How one perfect gamble put Lions on path to grand final glory… and defined Fagan’s AFL masterpiece

It is an audacious passage that defined the brilliance and precision with which Brisbane broke a 21-year premiership drought when destroying the Swans by 60 points at the MCG.

Midway through the first term, Hugh McCluggage marked the ball on the defensive side of the centre square after the Lions had chipped the ball this way and that to get it to him.

The Lions were yet to kick a goal. Instead they had conceded two in quick fashion to their rivals after Will Hayward brilliantly roved a pack to kick the opening goal under the advantage rule before Tom Papley snapped a superb goal on the run from 45m.

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McCluggage paused briefly before spotting Ryan Lester, who had chipped the ball to him, dashing to the right of the centre circle amid a flock of Swans set up in a defensive zone.

The pass had to be centimetre perfect, to quote broadcasting great Dennis Cometti. It was.

Lester marked on the run and was able to find the mercurial Kai Lohmann, who kicked Brisbane’s opening goal of the grand final and the first of his three in a stellar opening half.

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The kick was a gamble. Turn it over and the Swans would be able to sweep the ball forward again. But it proved the pass that kickstarted an astonishing premiership performance.

This was a prime example of “dancing on thin ice”, the theme of Brisbane’s season which has seen it overcome adversity time and again, including in the semi and preliminary finals, to clinch the club’s first premiership since the threepeat between 2001 and 2003.

From McCluggage’s moment on, Brisbane diced their rivals with near surgical precision. Their midfield obliterated rivals with big reputations … aside from grand finals. The Lions forwards fired. And a defence marshalled by homegrown hero Harris Andrews largely doused the Swans hopes of scoring at all, let alone kicking a winning score.

THE MASTER COACH

This was a defining performance by Brisbane and one that confirms Chris Fagan, the “grandfather of the AFL”, as a masterful coach and educator of footballers young and old.

He took charge of Brisbane at one of its lowest ebbs and within eight years has turned into a premiership force and destination club.

After the heartbreak of a year ago, when Collingwood denied the Lions by less than a kick in a thrilling grand final, their bid for redemption appeared irredeemable by the start of winter.

The Lions had just two wins from seven rounds and had five players on the injured list recovering from knee reconstructions after they lost to the Giants on a cold night in Canberra.

But Fagan has always backed his men in and expressed faith that they had the ability to keep the season alive. They “danced on thin ice” from then on, finding their rhythm.

After narrowly missing the top four, they demolished Carlton, pulled off the miracle on grass to defeat the Giants from 44 points down in Sydney, overcame a 25-point deficit to down the Cats a week ago and then dismantled the minor premiers with a ruthless performance.

And it all started from the McCluggage kick.

MIDFIELD MAULING

Leading into the grand final, there were concerns the absence of ruckman Oscar McInerney might deprive Brisbane’s midfield of the chance to win first use of the football.

Instead Brisbane dominated possession from the first bounce and were far more effective when using the footy. McCluggage set the tone. Lachie Neale was at his Brownlow-winning best. Will Ashcroft was sublime. Jarrod Berry banished the nightmares of last year’s grand final. Josh Dunkley shattered the confidence of Isaac Heeney. And Darcy Fort held up his end of the bargain.

In the opening term, the Lions had the ball 33 more times, yet the Swans tallied 11 clangers from their 61 kicks compared to only two from Brisbane.

The margin at quarter-time was only eight points, but there were alarming signs for Sydney.

The options in Brisbane’s forward line looked far more dangerous. Lohmann was a wildfire.

Charlie Cameron, who kicked a superb snap shot from the boundary line to give Brisbane the momentum at quarter-time, had been everywhere, laying tackles and delivering bumps.

Daniher missed a couple of early shots but, having moved into the ruck to give reserve ruckman Fort a reprieve eight minutes in, and shaped as a nightmare for the Swans.

And that is not counting Callum Ah Chee, who after moving to Nick Blakey early, was proving a dynamo once again with his toughness, along with the threatening Cam Rayner.

Youngsters Ashcroft, Jaspa Fletcher and Logan Morris looked settled, which is more than could be said for the headless approach with which the Swans were entering attack.

They represent the future of the Lions. Yet they have already delivered in a grand final.

If McCluggage’s kick was a sign of Brisbane’s conviction, a contest between Ah Chee and Blakey later in the first term provided an indication that the Lions were tougher at the ball.

The pair collided head-on when vying for the ball on the brink of Brisbane’s attacking arc, yet it was Ah Chee who won the ball and found McCluggage, who coolly kicked Brisbane’s third.

THE TSUNAMI

If the first term set the foundation for the Lions, the second term proved a belter as they blasted their rivals away with a ferocity from the middle and more sublime ball movement.

Brisbane attacked in waves. The Swans had leakes everywhere and when the dam burst, the goals came in a tsunami. Daniher. Ah Chee. Berry. Then came the killer blow.

When Eric Hipwood gathered the ball on the boundary line, slipped over, yet still had the time to duck and then weave a goal from the most acute angle, the premiership was won.

It was only 23 minutes into the second term. And the margin was under six goals. But this match was over.

And while the Lions were dancing in the sunshine, the spotlight on the Swans was glaring.

Sydney has been a remarkable team under John Longmire and their consistency in contending is admirable, but they have now endured two maulings in the three years.

To be thrashed in one grand final, as they were by Geelong in 2022, is a disaster.

To be resoundingly destroyed in another will make for the most difficult summer a footballer can imagine.

Isaac Heeney is a brilliant footballer but, after having his confidence sapped when manned by Josh Dunkley, endured some horrible moments before finishing the grand final injured.

Errol Gulden and Chad Warner were far from their matchwinning best. Logan McDonald entered the match under an injury cloud and was substituted from the match at halftime.

Grundy was unable to exert any dominance over Fort, despite the significant gulf in experience. It was another nightmare performance after the horror show of two years ago.

And it is the most bitter of pills to swallow. To clinch the minor premiership yet succumb in such a fashion on grand final day yet again raises uncomfortable questions for the Swans.

THE CELEBRATIONS

There was a massive roar from Brisbane fans when the MCG scoreboard showed Fagan standing on the bench at the 25-minute mark of the final term. He still looked nervous.

Shortly after Luke Parker kicked Sydney’s ninth goal for the game, the majority coming in junk time, Daniher and Cameron walked back into the Lions forward line with their arms around each other.

Shortly after Daniher, who is the subject of speculation about his playing future, gathered the ball and snapped truly for his second for the match in another truly joyful moment.

Having proved the matchwinner against the Giants a fortnight ago with two outstanding moments, the big forward has confirmed himself an outstanding finals performer.

He is now a champion along with so many of his teammates. And a premiership performer.

And as the Lions players celebrated with glee on the MCG after the siren rang, the big screen panned again to Fagan. He was being hugged by AFL legend Leigh Matthews.

From one Brisbane premiership coach to the other, the torch has been passed.