It took 10 years and 15 games, and there were some embarrassing hidings along the way, but finally, on 6 April 1996, the Brisbane Bears had their moment. And it was special.
On a Saturday night at the WACA, in front of a loud, sell-out crowd, the Bears beat the West Coast Eagles 16-7 (103) to 11-11 (77).
It was their first win over the Eagles and their first win in Perth. And coming on top of a brilliant late season run in 1995 to qualify for the finals for the first time, it was like the end of the club’s AFL apprenticeship. And the start of the good times.
This unforgettable triumph is the headline moment in this week’s Footy Flashback series focussing on the rivalry between two clubs that had joined the competition together in 1987 and will meet for the 50th time at the Gabba on Saturday night.
They had been allies in a way, making their way in the big time together, but the results were all one way. The Eagles had won two flags in their first nine years and the Bears two wooden-spoons.
It all made the Bears’ breakthrough win a moment to behold.
In just their second game under coach John Northey, they were coming off an 87-point win over the Western Bulldogs, then known as Footscray, at the Gabba in Round 1.
They faced a West Coast side that had beaten Fremantle by 22 points in the third derby, and for perhaps the first time they travelled west not only hoping they could win but genuinely believing they could..
There were eight members of what was to become the 2001 premiership side in that team which conquered their last big hoodoo in the AFL – Michael Voss, Alastair Lynch, Marcus Ashcroft, Shaun Hart, Nigel Lappin, Chris Scott, Justin Leppitsch and Darryl White.
Voss, although unknown to him at the time, had picked up three Brownlow Medal votes in Round 1, earned two more with 33 possessions and two goals. He was off to a flier in a year in which he would share the coveted medal with Essendon’s James Hird.
Hart had 23 possessions and kicked a career-best five goals for one vote as ruckman Matthew Clarke was judged best afield with 15 possessions, and 41 hit-outs.
Brisbane went on to beat West Coast by 47 points at the Gabba in Round 17 and finish third on the home and away ladder before going down in the preliminary final. West Coast were fourth at Round 22 and were put out in the semi-finals.
But at last the hoodoo was dead.
In 49 meetings over 33 years Brisbane have a 13-35 win/loss record, with one draw at Carrara in 1992 when young Queenslander Ray Windsor kicked a goal after the final siren.
Among a lot of heavy defeats there have been some standout highlights.
FIRST WIN AT SUBIACO
The WACA worries may have been dead, but there was still the issue of winning at Subiaco to overcome. The Lions had beaten Fremantle there in 1996 and 1999, but not until Round 11 2001 did they finally conquer West Coast at Subiaco.
It was massive time for the club. Seven days earlier they had beaten Essendon at the Gabba in the famous ‘if it bleeds you can kill it’ game.
The Lions had knocked off the defending premiers, competition leaders and flag favorites, But they had to maintain the rage. They could not afford a lapse against a 15th-placed Eagles side that had lost six in a row by margins of 39-88-71-80-48-119 points.
Word from the West Coast camp was that they would be very focused and very fired up after being humiliated by Carlton in Round 10. They’d been labelled ‘pushovers’ and there were suggestions of in-fighting among players.
It was a rare time for the hugely proud club, which had never lost seven in a row, and a huge test for the young and improving Lions on a wet, freezing night in Perth.
Their first win over the Eagles at Subiaco was built on a supreme all-round performance from Simon Black, a hot second half from Jason Akermanis, a remarkable marking display by Darryl White at centre half back, two telling 30-minute bursts from Tim Notting and Chris Scott, and a dominant effort in the ruck from a still only 21-year-old Beau McDonald after Michael Gardiner had got the better of Clark Keating early.
“That’s pretty pleasing,” coach Leigh Matthews said afterwards. “It gives us a chance to go 12-10 (and finish in the top eight), and hope for 13 and 14 and finish a bit higher.
“We’ve lost a couple of close games – this is the closest margin we’ve won by – and if we’d won those we’d be travelling really well.”
Little did he know. This was the second win of what would be a 16-game winning streak, culminating in a grand final win over Essendon.
A MASSIVE UPSET IN AN OLD STRIP
The bookies had quoted Brisbane as an $11 chance as they headed to Subiaco to play West Coast in Round 14 2007. They were 13th on the ladder and had gone seven weeks without a win, the longest under coach Leigh Matthews, as they prepared to take on an Eagles outfit equal second on the ladder.
All was going to script when the home side, the defending premiers, led by seven points at halftime, but the Lions, with Matthew Leuenberger and Will Hamill making their AFL debut, had a secret weapon. Or at least a special incentive.
It was AFL Heritage Round and they were wearing the old Fitzroy jumper. Playing the spirit of the much-loved Kevin Murray, they found something special to forge a win that coach Leigh Matthews has always remembered and recounted fondly.
They added 8-6 to 3-2 in the second half to win 13-13 (91) to 9-10 (64), with the enigmatic Jared Brennan kicking 4-3 to pick up three Brownlow votes and quite literally provide the difference.
Jonathan Brown (four goals) and Simon Black (28 possessions and two votes) were similarly influential as Robert Copeland was an unlikely hero up forward with an equal career-best three goals.
A RICH VOSS DEBUT
Michael Voss made his AFL coaching debut in Round 1 2009 against West Coast at the Gabba as an 18-year-old West Australian who had escaped the Eagles claws to play his first game in Brisbane colours.
Daniel Rich, a dual All-Australian Under 18 selection and already a dual WAFL premiership player with Subiaco, had been drafted by the Lions with selection #7 in the 2008 AFL National Draft in what was viewed at the time as a draft coup after he had been tipped to go earlier.
Jack Watts, Nic Naitanui, Stephen Hill, Hamish Hartlett, Michael Hurley and Chris Yarran had been preferred, and as Rich slotted beautifully into AFL football with 21 possessions, eight inside 50s and two goal assists the Brisbane brainstrust could not have been happier.
ONE OF THE GREAT WINS
In Round 10 2012 it was 14th-placed Brisbane against 1st-placed West Coast on a Sunday afternoon at the Gabba in Jonathan Brown’s 100th game as Lions captain. And it was one of the great wins of the post-premiership era.
The home side led by 11 points at halftime but were 14 points down at three-quarter time and 21 points down nine minutes later.
But in a final quarter which went 38mins they kicked 8-1 to 5-2 to win by two points.
AND JUST LAST YEAR …
It seems like an eternity ago, but in fact it was only last year when the Lions became the first side in AFL history to knock off the defending premiers in Round 1 after having finished 15th the year before.
West Coast were raging favorites as they travelled to the Gabba and looked set for a comfortable win when they led by 6-2 to 1-5 at the first change.
But thereafter it was all Brisbane. They kicked 14-7 to 2-8 and for only the second time in club history held their opposition to two goals after quarter time.
Lachie Neale, Jarryd Lyons and Lincoln McCarthy made their Brisbane debut as they ended an eight-game losing streak the Eagles.
A boisterous crowd booed Eagles ex-Lions Elliot Yeo and Jack Redden every time they handled the ball, prompting old-timers to suggest it was the best night of football at the Gabba in 10 years.
