Brisbane have enjoyed hosting Melbourne at the Gabba. They’ve done so 21 times for 14 wins, including a 5-2 stretch from 2001-07 when they were the nominal away side after the Demons had sold scheduled home games.

There have been many highlights and special memories in Gabba matches between the sides named for the two State capitals.

Notably, in 2005 Daniel Bradshaw pulled down a club record nine contested marks and kicked a career-best nine goals, including five in the first quarter, in a 74-point Lions win … and only received two Brownlow Medal votes. 

Jason Akermanis had 27 possessions and kicked five goals in the midfield to earn a ‘perfect game’ rating from the coaching staff and three Brownlow votes.

Bradshaw also kicked eight of his side’s 13 goals in the 2006 meeting when the Lions led at every change and lost. It is a club record in a losing side.

Alastair Lynch kicked a career-best eight goals in the Brisbane-Melbourne Gabba game in 2001, Craig McRae kicked a career-best six goals in 1996, Nigel Lappin a career-best four goals in 1999.

Rhan Hooper a career-best four goals in 2008 on the same day Anthony Corrie had 18 possessions and kicked three goals to earn the only Brownlow Medal vote of his career. Even Robert Copeland, the epitome of hard-nosed defenders, kicked a career-best three goals in 2007.

Simon Black bagged three consecutive three-voters in the Brownlow in 2007-08-09, and Brent Moloney was best afield for Brisbane against Melbourne, his former club, in his 150th game in 2013. 

Ben Robbins, Marcus Picken, Joel Macdonald and Justin Clarke made their AFL debut in Gabba matches between the clubs, Dion Scott played his first Brisbane game, and Xavier Clarke played his only game for Brisbane.

But far and away the most memorable Gabba game between the two clubs that will do battle again on Sunday was in 1995.

It was 1 September. Round 22, the second night game at the Gabba after Essendon had christened the Gabba lights six days earlier, and the first Friday night game at the Gabba.

A moment in history beckoned as the then Brisbane Bears chased their first AFL finals appearance.

It was a prospect that seemed downright impossible when they sat 14th on the 16-team ladder with a 4-11 record at Round 15. The bookies were offering odds of 250-1 before an extraordinary run had would-be punters saying “if only …”

In Round 16, after coach Robert Walls had indicated he would step aside at the end of the season, the Bears beat Hawthorn at the Gabba by seven points after being 45 points down at three-quarter time in the biggest final quarter turnaround for a win in the game’s history. 

They posted the club’s first win in Adelaide when they beat the Crows by 30 points at Football Park and when beat Sydney by 15 points at the SCG it was the first time in club history they’d had back-to-back interstate wins since the club’s first two games of 1987.

Exciting? Totally. But they were two wins plus percentage outside the eight.

In Round 19 they faced runaway ladder leaders Carlton at Princes Park. They lost by 14 points but did enough against the flag favorites. Then they belted Richmond by 77 points at the Gabba and surprised second-placed Essendon by 32 points to celebrate the first home night game.

So, at Round 21, four teams were locked at 9-12 and equal eighth on the ladder. Melbourne were inside the eight with a percentage of 101.9, ahead of Collingwood at 97.7% and Brisbane 80.7.

Adelaide, 11th on the ladder, had a percentage of 80.7, and with Brisbane and Melbourne to meet each other in Round 22 they couldn’t make it.

It was a two-part equation. Brisbane had to beat Melbourne on Friday night, and had to rely on 13th-placed Sydney beating Collingwood at the SCG on the Sunday.

The Bears did their bit in what would turn out to be Walls’ last game as coach at the Gabba. 

It may, too, have been Roger Merrett’s last game at the Gabba as the club’s long-time captain contemplated his future.

As it turned out he would play on in 1996 but just in case Michael Voss and Marcus Ashcroft carried Merrett from the ground after they wore down Melbourne by 21 points.

It was a dour affair. Brisbane led at each change by less than a goal and kicked 4-8 to 2-1 in the final quarter. Voss had 28 possessions and kicked three goals for three Brownlow votes, Adrian Fletcher 29 possessions and two votes, and Ashcroft 19 possessions and a goal for one vote.

The highlight, aside from the result, was when Melbourne’s Shaun Smith pulled down what was later dubbed ‘Mark of the Century’ – a chest mark standing on the shoulders of teammate Garry Lyon, pushing aside Bears pair Richard Champion and Nathan Chapman.

On the Sunday afternoon, in what became a national media event, the Bears gathered at Kelly’s Saloon at South Brisbane to watch the Swans-Magpies game. Wives and girlfriends were there. Kids too. But for the duration of the match Robert Walls asked that all television cameras and press photographers stay outside.

They were a somber bunch when Collingwood led by 25 points at halftime but slowly the noise level rose. Sydney, led by Tony Lockett, rallied. With every ‘Plugger’ goal the excitement grew. The barracking likewise. And when the Swans triumphed by 23 points bedlam broke out. There were cameras everywhere, reporters and microphones aplenty, everyone wanting a slice of football history in Brisbane. 

The bubble burst when the Bears went down to Carlton by 13 points in a qualifying final the following week but the young club took some consolation when Carlton beat North Melbourne by 62 points in the preliminary final and Geelong by 61 points in the grand final.