AFL grand final: Inside Brisbane’s rooms following their loss to Collingwood
The emotion of Brisbane’s loss was hard to miss after the match, as the reality of coming so close kicked in. Go inside the heartbroken Lions’ post-game rooms.
Ben Hudson was Brisbane’s bartender – but in the bowels of the MCG on Saturday night there were not many thirsty boys.
Hudson – the club’s VFL coach – routinely reached into an esky filled with XXXX Gold beers and handed them out as the sobering reality of a grand final loss sunk in.
As distraught players embraced their families the rooms resembled a creche.
The next generation of Brisbane supporters – young children blissfully ignorant to the fact it had taken this club 19 years to get back to the big dance – kicked Sherrins around and played cheerfully.
But the emotion of a four-point loss was inescapable all around. It surrounded those children in every direction.
Dayne Zorko shook his head in disbelief and Hudson handed him a beer.
In one corner sat the Dunkleys – star midfielder Josh who was flanked by his mum Lisa, his dad Andrew, his brother Kyle and his girlfriend Tippah.
It was hard to watch for one of football’s favourite families.
Josh and Kyle touched their beer cans together, but this was a cheers seriously lacking in celebration.
Player agents Paul Connors and Robbie D’Orazio settled into the Lions camp, too.
They sipped on XXXX cans next to the Dunkleys as they chewed the fat with Lions boss Greg Swann.
Opposite in the room stood national recruiting manager Stephen Conole.
By the time Conole, who is one of the AFL’s most respected recruiters, and Swann knock heads to plot the club’s off-season player movement moves they should be buoyed by optimism.
Because while the players will wake up with sore heads and aching hearts on Sunday, any suggestion this era has been a failure is a fallacy.
Coach Chris Fagan only needs to look down Princes Highway for proof of that.
Geelong lost a grand final in 2020 and preliminary finals in 2021, 2019, 2017 and 2016 before converting a seemingly never-ending run of September near misses into the ultimate success last year.
Plus, perhaps five years of making finals should be toasted anyway. The AFL historically only recognises the premiers when, really, it is possible to have a positive season without winning a premiership.
The Lions will long curse the umpire’s advantage call at the finish. It was a blunder that dimmed their thunder.
Remember the words of wisdom from NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo this year?
“You work towards a goal — it’s not a failure,” Giannis said after Milwaukee Bucks were bounced from the playoffs.
“It’s steps to success. There’s always steps to it. Michael Jordan played 15 years, won six championships. The other nine years was a failure?”
The Lions have won 73 per cent of home-and-away games from 2018-2023.
They led Saturday’s unforgettable grand final with 5min 31sec left in the season.
When Charlie Cameron kicked his third goal it looked like Brisbane’s transformation from basket case to the best was going to be completed.
That transformation remains without silverware but is undeniable. In 2013 the Lions sacked coach and club legend Michael Voss and then watched five players walk out the door.
Remember the “go-home five”? Elliot Yeo, Jared Polec, Sam Docherty, Billy Longer and Patrick Karnezis all decided that Brisbane was not for them.
They got little in return. Karnezis was swapped for Jackson Paine while draft picks for Docherty, Longer and Yeo were used on Tom Cutler, Dan McStay and Lewis Taylor respectively.
By 2017 the Lions were wooden spooners and a laughing stock. By 2023 they were perennial contenders and a destination club.
Dunkley first wanted to get to Essendon (2020) but ended up bound for Brisbane.
Joe Daniher first wanted to get out of Essendon and to Sydney (2019) but ended up bond for Brisbane.
Lachie Neale, Conor McKenna and Cameron are other stars who chose to shine brightest in Brisbane.
Coach Chris Fagan, football boss Danny Daly, Swann and Conole are among the key pillars who stepped up to steady the ship.
Daly is perhaps the unsung hero. He is an elite strategist who Damien Hardwick once tried to poach to Richmond.
The swanky new Springfield training base is the envy of the rest – even Collingwood.
The Lions are loaded for land when some Melbourne clubs are starting to feel cramped as they swell to accommodate women’s and VFL programs.
But the Lions still have room in their trophy cabinet, and until that thirst is satisfied then this brave group is unlikely to feel complete.
More Coverage
Injury-hit Demons stun Crows in Norwood thriller
Struck down by a host of injuries across their team, the Dees have managed to keep their AFLW season alive by pulling off a thrilling victory over the Crows.
Make me a Giant: The deal that will make Stringer’s wish a reality
Jake Stringer wants to play for GWS next season, but how can the Bombers and Giants get a deal done? One young gun at GWS could be the key. Recap day three of the trade period here.