Some good, some not so good, one a bit of both, one unforgettable and one that was pure crazy head the list as we take another walk down history lane ahead of Round 23 2021.

The most uplifting and perhaps the most significant memory of last round matches was in 1995 when the old Brisbane Bears, an underperforming expansion team, took a giant step forward which culminated six, seven and eight years later in the ultimate AFL triumph by one of the greatest teams of all time.

THE FINALS … AT LAST

At Round 15 1995 the Bears were 14^th on a 16-team AFL ladder with a 4-11 record. Bookmakers were offering 250-1 for them to make the finals. And then something clicked. Exactly what is impossible to say and in reality it was a combination of factors.

In part, coach Robert Walls, much loved by the majority of the playing group but a strict disciplinarian, announced he would stand down at the end of the season.

This was critical. Walls, a Lions Hall of Famer, had been just what a young side needed and a key figure in the development of the super team that the Bears turned Lions became, but suddenly the shackles were off.  The players found new and exciting freedom.

There was an acceptance too that for many of the players their future was on the line. What they did in the next seven weeks would determine their footballing future.

Round 22. Friday night at the Gabba. Brisbane beat Melbourne by 21 points in front the second sell-out crowd in a week. Michael Voss (28 possessions, three goals) was best afield from Adrian Fletcher (29 possessions and Marcus Ashcroft (19 possessions and a goal).

It was a match memorable for Shaun Smith’s ‘Mark of the Year’ standing on the shoulders of Bears pair Richard Champion and Nathan Chapman and Melbourne teammate Garry Lyon. And potentially the last game for Brisbane captain Roger Merrett. Just in case Voss and Ashcroft carried him off.

The Bears’ job was done. Melbourne and Fremantle were out but still they needed fifth-placed Richmond to beat 11^th-placed Adelaide at Football Park and 13^th-placed Sydney to beat ninth-placed Sydney at the SCG.

On the Saturday night Matthew Knights led the Tigers to a 37-point win over the Crows despite seven goals from Tony Modra. So it all came down to Sunday afternoon. The hopes of the Bears’ lay in the hands of the Swans, allies in the developing markets and often partners in their dealings with head office.

Sydney had lost by 21 points to Collingwood at Victoria Park in Round 7 and were coming off a 17-point loss to Fremantle in Round 21, but still coach Walls and his team dared to dream.

Players, coaches, officials, partners and children gathered a Kelly’s Saloon at South Brisbane, up the road from the Gabba, to watch the Sydney-Collingwood game on television.

It was intended to be a private gathering but it turned into a national media event.

For much of the game the TV cameras and press photographers were asked to stay outside. And when Collingwood led by 25 points at halftime it was just as well. It was very sombre inside.

But slowly the noise level rose. Sydney, led by Tony Lockett, rallied. With every ‘Plugger’ goal the excitement grew. The barracking likewise. And when the Swans triumphed by 23 points bedlam broke out. There were cameras everywhere, reporters and microphones aplenty, everyone wanting a slice of football history in Brisbane.

Richard Champion, one of many who had done the hard years from the early days at Carrara, was caught crying on national television as coach Walls quickly moved from celebration mode to finals mode. He called an impromptu meeting upstairs to outline the plan for the week ahead, and with a group of senior people did his best to ‘keep a lid on it’.

It had been a special final round of matches. Brisbane had qualified for the finals for the first time.

NOT THE WOODEN-SPOON

Eight years earlier things hadn’t exactly gone well for the Brisbane Bears in their first season in 1987. But in the final round they had a chance to salvage something. They could avoid the dreaded wooden-spoon.

After Round 21 Richmond and Brisbane, drawn to meet in Round 22, had five wins apiece. The Tigers, coached by Tony Jewell, had a superior percentage but it didn’t matter. It was all going to come down to a Friday night showdown between the clubs at the MCG.

It was a beautiful non-contest. Brisbane led at every change and out-scored their opponents in every quarter to win 169 to 113. Thirty-five years on it remains the club’s third-highest score away from the Gabba all-time.

Midfielders Mike Richardson (25 possessions, three goals), Geoff Raines (22 possessions, two goals) and Ken Judge (14 possessions, two goals) took the Brownlow Medal votes as Brad Hardie (seven goals) and Jim Edmond (four goals) did the damage up forward.

And among the big-name recruits Darren Carlson, a 20-year-old Queenslander in his 11^th game, had 28 possessions and kicked two goals to clinch the club award for ‘Best First Year Player’.

A CRAZY FINALE

Season 1997 was tough. The first year of the ‘new’ Brisbane Lions hadn’t been quite what insiders hoped after a merger via which the preliminary finalists of 1996 added eight good players from Fitzroy to their playing arsenal.

At Round 21 seven teams were guaranteed a finals berth and after an emotional roller-coaster the Lions were clinging to eighth spot. It was Brisbane (42), Port Adelaide (42), Carlton (40) and Fremantle (40).

Brisbane played seventh-placed West Coast at the WACA on the Friday night. When they lost by 39 points it seemed almost certain their season was over. They needed three results to go their way to keep their season alive.

On the Saturday bottom team Melbourne had to beat Fremantle at the MCG and 13^th-placed Richmond had to upset 10^th-placed Carlton at Princes Park.

Both started at 2.10pm on the Saturday as members of the Brisbane camp had the TV on one and the radio on the other, but when Richmond trailed by 28 points at quarter-time and Melbourne trailed Fremantle by 12 points at the same time the mood was glum.

It improved as Jeff Farmer kicked six goals to give the Demons just their third win of the year by 40 points but with five minutes to play the Tigers were four points down.

Ex-Fitzroy player Paul Broderick won a crucial possession and went by hand to Matthew Knights who picked out Ben Harrison 30m from goal. He put Richmond in front, and they hung on by two points.

Two down, one to go. But still equal ladder leaders St.Kilda had to beat Port in the 5.40pm Sunday game at Football Park. When they won by 33 points Brisbane took eighth spot by 13.4 percent.

They lost to minor premiers St.Kilda by 46 points in the qualifying final the following week, but at least the crazy emotional swings of the final round had given club fans a ride.

A COSTLY WIN … AND A FITTING FAREWELL

In the late 1990’s there was a formula whereby any side that won five games or less in a season would qualify for a compensation selection in the National Draft.

It had been introduced to help teams struggling at the bottom of the ladder. Like the Lions of 1998, who after 21 Rounds had lost seven in a row and were guaranteed the wooden-spoon.

It had been a nightmare campaign, with coach John Northey sacked after a big loss to Fremantle in Perth in a Round 11 game in which Michael Voss suffered a badly broken leg.

Heading into Round 22 and a Gabba clash with fourth-placed St.Kilda under caretaker coach Roger Merrett, the Lions had four wins and a draw. At least there was some sort of bright light on the horizon. A compensation pick at #2 in the draft after the standard #1 pick for finishing last.

Or was there?

It was a Saturday night and favorite adopted son Andrew Bews, ex-Geelong captain and regular Victorian State representative, was playing his last game.

At 34 the 282-game back pocket had been a wonderful acquisition and over five years had helped educate the young Brisbane group. They zeroed in on sending him into retirement with a win.

In a fluctuating affair the Lions were 20 points down in the second quarter and 21 points up inside the last six minutes before survived a stirring comeback from the Saints to provide Bews and loyal supporters with a memorable ’98 finale.

St.Kilda captain Stewart Loewe kicked a 2m “goal” a split-second after the final siren, and when officials ruled it did not count the Gabba erupted into scenes of wild hysteria.

The Lions had beaten the 1997 grand finalists for the second time in 1998, and, at a time when they had little but Bews’ retirement to play for, they had restored pride and credibility to a cause which had been widely ridiculed throughout the nation.

Bews was buried under a pile of teammates after the Loewe “no-goal” on the field before 20 more clubmates, all dressed in club uniform, charged onto the ground to salute the man called ‘Rat’.  

He received a standing ovation from the sell-out Gabba crowd of 14,993 as he took sons Jackson and Jed, each wearing a No 25 Lions jumper, on a proud lap of honour to cap a week of extraordinary contrasts.

A MOMENT IN HISTORY

In Round 22 1999 the Brisbane Lions were involved in a special moment in football history as Victoria Park, home ground of foundation club Collingwood since 1897, hosted it’s 880^th and final game.

Extra security was on hand just in case as 24,493 packed the small suburban ground, but it wasn’t necessary. With 1990 Collingwood premiership coach Leigh Matthews returning for the first time as Brisbane coach, it turned out to be a timid affair on and off the ground.

After the Lions led by 33 points at quarter-time the locals slipped into party mode and just enjoyed the moment as the Lions won 13-16 (94) to 8-4 (52). Alastair Lynch and Craig McRae kicked four goals apiece as an unheralded Steven Lawrence, with 17 possessions, picked up the only three-vote Brownlow Medal rating of his 120-game career.

MINOR PREMIERS? SO CLOSE … COVID STYLE

Eleven months ago the Lions had another crack at a minor premiership only to fall just short. And again it was a different experience. It was Covid time. Version 1.

In a 17-match season like no other the Lions shared top spot on the ladder with Port Adelaide going into the final round. It was 13 wins apiece, with Port’s superior percentage of 136.4 giving them the edge over the Lions’ 124.7.

To finish top the Lions had to beat 12^th-placed Carlton at the Gabba on the Saturday night and rely on eighth-placed Collingwood knocking off Port at the Gabba on the Monday night.

They did their bit, beating the Blues by 17 points as Lachie Neale adding the icing to his Brownlow Medal cake with a three-vote game of 29 possessions. And there was hope of a Collingwood upset when they led nine minutes into the third term, but the Power finished too strongly and won by 16 to claim top spot. So Brisbane finished second.

It was another part of the Chris Fagan journey. And no matter what the upcoming 2021 finals hold the Lions will be better for the experience.