If they thought dealing with the days and weeks post-grand final heartbreak were tough, nothing could have prepared them for what followed a few months later.

When the club was at its lowest ebb earlier this year after a winless start and drama surrounding an off-season trip to the United States, it was the Lions’ leaders who provided the necessary guidance to help drag the team out of deep water.

If not for their presence both on and off the field, Brisbane would not be hosting an elimination final on Saturday night.

WEATHERING THE STORM

Four days after a 20-point Easter Thursday loss to Collingwood that saw the Lions slump to 0-3, Andrews fronted media to address reports there was a fracture within the playing group dating back to an off-season trip to the US that a number of players had attended.

It could not have come at a worse time for the club.

By his own admission the skipper “didn’t really know” what had happened on the trip, given he was in Europe with his partner Emily at the time, but after debriefing with his teammates and the coaching staff he was adamant there was no fracture.

“It was definitely challenging. To be 0-3 and then all the media-driven stuff comes out about the US trip. We spent a lot of time together myself, Lachie, the other leaders and the club, Fages and Danny (Daly) trying to just bunker down,” Andrews told this masthead on the eve of finals.

“So for us it was like, OK … we can’t control the headlines that are coming out, but what we can control is our attitude towards our performance and that clearly needed to improve.”

From his viewpoint, the football world was eager to sink the boot into his club. But Andrews saw it as an opportunity for growth.

“It’s easy to be a leader when you’re playing in a prelim and going off to a grand final – it’s easy to do the showcase there,” he said at the time.

“I still have plenty of confidence in this group.”

That confidence was put under the ultimate stress test three weeks later when the Lions fell to 2-5 after being trounced by the Giants in Canberra.

At that point many people were ready to write their finals hopes off. But not the leaders.

“We were looking down the barrel and it could have probably gone one of two ways: turn our toes up, or keep rallying the troops and try to keep the place enjoyable,” Andrews said.

“At that stage we knew we would have to make some drastic improvements to potentially play finals. But mine and Lachie’s role was about keeping guys’ belief up and about. For us that was the one thing we would always come back to.”

THE TURNING POINT

The following week the Lions returned home to host a fired-up Gold Coast Suns in a blockbuster QClash.

Under new coach Damien Hardwick the Suns were playing some impressive football and fancied their chances of travelling up the M1 and returning with a rare Gabba victory.

Just about anything that could have gone wrong did go wrong for the Lions in the first 20 minutes.

Brandon Starcevich injured his calf in the warm-up and was forced to withdraw, which meant dragging debutant Logan Morris from the stands – with a belly full of McDonalds – to pull on the substitute vest.

Then Lincoln McCarthy went down with a knee injury inside the opening 10 minutes and in the blink of an eye, Morris was into the game. Minutes later, Darcy Gardiner also went down clutching at his knee.

The club would later learn the two veterans had suffered season-ending ACL injuries.

If Andrews ever feels himself second-guessing what the Lions are capable of, he thinks back to that night in early May when they overcame overwhelming odds to post a stirring 34-point victory.

It was a season-defining – perhaps season-saving – line in the sand game, where the team said enough was enough.

Dayne Zorko won his very first Marcus Ashcroft Medal as best on ground that night, but right behind him in the voting were two familiar faces: Andrews and Neale.

“The fact we were able to rally that night and get the job done against a Suns team that was coming hard and had made a conscious effort to knock us off … for me personally, that gave me a lot of belief,” Andrews said.

“That was a really powerful night from a belief standpoint.”

LEADERS OF MEN

Fostering belief became a season-long focus for Andrews and Neale. It was something that before this year they rarely had to do, given the Lions had become perennial top four finishers under Fagan.

On field their actions never wavered. Even during the early season slump, both men were among the few Lions still hitting the high standards of excellence they had set the previous year.

And off the field their partnership blossomed, both by necessity and a unified desire to get the best out of their teammates.

“I think we complement each other really well,” Andrews said.

“I’ve really enjoyed getting to see things from his perspective. Having a difference in position allows us to view the game a bit differently. He gets a good feel for it around the ball and I’m at the other end of the ground, able to see some things that maybe he can’t.”

The two have had to work closer than ever with the staff this season, particularly early on when the arrows were coming from all directions.

Football boss Danny Daly has had a front-row seat on the rollercoaster.

“We’d been pretty lucky over the previous five years in terms of injuries, winning games and no off-field (issues). So when you go through a bit of adversity like we did at the start of the year … to me that shows a bit about the character of people and how they react and deal with it,” Daly said.

“Fages and I have a great relationship with those two. We were able to have some really clear and honest conversations about where we were at on and off the field.

“Harris has been outstanding in his ability to have conversations with the group and individual players, just to make sure everyone stays tight and connected regardless of what was being said on the outside. This has been a great growth period for Harris and his leadership.

“Harris is about being front and square whereas Lachie is really about his actions.

“Lachie was really driven during the first part of the year in making sure he led the way in terms of professionalism and how he performed, making sure he was doing everything right and dragging the players along with him.”

Vice-captain Hugh McCluggage, who is destined to take over the captaincy from Neale when the dual-Brownlow Medallist eventually hangs up the boots, said there were no two players he would rather run out behind.

“They’re different personalities but they work so well together,” he said.

“Lachie’s on-field leadership is No.1. There’s been games where we’ve come off a bad patch of form and he’s the one that has really set the tone for us.

“In the North game (after the US trip saga) his first quarter was one of the best I’ve ever seen – the Port Adelaide game as well he was huge. On-field he’s unreal and off-field he’s a great footy brain and someone I go to when I need someone to bounce ideas off.

“Big Chief (Andrews) is such a calming influence. He has a really good grip on things that are happening around the club and he has this great ability to work with the young boys to make sure they’re getting better.

“He’s able to keep a calm head in any situation. The way he kept everyone together early in the year when things weren’t going well was second to none. I’ve really enjoyed seeing his growth as a leader.”

THE NEXT STEP

Mere minutes after last year’s grand final defeat, a forlorn Andrews fronted the media and was asked to put words to his feelings.

Neale, tears in his eyes, sat somewhere on the dressing room floor behind him.

Like their teammates, the two captains were inconsolable.

But alongside Fagan and Daly, the pair vowed to forge ahead and not let the loss define them.

Now the Lions stand at the foot of the mountain once again. For the sixth time in as many seasons they are one of eight teams in the premiership hunt.

“There’s a massive mountain we want to climb to get back to grand final day but if you look too far ahead you can get caught wondering,” Andrews said.

“I reflect back on that whole week as something really special to me. Getting to see my teammates with their kids in the grand final parade was awesome. We would love to be able to do that again, but we know there’s a long way to go.

“This year of all years for me has shown me how important it is to celebrate those little wins and moments, because certainly there were times this year where we didn’t have a lot to celebrate.

“At the end of the day we’re just playing a game of football and we’re all really grateful to be in a position to be able to do that.”