.

But Fagan got his timing spot on with the messaging at a crucial point in the season as the Lions thumped the Cats in the Round 15 upset win at GMHBA Stadium.

“We would put Mick’s helmet up in the rooms,” Fagan said.

“You are always looking for things to help motivate the players and that definitely helped us because the win over Geelong in Geelong was a really important win in our season.

“So we just kept it going.

“We had a lot of challenges this year, we had six or seven new players compared to last year’s grand final, so it is a massive turnover.

“But I said to the boys, ‘You are like cockroaches. You can’t kill us’.”

For Fagan, this year’s premiership was a sweeter accomplishment than last year because of the hurdles they jumped along the way in 2025.

Number one pick, and powerhouse playmaker Cam Rayner agreed.

“It has been f—ing hard this year,” said Rayner.

“Before the Freo game there was a chance we weren’t even going to play finals.

“So the ‘run towards the fire’ thing was similar to last year about dancing on thin ice.

“Really give it a red hot crack, don’t be scared, and keep taking it on.

“And it worked out again.”

Against Geelong in Saturday’s grand final, the Lions were again the outsider.

But that is how they like it, Lohmann said.

“We always get written off,” Lohmann said.

“We love being the hunters. And we always find a way.

“We have a special group and a great coaching panel.

“I hope they write us off again next year, as well. Hopefully, we will do it again.”

At the Lions’ grand final team meeting on Friday, Fagan, 64, also wheeled out a quote from Phil King, who was the coach and husband of champion 400m runner, Debbie Flintoff-King.

“There is a point of no return where you have laboured so long and given so much that you can’t go back”, King said.

“You must trample on anyone who tries to stop you.”

It was written on the inside of one of Flintoff-King’s running spikes prior to her gold medal run in the 400m hurdles in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and Fagan brought it back out the day before the premiership decider.

But this was more than motivation.

The Lions had to learn their lessons after the first-week loss to the Cats when Hugh McCluggage and Rayner were tagged out of the game.

In that 38-point loss in week one, the Lions gave away the ball far too easily to Geelong.

The Lions’ uncontested possession and ball control game fell away.

But the Lions went to work this week, illuminating a clear path to more grand final glory, according to assistant coach Cameron Bruce.

“The beauty of this group is they learn so well from previous experiences. And they were just so eager to make amends,” Bruce said.

“They have just got an unbelievable determination and we highlighted the style we played against them (Geelong) last time, and the errors we made.

“The ball going backwards rather than taking ground when under pressure.

“Those kind of things we looked at.

“We looked at the contrast of when we do it right versus when we did it wrong.

“So, they see that, and that is why we need to play a certain way.

“So, we corrected all those things and we got the result we deserved.”

Bruce said Fagan’s coaching greatness was on show this year.

“He is coaching as well as he ever has,” Bruce said.

“I’ve been around ‘Fages’ a long time, and he just knows people.

“He reads the room. And people play for him. His staff work for him.

“It is not just on the field. It is all of us that he gets around and invests time into.

“I said to him the other day ‘You have got to hang around for a lot longer because this group is not done’.

“There is so much excitement to come, and he is coaching as well as ever because it is such a great club, a great environment, great people and the families love it.”