From crisis to glory: How the Lions stormed back from the brink

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan insisted the crisis his men found themselves in earlier in the season because of injury and poor form had emboldened them and helped them to a breakthrough premiership over a lacklustre Sydney on Saturday.

The Lions dropped their opening three games of the season and had fallen to 13th place at the mid-point of the campaign, coming as they were hurt by a slew of injuries.

Chris Fagan with his wife Ursula (left) and his mother Beth after the club’s premiership triumph.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images

But Fagan said this had provided opportunities, including for young star Will Ashcroft, who returned from his own ACL injury this season and would go on and claim the Norm Smith Medal in the Lions’ 60-point win.

So dire had things become early in the season that Fagan revealed he thought the Lions’ best hope was to scramble into the top eight and potentially play just the one final.

“I was hoping we might recover well enough to maybe finish somewhere in the bottom of the eight and play a final. So, we did do a little bit better than I thought was possible,” Fagan said amid the glow of a premiership on Saturday night.

“The interesting thing is, crisis creates opportunity, and as terrible it is for those boys to have the ACLs, and they are all wonderful club men and popular boys, it opened the door for a lot of young players to get some opportunity. What we found out is those young players ... they produced, and they have done so since the moment they got into the team.”

After tinkering with their kick-mark game plan, and improving defensively, the Lions went on to win 14 of their last 16 games, including the grand final, to help erase memories of last year’s defeat to Collingwood.

Fagan, at 63 the oldest premiership coach in VFL-AFL grand final history, said the premiership was “probably” the greatest moment in his decades-long career.

“When you are the coach of an AFL team, you have to put up with a lot of scrutiny and a lot of pressure. For us, this is my eighth year, to come from where we have come from eight years to be able to do this today is a very special moment,” he said.

“I know we have played finals for the last six years, but last year was probably the first time I thought we had a genuine chance to win it. I thought we were a developing team up until then. Last year was a big disappointment for us but a day we were still proud of and learnt plenty from.”

Fagan took charge of the club when it was on its knees in 2017, and has rebuilt the playing list into the power it was between 2001-03 when the Lions won three straight flags.

However, he is now mindful the past two premiers – Geelong and Collingwood – failed to even make the finals the following season. Fagan was a key football-department lieutenant during Hawthorn’s 2013-15 premiership run, and will lean on this when the Lions return for pre-season training later this year.

Lions fans were in full voice as their side won their first premiership since 2003.Credit: Justin McManus

“You have got to get back to work and stay grounded and not get too carried away. That’s always the big challenge after you win one because it’s pretty intoxicating winning an AFL premiership,” Fagan said.

“I think I can use some of the things I learned at Hawthorn from Clarko [coach Alastair Clarkson] and Hodgey [captain Luke Hodge] as well to get the group going again. I think they will be pretty motivated to have that feeling again. We’ll enjoy what we have done this season for a little while, but we will get back to work and, hopefully, next year we can turn up an even better version of ourselves from all the experiences we have had.”

As the players celebrated in the dressing room, Fagan said he was aware of speculation Joe Daniher, another key weapon on Saturday who was almost in the running for the Norm Smith Medal, could retire.

“I don’t know. Someone mentioned that to me when I just got interviewed after the game. That’s the first I have heard of it … I don’t know whether there is any truth in it or not,” Fagan said.

The Lions became only the second team after the Western Bulldogs in 2016 to win a premiership from outside the top four. They had to win four finals to do so, including recovering from 44 points behind against Greater Western Sydney in a semi-final.

“Somehow the team that finished fifth on the ladder and had to play every week won,” Fagan said.

Ashcroft was dominant, with 30 disposals, a goal, five clearances and 10 score involvements. His father Marcus played in all three of the Lions’ 2001-03 premierships.

Presented the medal by Geelong great Steve Johnson, Ashcroft’s elevation was debatable, for Lachie Neale was the No.1 ranked player on the ground by Champion Data, having 34 disposals, nine clearances and 10 score involvements. This included nine touches and two centre clearances when the Lions took hold of the contest in the second term.

He had battled a serious plantar fascia heel injury for months, taking painkillers and was unable to train through the week. He said “something snapped in it”.

“He came off the ground and felt something had snapped in his foot. He was pretty determined to go back on,” he said.

Fagan revealed forward Eric Hipwood had been battling osteitis pubis through the finals, restricting his movement.

Cult hero Kai Lohmann was special in the first half with three crucial goals, while Callum Ah Chee, with four goals for the game, was also pivotal up forward.

Kai Lohmann starred for the Lions against the Swans.Credit: Eddie Jim

Co-captain Harris Andrews and fellow defenders Jack Payne and Dayne Zorko were excellent. Josh Dunkley’s blanket job on a disappointing Isaac Heeney was important, coming on a day several of the Swans key players, including Chad Warner and Nick Blakey, had games they would rather forget.

Heeney revealed on Saturday night that he had played through the finals with a stress fracture in his leg, although coach John Longmire said it had been a “stress reaction”.

“He was a bit sore today and didn’t have the usual impact,” Longmire said.

This was the Swans’ fourth grand final defeat under Longmire, having also lost in 2014, 2016 and 2022, the latter by 81 points. Longmire’s sole flag was in 2012. He is contracted until the end of 2025.

A “disappointed” Longmire said the result was not about him.

“It’s not about me, mate, it’s about the footy club,” he said.

He lamented the Swans’ lack of ball pressure, and their inability to curb the Lions’ high uncontested possession game.

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.