Brisbane Lions given hero welcome after smashing Swans in AFL grand final
The mighty roar of fans was deafening in pubs across Brisbane on Saturday night as the Lions hoisted the AFL premiership cup for the first time in 21 years.
The mighty roar of fans was deafening in pubs across Brisbane on Saturday night as the Lions hoisted the AFL premiership cup for the first time in 21 years.
Thousands of blue, maroon and gold-swathed footy fanatics piled into bars surrounding the Gabba – the next best thing to being at the MCG – to watch the pride of Brisbane shed their underdog status and deliver a stunning 60-point triumph over the Sydney Swans.
The 2024 premiership, won in front of 100,013 people at the MCG, was redemption for the Lions after their heartbreaking four-point loss to Collingwood at last year’s grand final.
Coach Chris Fagan, in his eighth year at the club, described the win as the pinnacle of his coaching career, guiding the Lions from the bottom of the ladder in 2017 to premiership glory.
“To come from where we have come from eight years ago to be able to do this today is a very special moment,” he said.
James Toohey, 30, was at the Pineapple Hotel in Woolloongabba on Saturday to watch the action with friends on the big screen.
“It was the most packed I have ever seen it,” he said. “It might not have been the MCG but the energy was amazing. In the last 10 seconds of the game, everyone counted down in unison then exploded into celebrations. There was a lot of relief after the pain of 2023.”
In Cairns, in Queensland’s far north, Premier Steven Miles was behind the bar at Cazalys Sports Bar, pulling beers for punters at half time. “120-60. Absolutely blew them away. Amazing,” he said.
A crowd of about 7000 people braved the rain on Sunday morning, turning out at the Brunswick Street Oval in Melbourne’s Fitzroy – the Lion’s spiritual home – to celebrate the victory with team members.
Lions co-captain Lachie Neale arrived in a moon boot after hearing something “pop” in the final quarter against the Swans.
“I couldn’t give a shit (about the pain),” the dual Brownlow medallist said on Sunday.
“It’s a little bit sore this morning but that’s probably because I was up until 6am on it, so the physio has put me in a boot.”
The team flew back to Brisbane with the premiership cup on Sunday afternoon to meet Queensland fans at the Brighton Homes Arena in Springfield, southwest of Brisbane.
Paul West, 37, made a two-hour drive down from the Sunshine Coast to offer the Lions a heroes welcome alongside other diehard fans. “It was such a convincing win, really incredible. I wanted to make sure I was down here to cheer the boys back to Brisbane,” he said.
Fitzroy showed out â¤ï¸ pic.twitter.com/WLNKQSgmQu
— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) September 28, 2024
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