The 2001 Grand Final.
Those four words are all it takes to conjure up a wealth of emotions for many long-term Lions fans. Change the ‘1’ to a ‘2’ or a ‘3’ and the triumphant, joyous feeling among these fans will be equally as strong.
Many of these people are the ones in the crowd once a fortnight at the Gabba. They remember the moment of the siren sounding with the ball in Alastair Lynch’s hands in ’01. They remember Leigh Matthews throwing his arms up in victory at the end of ’03. These fans have memories etched into their brains of those brilliant premierships - memories they will never forget. But they aren’t the only ones occupying the gold, maroon and blue seats every second weekend.
When the siren sounded at the end of the 2003 season, I was a mere nine years of age. Old enough to understand we’d won the premiership but too young to feel the overwhelming joy that came with it. And there’s many others life me. People who, for one reason or another, have only really come to love the club in the years following its great success.
It’s rare that any club wins a hat-trick of premierships. Even more so for it to be your club. Which must leave many of these fans, myself included, with the feeling of arriving at party just as everyone else has gone home.
Of course, we’ve all seen the footage of the Grand Finals. We all know what happened - we’ve got those moments entrenched in our heads too. But what we lack is the memories of the season. Of riding the highs and the lows, hearing the praise, and being privileged enough to watch this team of near-gods take to the field on a weekly basis.
Often, even now, when the Club is mentioned by the AFL media, reference is made to the premierships. Many footy journalists in Melbourne still feel in awe of the all-conquering Lions of the early 2000’s, as they should. But many of them act as if that was the Lions - their time was then and there. Anything since then is irrelevant.
But watch out. To my rough calculations, the average age of the current Brisbane list is only a touch over twenty-two years old. Yet we were ahead of Geelong at three quarter time and we only just lost to Collingwood in Melbourne by eighteen points. We’ve been competitive in almost every single match we’ve played, regardless of our opposition’s place on the ladder. With a few small changes, we’d be sitting quite comfortably in the top eight right now.
Season 2011 is nearing an end. And as the attention of most fans turns away from footy for the summer, the Lions will be doing exactly what is needed for this young group. Another pre-season in them and they could well shock many next year. Who says we can’t do what West Coast did this year? Who says we can’t do even better?
Rewind to last Saturday night. Niall McKeever was outstanding in defence in that first quarter. Aaron Cornelius showed signs of being the forward we all know he can be. Matthew Leunberger - well, what more needs to be said about him? He’s been on fire. And we only lost by three straight kicks.
Give those young players another pre-season, introduce a few more early draft picks, bring back our Captain and our defensive stalwarts Daniel Merrett and Joel Patfull, and there is every reason to be optimistic about the future. My view is a little more optimistic than some, but my faith is far from blind.
Last week I put the number 28 on the back of my Lions jumper. While the old guernseys with Lynchy’s ‘11’, Vossy’s ‘3’ or even Aker’s ’12’ are still worn proudly by many to each and every game, I’ve taken a view to the future. My new favourite player, who myself as well as many other fans have affectionately come to call Patty K, is a star in the making. I believe there’ll be plenty more 28’s on the backs of guernseys quite soon, joined by 30’s, 10’s, and all the other numbers of our future stars. Looking ahead is an exciting prospect for our great Club, and personally, I can’t wait for season 2012 to get started.
Yes, 2011 is the ten year anniversary of the first time the premiership cup travelled up to Brisbane. But while we joyfully remember the past, we also anticipate the future. Because there is a more success coming the way of Vossy and his boys than I think many could imagine.
In the not-too-distant future, the Lions will roar again. The Gabba-toir will be back in business. The kings of the jungle will be restored to their rightful throne. There is a great deal of triumph on the way for the Brisbane Lions. And to all of those who missed the bandwagon last time around - hop on now. Because that cup is going to return to Brisbane. It’ll be on its way, sooner rather than later. And there’ll be another legacy created, this time of the new breed of Lions, who walked in the footsteps of their predecessors, and ruled the competition once more.
- Dominic (Member #1117655)
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Club
