The post-merger Lions are one of five teams never to have won an AFL pre-season competition, together with West Coast, Fremantle, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney. But the Club has won two pre-season Premierships (in 1959 and 1978) from back in the Fitzroy days.

The Lions have twice made through to the Grand Final of the pre-season competition since the 1997 merger – in 2001 against Port Adelaide and in 2007 against Carlton.

In case your memory of the pre-season competition is a bit cloudy, here’s a quick rundown on how the Club has fared in the past five years:

2012: A new pre-season format was introduced in 2012, whereby all teams played a total of four NAB Cup matches, and the two teams with the best record over that period qualified for the Grand Final.  
 
The Lions came away from their triangular series of matches against Melbourne and the Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium with one win (over the Suns) and one loss, before having their Grand Final chances effectively snuffed out by eventual pre-season Premiers Adelaide the following week in Darwin.

However, a resounding 64-point win over Carlton in the Club’s first ever competitive hit-out on the Sunshine Coast in Round 3 helped lift the Lions to finish 8th on the pre-season ladder.  

2011: The Lions made an early pre-season exit after being dominated in the triple-header matches against Essendon and St Kilda. The Bombers defeated the Lions by 62 points in the first shortened match, before the Saints ended the Club’s campaign with a 29-point victory.

The Bombers ended up making it all the way through to the Grand Final, where they ultimately fell to NAB Cup Premiers Collingwood.    

2010: The Western Bulldogs eliminated the Lions in the first round of the 2010 NAB Cup at a soggy Manuka Oval in Canberra. In a low-scoring affair, the Bulldogs scored a late Super Goal to claim an eight-point win.

The Bulldogs’ lucky escape in Round One proved fortuitous, as they went on to claim their first pre-season silverware in 40 years with a 40-point win over St Kilda.    

2009: The Lions advanced through to the second round of the 2009 NAB Cup with a gritty nine-point win over St Kilda at Gold Coast Stadium. However, the Lions were bundled out of the competition in the Quarter Finals, when Essendon held on for a two-point win at Etihad Stadium. The Lions weren’t without their chances, with fresh-faced draftee Jack Redden missing a shot after the siren which would have secured victory.

Geelong would go on to claim the 2009 NAB Cup with a comprehensive 76-point win over Collingwood in the Grand Final.

2008: The Lions were eliminated in the opening round of the NAB Cup after their young and inexperienced side – which included eight first-gamers – fell to Essendon by 27 points at Carrara. Jared Brennan became the first, and only, Lions player to kick multiple ‘super goals’ in an official pre-season match.

St Kilda claimed the pre-season title with a five-point win over Adelaide.