Cam Rayner and Noah Answerth will become the fifth and sixth Brisbane Lions players to miss a final through suspension next week, opening the door for a week a selection ‘lotto’.

The big talking point among Lions fans will be ‘who will get the nod?’ after Rayner and Answerth, each outed for one match following the Lions’ Round 23 loss to Melbourne, join Chris Scott, Craig McRae, Alastair Lynch and Tim Notting in the unwanted ‘September suspension” file.

Scott and McRae missed the 1999 preliminary final after being reported in the semi-final win over the Western Bulldogs – Scott for charging his long-time mate Stephen Powell and McRae for striking tagger Jose Romero.

Lynch missed the 2001 preliminary final for striking Port Adelaide’s Darryl Wakelin in the qualifying final win, and Notting missed the 2003 semi-final for charging Collingwood’s Heath Scotland in the qualifying final loss.

The beneficiaries at the selection were Richard Champion and Ben Robbins in 1999, Matthew Kennedy in 2001 and Richard Hadley in 2003.

So there are two big questions to be answered at selection next week, when Lions coach Chris Fagan announces the side to meet Richmond at the Gabba in an elimination final next Thursday night.

Who will suddenly find themselves playing in an AFL final which they might otherwise have watched if Rayner and Answerth were available? And what sort of fairytale story might selection bring?

It might be as simple as Marcus Adams and Callum Ah Chee returning from injury and concussion respectively after both missed Rounds 22-23, with Jaxon Prior and Jack Payne, who deputised in Rounds 22-23, and Mitch Robinson, the Round 23 medical substitute, holding their spots.

Ryan Lester, the unused medical sub in Round 22, will also be in discussions, and, and if recent inclusions are any sort of guide, perhaps Nakia Cockatoo and Darcy Fort, who last played against Richmond in Round 20, will be in the mix.

If coach Fagan was to go further back, six other players have appeared at AFL level in the last nine rounds - Harry Sharp and Tom Fullarton in Rounds 17-18, Jimmy Madden in Round 17, Jimmy Tunstill in Rounds 15-16-17, and Deven Robertson and Tom Berry (Round 15).

Otherwise, with Round 17 debutant Carter Michael done for the season after recent shoulder surgery, Kai Lohman, who played in Rounds 5-6, is the only other player who has played in the AFL this year available.

Whatever happens it will be another chapter of finals history which includes a string of heart-warming and heart-breaking selections, including:-

The All-Time Best

Richard Hadley owns the fairytale of all fairytales when it comes to the Lions and finals football. A West Australian drafted to the Lions via pick #22 in the 2000 AFL draft who debuted in Round 3 2001 and watched the next 70, including two premierships, before the biggest finals selection bombshell in club history.

Hadley, who had battled osteitis pubis during his long stint in the Reserves, was included by coach Leigh Matthews to replace the suspended Notting in the 2003 semi-final against Adelaide at the Gabba.

It had been a tough week for the club. They’d suffered their first finals loss of the golden era of 2001-02-03, having gone down to Collingwood in the qualifying final, and faced the prospect of playing the rest of the finals without injured captain Michael Voss.

Voss defied expectations to play, starting the game on an exercise bike on the interchange bench, as Hadley, 891 days between his first game and his second game, become the least experienced Brisbane finals player in history.

The then 20-year-old midfielder held his place for the preliminary final and the grand final as the Lions completed their historic premiership hat-trick. Only 14 of 13,025 players in history have won an AFL flag in fewer games than Hadley’s four-game fairytale,

A Final Inside Ten Games

Nine Brisbane Lions have played a final inside their first 10 games, including current pair Keidean Coleman and Jack Payne.

Coleman debuted in Round 15 of the shortened Covid season of 2020, played the last four home-and-away games, and made his finals debut in his fifth game in the qualifying final win over Richmond at the Gabba.

Payne debuted in Round 10 2020, returned to the side for Rounds 16-17-18, and as Coleman made way for Cam Ellis-Yolmen in the preliminary final against Geelong at the Gabba Payne was a late replacement for the injured Darcy Gardiner in his fifth game.

Nick Trask also made his finals debut in his 5^th game in 1997, Damien Cupido did so in his 6^th game in 2000, Matt Austin in his 7^th game in 2009, Trent Bartlett in his 8^th game in 1995, Trent Knobel in his 9^th game in 2000, and Jack Redden in his 9^th game in 2009.

The Longest Wait

Dayne Zorko was a Gold Coast teenager when the Lions won their 2001-02-03 premierships. Like the Queensland football ‘family’, he was in awe of the great side.

Eighteen years after the club’s historic first flag Zorko made history of his own when, in his 167^th AFL game, he played his first final. Brisbane v Richmond in the qualifying final at the Gabba. Nobody had played more games for Brisbane before finally tasting the special phenomenon that is finals football.

Looking forward to his seventh final next week, Zorko is one of seven Brisbane players to have played 100+ games before his first final. The others are Jared Brennan (100), Dan McStay (102), Darcy Gardiner (105), Matthew Kennedy (111), Marcus Ashcroft (127) and Ryan Lester (140).

The Biggest Finals Shake-Up

In 31 finals the Bears/Lions have averaged 1.77 team changes at selection. Only twice has the club fielded an unchanged side – in the 1996 semi-final against Carlton at the Gabba after a one-point qualifying final win over Essendon, and in the 1999 qualifying final against Carlton at the Gabba after a 42-point win over Collingwood at Victoria Park in Round 22.

Ten times there has been one changes, 14 times two changes, and 14 times three changes.

The out-rider and the biggest finals selection shake-up in club history was for the same one-point qualifying win over Essendon at the Gabba in 1996 – the first final at the Gabba.

Coach John Northey made five changes after a bad 49-point Round 22 loss to Collingwood at Victoria Park ended a seven-game winning streak and cost them the minor premiership.

Northey dropped Gilbert McAdam for the first time in his three years with the club. Favorite son Scott McIvor, who had battled injury all year after missing the first half of the season, also missed out along with Shannon Corcoran, Nathan Chapman and Ben Robbins.

Craig Lambert, Darryl White, Craig McRae and Dion Scott, regulars in the back end of the season, returned from injury as Northey took a punt on hugely-respected 1991-93 club champion Michael McLean. He’d played only twice in the home-and-away season – in Round 1 and Round 19 – but after being nursed through the epic last-second win against the Bombers without even recording a statistic he played all three finals.

The Ultimate Hurt

Four times Leigh Matthews guided the Lions to the grand final in 2001-02-03-04, and each time he made one change for the grand final. And while each was straight-forward there can be no denying the disappointment for those who missed out.

In 2001 it was Matthew Kennedy, who had deputised for the suspended Alastair Lynch in the preliminary final. It was his 188^th and last game before Lynch was an automatic inclusion for the big one.

In 2002 Chris Scott missed the preliminary final through injury and was replaced by Robert Copeland, who had played 15 of the first 17 games before being dropped. He was recalled in Round 21 but was overlooked in Round 22 and in the qualifying final, when the Lions hammered Adelaide. Copeland played only 10 minutes without a statistic and when Scott was cleared to play in the grand final it, too, was automatic. After his 16-win streak to the 2001 flag Copeland watched on as the Lions went back-to-back in 2002.

In 2003, in what was to be the end of a magnificent career, Marcus Ashcroft found himself in the same position as Scott 12 months earlier when ruled unfit for the preliminary final. His spot went to Tim Notting, who had been in and out of the side in the back end of the season, and after playing in the qualifying final had missed the semi-final through suspension. With Ashcroft fit for his 318^th and last game Notting, a 2001-02 premiership player, missed out.

In 2004 it was a reverse situation. Shaun Hart, Norm Smith Medallist in 2001 and a member of the 2002-03 premiership sides, suffered shocking facial injuries when ko’d in an accidental collision with teammate Daniel Bradshaw in a marking contest in the preliminary final against Geelong at the MCG. Having missed the first final through illness and been an emergency for the second, veteran Darryl White was recalled for the grand final loss to Port.

Mr September

They didn’t call Clark Keating ‘Mr September’ for no reason. It was because he played his best football at finals time, and often after having missed much of the home-and-away season. But it wasn’t always that way.

The powerhouse ruckman from The Southport School via Surfers Paradise missed the 1996-97 finals through injury before playing in each of the club’s three finals in 1999 and then missing the entire 2000 season.

In 2001 he played 17 of 22 home-and-away games, missed Round 21 with abdominal problems, made his finals debut in his 80^th game and was premiership player in his 82^nd.

In 2002 he missed the first two games with injury, played two in the Reserves before eight in the AFL. He was dropped in Rounds 13-14, played Round 15, and spent Rounds 16-22 in the Reserves. But when Beau McDonald was a late withdrawal for the qualifying final with injury Keating got his chance and partnered Jamie Charman in the ruck. And when McDonald returned for the semi-final Keating was preferred to Charman at selection and was a dominant figure in the grand final.

In 2003 Keating missed the first 14 rounds after a foot problem but returned in Round 15 and didn’t miss a beat thereafter. He played eight home-and-away games and four finals to be part of premiership hat-trick.

Finally, in 2004 he played only Rounds 1-2 and Rounds 8-9 in the first 17 weeks, returned for the last five home-and-away games, missed the qualifying final through illness but took back his place for the preliminary final and grand final.

Of the club’s 13 finals from 2001-04 only captain Voss, Jason Akermanis, Simon Black, Chris Johnson, Nigel Lappin, Justin Leppitsch, Mal Michael, Martin Pike and Luke Power played all 13. Keating, Hart and McRae played 12. And the big ruckman’s 12 were as good as most.