Over the past four-plus years of finals campaigns, Brisbane has stuck with a relatively settled, increasingly mature team.
However, with a few injuries and the stepping down of veteran pair, Daniel Rich and Jack Gunston, coach Chris Fagan wheeled out plenty of youth against the Swans on Friday night.
In debutant Jaspa Fletcher, Will Ashcroft, Kai Lohmann and Darcy Wilmot, the Lions played four teenagers with a total of 29 games experience, and they did not disappoint.
Ashcroft and Wilmot are regular, high-level contributors already, while Fletcher and Lohmann showed enough to suggest they will have long careers at the top level.
With Hugh McCluggage (concussion) and Dayne Zorko (calf) likely to return against St Kilda on Friday night, the selection squeeze is on.
But Fagan should now be secure in the knowledge he can play his youngsters to not just help them to gain experience, but to see them contribute to winning football in a top-four team.