With back-to-back premierships in their pocket, gun recruits on the way and hungry players out to prove a point, the Brisbane Lions have every reason to believe a dynasty is just beginning.
And as a club with a history of three-peats, they don’t have to look far for inspiration.
Brisbane officially became the first AFL club to five premierships this century after beating Geelong by 47 points on Saturday.
“This group’s freakish. Hopefully this is just the beginning,” co-captain Lachie Neale said.
The Lions previously won three on the bounce between 2001 and 2003 before losing the 2004 decider.
“It’s funny. We lost our first one (2023) and they lost their last one,” dynamo Cam Rayner said.
“Hopefully history repeats and we can get another one and go again.”
Rayner felt the Lions’ success only vindicated his decision to re-sign last October until the end of 2031, adamant more trophies are on the horizon.
“I never had any doubts when I first did it and I feel like we’re only going to get stronger next year,” Rayner said.
“We’ve got so many players that are going to come back and hopefully get a few more coming in that are great players.
“Hopefully we can just keep it rolling.”
Forward Charlie Cameron added: “We have a good foundation, a good culture here.
“We’ve got some good players coming in next year, so can’t wait.”
The Lions will add top-five prospect Daniel Annable from their academy along with two prized free agents.
Essendon ruckman Sam Draper will head north while Cameron was licking his lips at the prospect of playing next to West Coast key forward Oscar Allen.
“It’s gonna be pretty cool – but that’s a long way in the distance,” Cameron said.
The Lions had eight players aged 22 or under in their line-up on Saturday and know plenty of improvement will come from within.
Jack Payne, Noah Answerth, Jarrod Berry, Keidean Coleman and Lincoln McCarthy are among those who missed out this year.
“We went out there with a lot of 22 and unders playing, so it all bodes well for the club as long as we stay calm and don’t get ahead of ourselves,” coach Chris Fagan said.
“But it’s just been an amazing ride.”
There will be players headed for the exit door, too.
Cameron admitted he would be “sad” to see forward line teammate Callum Ah Chee, set to join Adelaide, depart, while Brandon Starcevich could yet take up a big deal from West Coast.
Fan favourite ruckman Oscar McInerney, 31, is no guarantee to play on.
“No idea how it looks (next year). We’ll see what happens,” McInerney said.
But first, the Lions will celebrate.
The premiership team will be presented to Melbourne-based fans at Fitzroy’s Brunswick Street Oval on Sunday morning, then fly north for another fan event at Brighton Homes Arena.
Geelong will have to “sit in” the disappointment of their AFL grand final capitulation then ensure they don’t let it hold them back, says captain Patrick Dangerfield.
The Cats will spend the off-season licking their wounds after suffering a 47-point loss.
“The hard part is there’s no guarantees in any given season,” Dangerfield said.
“It’s everyone that starts again from the blocks, and just because you’ve had a reasonable season one year, there are no guarantees the next. “So I think it’s important that you sit in it for a little bit, that as difficult as it may be, together this piece is really important.
“It’s something that we’ve always done really well as an organisation, regardless of the results, but particularly when we’ve lost big games of footy.
“The club’s always given us a great opportunity to threaten to compete, and I’m sure they’ll give us an opportunity again.”
This year, Sydney slumped after their horror 10-goal loss to Brisbane in the 2024 decider.
Dangerfield conceded the disappointment could hang over the team – but it was worth it to consistently be in contention.
“Look, I think it’s going to hang around regardless,” he said.
“That’s the feeling you get when you make it to the last day of September and you don’t quite get there.”
Brisbane led by as much as 65 points late in the final quarter before Geelong reeled the margin in late.
Midfielder Tom Atkins was adamant the late blowout wouldn’t hang over Geelong, who would learn from the experience.
“I don’t think anyone will be looking too closely at how they were able to score against us when the game was over,” Atkins said.
“I think we fought as hard as we could while the game was alive, and then there just comes a point where it’s sort of beyond saving.”
Dangerfield was adamant there wasn’t too much Geelong, who finished second on the ladder, needed to tweak.
“When you make it this far and then you don’t quite execute, you don’t need to throw everything away,” he said.
“That can be the external noise, but fundamentally there’s some few shifts here and there, some areas we didn’t quite execute that we’ve executed so well throughout the season.
“So that’s not all doom and gloom in terms of the bigger picture, in terms of what we need to go after and what we need to improve.” Geelong will attempt to improve their list again, with Hawthorn midfielder James Worpel and St Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall looming as key targets.
They could also try to launch a bid for Carlton star Charlie Curnow.
“We’re always looking to add … if we play the exact same as we played last year, we won’t go too well, so we need to evolve,” Atkins said.
“Credit to our staff, our football staff, they’re always looking to add pieces and get better as a team, so we’ll look to do that over the off-season.”
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