The Brisbane Lions had a weekend like never before. On a suburban ground in Adelaide three times as old as them, they posted the first 5-0 start to a season in club history and equalled an all-time AFL record that has stood for 115 years.

Sparked by an extraordinary half of football from the #1 “Eric” in the game, the Lions turned a 33-point deficit at halftime into a 21-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Norwood Oval.

Eric Hipwood, who has played more games and kicked more goals than any of other 57 players named ‘Eric’ in AFL history, led the way in extraordinary fashion.

After a one-possession first half, Hipwood had 12 possessions, five marks, two tackles, five goals, one goal assist, three contested marks and 10 score involvements in the second half. 

And while a five-goal second half is not new – Charlie Cameron did it against Collingwood as recently as Round 4, 2023 - to take charge of a game in such a dominant fashion was eye-catching.

And for it to happen at Norwood Oval, established in 1901, made it even more special.

You could say it was a ‘once in 115 years’ episode. Like the record for second half comeback wins the Lions now share with the Carlton side of 1909-10.

Saturday was the fourth time in five games this year - the Lions have trailed at halftime and won.

It’s a trend which started in Round 16 last year against Melbourne at the Gabba, when they were 24 points down early in the third term and won by five.

In Round 19 they were 15 points down at three quarter time against Sydney at the Gabba and won by two, and in the finals they did it twice in extraordinary fashion – from 21 points down at halftime against GWS at the Sydney Showgrounds to win by five in the semi-final, and 19 points down at the main break against Geelong at the MCG in the preliminary final to win by 10 points.

This year in Rounds 1-2-3-5 against Sydney at the SCG, West Coast and Geelong at the Gabba and the Dogs at Norwood they’ve trailed by 13-24-26-33 points and won by 4-19-9-21.

Coupled with the Round 4 all-the-way MCG win over Richmond, it’s given Brisbane their first 5-0 start since they joined the expanding AFL competition in 1987.

It surpassed the 2003 start of four wins and a draw, and then five wins and a draw, as they set out for what became a third premiership in a row.

And for Fitzroy fans, it’s taken them all way back to 1948 when they lasted started 5-0, and to an 8-0 in 1924, 7-0 starts in 1902 and 1905, and a 5-0 start in 1903.

But the big one for Lions fans from Gather Round #3 was the freakish run of second-half comebacks, which goes back to an era before the introduction of coaches, when University were part of a 10-team competition that did not include Hawthorn or Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs).

The Lions’ heart-stopping run of second half comeback wins, when their combined halftime deficits was 201 points, not only equaled Carlton’s eight-win streak of 115 years ago but smashed the Blues’ combined deficit of 62 points.

The Lions’ 21-point win over the Dogs on Saturday, which followed wins by 75 points and 70 points over North at Mt. Barker in 2023 and Norwood in 2024, sees them join Collingwood, Geelong, GWS and Port Adelaide with a 3-0 record over the first three years of Gather Round.

And with a net score of ‘plus 166’ the Lions are #1 overall from Port (+113), Geelong (+70), GWS (+58) and Collingwood (+42).

Hawthorn, North, Richmond, Bulldogs and West Coast are 0-3 at Gather Round, with Carlton, Essendon, Fremantle and Sydney 2-1 and Adelaide, Gold Coast, Melbourne and St. Kilda 1-2.