He delivered the motivational master-stroke in the lead-up to the Round 10 game against Essendon at the Gabba, when the Lions were 9^th at 4-5 after a 74-point hiding from Carlton in Melbourne in Round 8.

They were to face an opposition who had won 33 of 35 games to claim the 2000 flag and sat three games clear on the top of the 2001 ladder at 9-1, storming towards another flag.

It was now or never.  Matthews’ men had shown positive signs in a five-point Round 9 Gabba loss to Adelaide, but a loss to Essendon would have sent them tumbling to 11^th.

It was now or never. And, just like the Predator, the Lions were up for the challenge. They beat the overwhelming flag favorites by 28 points.

It was the start of an extraordinary run. They won the next 12 games by an average of seven goals, travelling twice to Perth and three times to Melbourne, and finished 2^nd on the home-and-away ladder at 17-5 – behind Essendon on percentage.

Michael Voss, Simon Black, Jason Akermanis and Nigel Lappin, christened the ‘Fab Four’ mid-season, won All-Australian selection, and Voss was voted ‘Best Captain’ and ‘Most Courageous Player’ by his peers and was runner-up to Adelaide’s Andrew McLeod in the AFLPA MVP.

The Lions beat third-placed Port Adelaide by 32 points in the qualifying final at the Gabba but there was drama post-match when it got out that the Lions had used IV fluid replacement at halftime to combat dehydration. It was saline water and nothing new. They’d done it for two years. But the AFL felt it ‘looked bad’ and banned it.

The following night Alastair Lynch copped a one-match suspension that would see him miss the preliminary final … and it was barely mentioned in the media. Because it was 9-11, when, in a terror attack, two planes crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York, killing 2,977 innocent people.

It changed the world forever, but football continued.

The Lions beat fourth-placed Richmond by 68 points in a Gabba preliminary final to qualify for their first grand final.

Coach Matthews, a grand final day specialist, called an ‘all of club’ meeting on the Sunday and delivered a small but critical piece of advice. “Live in a bubble. Watch and enjoy everything that is going on but don’t let it inside. It’s just another week,” he said.

On the Monday night Akermanis won the Brownlow Medal. He polled 23 votes to beat McLeod (21), with Voss and Port’s Josh Francou (19) tied for third. Black (12) was equal 13^th and Chris Johnson (11) equal 15^th.

Just when it didn’t seem possible the media coverage got even hotter. Everyone wanted a piece of ‘Aker’.

There was another unlikely hurdle. On 13 September, 16 days before the grand final, Ansett Airlines, the AFL’s official carrier, had collapsed. It hadn’t effected the Lions until GF week. But with no domestic flights available the club had to charter two 91-seat Flight West Jets for players, wives, children, coaching and administration staff, directors and selected sponsors.

It was different but it was perfect. The team had the plane to themselves. No stewards telling them what to do. No other passengers complaining of blocked aisles. It was so relaxed.

First off the plane in Melbourne, besieged by TV cameras and press photographers, was Daniel Bradshaw, carrying 13-month-old son Jake. Ordinarily, Bradshaw, an introverted type, might have been overcome by the moment. But this wasn’t a football moment. It was a father’s moment. Just like taking his son to the shops.

With the AFL ‘capital’ in a frenzy and all but staunch Essendon fans in the Brisbane camp, the lead-up to the big day was frantic but faultless. Coach Matthews made the GF parade “optional” and the Scott twins chose to play golf. The rest of the side loved it.

Selection was easy. Matthew Kennedy, a 188-same Brisbane stalwart, made way for the return of Lynch to signal the end of the Queensland stalwart’s career. A club warrior through 12 years who put club first right to the end.

But it all meant nothing unless they could get the job done on grand final day.

It was a stinking hot day. Brisbane led by five points at quarter-time but trailed by five at halftime. They were close enough if they were good enough after Lynch received a razor-like pass from Black and kicked truly just before halftime.

The Lions, forever looking for even the slightest of edges, pulled a surprise at the long break. Unknown to most, they had converted a sauna in the dressing rooms into a cold room. There the players spent much of the break to lower their core temperature.

Growing in confidence every minute, the underdogs started to run as the game opened up. And run and run. From the 32-minute mark of the second quarter until the 23-minute mark of the fourth Brisbane kicked 11.8 to Essendon’s 2.4. Up by 16 points at the final change.

The champions were not about to surrender without a fight. They pulled to within 10 points eight minutes into the final quarter. But again the challengers responded. Tim Notting, his fresh legs crucial after he’d started on the bench for the first time all season, goaled on the run after Shaun Hart had won a crucial hard possession.

Then, 16 minutes into the final stanza, the defining moment. Beau McDonald took the ball from a boundary throw-in and twisted his way past two opponents. It was his only possession for the day. He gave a deft handpass to Voss who ran to the boundary line. The skipper unloaded with a mongrel punt. A floating, inside-out torpedo that somehow split the big sticks. Not pretty but effective. Game over. Brisbane won by 26 points.

In a wonderfully even team performance Shaun Hart won the Norm Smith Medal as Brisbane posted just their seventh win in 44 games at the MCG. A fitting recognition for a loyal stalwart who epitomised the team-first nature of the Matthews era.

The coach, waiting for his post-match media conference, whispered to captain Voss that he couldn’t remember anything about the game. “I’m in a daze, really,” he said. “I feel like it’s a dream. I’m still trying to pinch myself.”

It was only fair. Because Matthews could not have done a better job in his sleep. It was a coaching masterclass. The final chapter in a three-year journey at the beginning of which the game’s greatest player had told how the challenge of winning the first AFL premiership in a developing state had lured him to Brisbane.

It had taken 25 years, 341 games and 13 finals, 182 players and six coaches, and 117 interstate trips four 40 wins and one draw. But at last the Bears turned Lions had done what so many thought was impossible. They conquered the football world.

The Brisbane Lions were the 2001 AFL Premiers!