It seemed inconceivable, as recently as seven years ago, that the Brisbane Lions would be on the verge of becoming the most successful AFL club this century.
But after a rocky, wildly unsuccessful decade following triple premiership coach Leigh Matthews’ departure in 2008, the Lions have reclaimed their reputation as a competition powerhouse.
If Brisbane manage to salute in Saturday’s grand final, it will be the first team win five AFL premierships this millennium.
However, its opposition is also sitting on four flags since 2000 and is desperate to capitalise on virtually two consecutive decades of challenging for silverware.
The first-ever grand final between the Lions and Geelong will be the culmination of rivalry stretching back more than 20 years.
As the rampaging Lions collected a premiership three-peat in 2001-03, they routinely bullied a young, rebuilding Geelong team in that era under Mark Thompson.
But by 2004, the Cats finally had enough, upsetting the defending triple premiers in round 13 on a cold and wet day at Kardinia Park for their first win over Brisbane in nine years.
The Lions recovered to again beat Geelong later that year, winning a tense preliminary final they were forced to host at the MCG due to the AFL’s contractual arrangement with the venue.
Brisbane qualified for a fourth-straight grand final, losing the next week to Port Adelaide, but its dominance of Geelong, and the AFL in general, was coming to an end.
From 2006 to 2018, the Cats made it their duty to smash the Lions, boasting a 18-2 record in that period.
But there was usually no embarrassment in Brisbane being shown up as the Cats made a habit of easily beating most teams.
Geelong has been an undeniable and consistent juggernaut since their breakout year of 2004.
The Cats have missed finals just three times – 2006, 2015 and 2023 – in 21 years and won four premierships (2007, 2009, 2011, 2022) since ending a 43-year drought.
Instead of rebuilding, as the likes of Richmond did after their three premierships in four seasons, Geelong just keeps contending every year.
The Cats’ early success was built on astute drafting, as well as luck with father-son talent such as Gary Ablett Jnr, Matthew Scarlett and Tom Hawkins.
But as those household names retired, Geelong has gone about staying at the top in a different way.
The Cats’ strike rate of turning unproven talent into quality players is unmatched.
Five-time All-Australian Tom Stewart, who will miss the grand final due to concussion, was the ultimate late-bloomer.
Shaun Mannagh, Lawson Humphries, Ollie Dempsey and Mark Blicavs are among the speculative selections to have become reliable regulars.
But they’ve also attracted supreme talent from other clubs to keep them in the premiership window.
Captain Patrick Dangerfield, dual Coleman medallist Jeremy Cameron and enigmatic midfield star Bailey Smith all chose to join the club, for varying reasons, in the past decade.
That trio will all have a major say on Saturday about whether the Cats win a 11th VFL/AFL flag.
As Geelong kept near the top for the entire 2010s, the Lions were mostly a basket case, left to rue poor football and off-field decisions after the golden era came to an end.
Brisbane fans had little to cheer about for the best part of 15 years, making finals just once – 2009 – from 2005 to 2018.
The best moment for the Lions, outside of the stunning elimination final comeback over Carlton in 2009, during that lean period came against Geelong.
Dubbed ‘The Miracle on Grass’, Brisbane overturned a 52-point deficit in round 13, 2013 to shell-shock the star-studded Cats.
The 15th-placed Lions secured a famous win when Ash McGrath, in his 200th game, launched a long set shot after-the-siren to upset Geelong, who were sitting second and would end up playing in a preliminary final that year.
But the ecstasy of that victory wouldn’t last for Brisbane, which would sack club legend Michael Voss later that season.
Another premiership hero, Justin Leppitsch, followed, but he coached the Lions to just 14 wins across three seasons in charge.
Brisbane had to look outside the box to break its cycle of doom, appointing Hawthorn football boss Chris Fagan as coach.
The build under Fagan started slowly, targeting the draft and picking up future premiership heroes Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry, Cam Rayner, Zac Bailey, and Brandon Starcevich in 2016 and 2017.
Brisbane was back in 2019, ending a decade-long finals drought and finishing inside the top four.
Its most memorable moment of 2019 again came courtesy of a Cats clash, winning an epic late-season match at the Gabba when former Geelong player Linc McCarthy soared for a classic mark that turned into the matchwinning goal.
But the Cats would continue to dominate the Lions when it mattered, comfortably winning preliminary finals against Brisbane in 2020 and 2022.
Geelong finally won a fourth flag this century in 2022, after a decade of painful near-misses late in seasons.
The Lions-Cats rivalry went to another level last September when Brisbane prevailed in a classic preliminary final at the MCG.
The 21-year wait for another flag ended the next week when the Lions belted Sydney in a one-sided grand final.
To progress to this year’s decider, both teams had to knock off arguably their most-heated rival in a preliminary final; Geelong taking down Hawthorn, and the Lions silencing Collingwood.
The Cats enter the grand final as strong favourites after eight-straight wins, but Brisbane’s resilience during the Fagan era means they can’t be written off in the race for five flags.
