Is there any place Chris Fagan and the Brisbane Lions would rather be? Not on your life.

It’s not the biggest weekend on the calendar because there is no premiership cup on offer.

But for the football purist it’s the best weekend. When supporters of the participant clubs make up the majority of the crowd, and players test themselves for what comes next.

And as the Lions prepare to take on Hawthorn from 5.15pm on Saturday for a place in what would be their fourth consecutive grand final it’s a journey that offers a wide range of memories and moments.

Eight Lions will play in the GF qualifier for the fifth year in a row… Harris Andrews, Zac Bailey, Jarrod Berry, Charlie Cameron, Hugh McCluggage, Cam Rayner, Darcy Wilmot and Dayne Zorko.

Callum Ah Chee, Brandon Starcevich and Oscar McInerney, who have shared the PF ride with the eclectic eight, will be missing for the first time. Ah Chee is at Adelaide, Starcevich at West Coast and McInerney is retired.  

Josh Dunkley, Jaspa Fletcher, Darcy Gardiner, Eric Hipwood, Ryan Lester and Lachie Neale will play their fourth PF, and Will Ashcroft, Kai Lohmann and Kai Lohmann their third with Conor McKenna, who will return this year after missing selection last year.

It will be a second PF for Darcy Fort, who has played more grand finals, Levi Ashcroft, Ty Gallop and set for their first PF, and the biggest game of their career, are Oscar Allen and Sam Draper.

No other club has played even four preliminary finals since 2022, with Sydney, Collingwood, and Geelong (3) two behind Brisbane and best of the rest from Hawthorn (2), Fremantle, Carlton, Port Adelaide and GWS (1).

For the Lions group each PF has been a learning experience.

2022 – Geelong 18-12 (120) d Brisbane 7-7 (49) at the MCG. Crowd: 77,677.

Coach Fagan’s first PF was the club’s seventh PF overall and its first since 2004. And it was a tough day despite the welcome inclusion of McInerney, who was cleared of concussion, and Joe Daniher, who returned after the birth of his first child. Fort and Tom Fullarton were omitted.

It didn’t matter. The Cats, almost three years to a man older and with more than 1000 games of extra experience, led at every change.

Neale, with an even 20 possessions, was the only Lion to hit that mark, and Hipwood, with his side’s only two goals of the last quarter, was the only multiple goal-kicker.

It was a disappointing end to a season in which the Lions, with one win in six finals from 2019-21, had taken big strides. They were sixth on the home-and-away ladder at 15-7 and beat Richmond by two points at the Gabba and Melbourne by 13 points at the MCG to get there.

2023 – Brisbane 11-13 (79) d Carlton 9-9 (63) at the Gabba. Crowd: 36,012.

The improvement continued. The Lions were second on the H&A ladder at 17-6, and beat Port Adelaide by 48 points in a Gabba qualifying final to earn a home PF against Carlton.

But anyone who thought it was just going to happen was sadly mistaken. Carlton led 5-1 to 0-1 after 21 minutes before Brisbane, with Gardiner replacing the injured Jack Payne in the only selection change, kicked 10 of the next 11 goals.

Twelve minutes into the last quarter it was 10-12 to 6-8 – Lions by 28 points – and after the visitors got two quick ones to cut it to 16 points a steadier from Lincoln McCarthy got Brisbane home and made sure Bailey’s 24^th birthday ended happily.

Berry (24), Dunkley (23), Neale (23), Zorko (22), Keidean Coleman (21) and McKenna (20) led the possession count, and McCarthy, Daniher and McInerney kicked two goals.

The following week ecstasy turned to agony when the Lions lost a grand final thriller to Collingwood by four points, when Coleman was runner-up in the Norm Smith Medal. At least they’d made further progress.

2024 – Brisbane 14-11 (95) d Geelong 12-13 (85) at the MCG. Crowd: 93,066.

Things didn’t quite go to plan. The Lions finished fifth on the H&A ladder at 14-1-8 but after a 28-point qualifying win over Carlton at the Gabba they looked gone when they trailed GWS by 31 points early in the final quarter of a Sydney Showgrounds semi-final.

A 6-2 to 0-2 final term, iced by two late goals from Daniher saw the Lions win by five points and go into a preliminary final against Geelong at the MCG with an unchanged side.

The crowd of 93,066 was the second-biggest in Brisbane history behind only the 2023 grand final – bigger than the 2001-02-03-04 grand finals - and they were treated to a fluctuating thriller. The Lions led by nine points at quarter time, trailed by 19 points at half time and conceded the all-important first goal after the break.

But Brisbane kicked seven of the next eight goals… Ah Chee, Cameron and Lohmann, and, after a Mark Blicavs steadier for Geelong, Rayner and Bailey before three-quarter-time. And then Ah Chee and Morris after three-quarter-time.

Ollie Henry kicked back-to-back majors to put the Cats a point in front but Ah Chee and Rayner replied. Lions by 10 points as Zorko (32) and Neale (31) led the possession count, as Ah Chee (3), Bailey (2), Rayner (2), Cameron (2) and Morris (2) were multiple goal-kickers.

2025 – Brisbane 15-10 (100) d Collingwood 11-5 (71) at the MCG. Crowd: 96,923.

After a 16-1-6 record put Lions third on the H&A ladder they stumbled at the first finals hurdle again, losing by 38 points to Geelong at the MCG. With an injured Neale missing, they beat Carlton at the Gabba by 53 points and took an unchanged line-up to the MCG to tackle Collingwood after they KO’d minor premiers Adelaide.

It was much tougher than the 29-point margin suggests. From 20 points up at quarter-time the Lions fell 13 points down at halftime. But with an inspired McCluggage (37 possessions, 10 clearances and a goal) leading the way they kicked 11-5 to 4-4 in the second half.

Zorko (28), Wilmot (25), Bailey (21 possessions two goals), Will Ashcroft (20 possessions, two goals) were other key contributors as Gallop kicked three goals in his fifth game and Dunkley had 10 tackles.

LEADING PRELIMINARY FINAL STATISTICS 2022-25

The numbers send a very clear message... don’t expect high possession numbers and big bags of goals. It doesn’t happen in preliminary finals. Note the historical worth of the small and medium forwards. And understand there will be times when the opposition is on top. In the last three preliminary finals the Lions have won only seven of 12 quarters.

Key PF stats leaders over the past five years are:-

Possessions: McCluggage 96, Zorko 93, Wilmot 79, Bailey 78, Berry, Neale 74, Dunkley 70.

Goals: Bailey, Cameron, Ah Chee 5, Rayner, Hipwood 4, Morris, Gallop, McCarthy 3.

Tackles:  Zorko 20, Dunkley 19, McCluggage 17, Deven Robertson 15, Bailey, Cameron, McCarthy, Berry 13.

Clearances: Neale 26, McCluggage 18, McInerney 16, Bailey 15, Berry 13.

Contested Possessions:  Neale 42, McCluggage 40, Berry 32, Dunkley 31, Wilmot 25.

Uncontested Poss: McCluggage, Zorko 57, Bailey 56, Wilmot 48, Berry 45.

Contested Marks: Andrews 6, Gallop, Gardiner, Robertson 3.

Marks Inside Forward 50: Cameron 9, Hipwood 7, Morris 5.

Bounces: Wilmot 3, Neale 2.

Goal Assists: Hipwood, Berry, Ah Chee, McCarthy 3.