It was an unforgettable Saturday night at the MCG.
Brisbane won a genuine heavyweight battle against Collingwood in front of the sixth-biggest crowd in club history and the biggest home-and-away crowd of all-time, 82,326.
Coming off one of their more challenged performances in 209 games under coach Chris Fagan against the Gold Coast Suns in Round 20, the Lions squared the head-to-head MCG ledger with the Magpies at 8-8 to give Sam Marshall and Henry Smith an unforgettable first experience at ‘headquarters’.
They gave Levi Ashcroft an 3-0 record at the ‘G’, unprecedented in club history at the venue where his father Marcus started 0-18 and 1-24 before finishing 8-30. He won seven of his last nine there, including the 2001-02-03 grand finals, and never missed a Brisbane game at the MCG after a 94-point loss there on debut.
Saturday night completed an unblemished 3-0 home-and-away campaign at ‘headquarters’ against Richmond, Hawthorn and now Collingwood as Logan Morris became the youngest Brisbane player all-time to kick six goals at the MCG.
But amid all that and the associated positive vibes and publicity that such a big late-season win inevitably bring is a hidden gem for which Chris Fagan will receive little recognition will and yet should be incredibly proud.
While the beaten 2023 grand finalists and 2024 premiers prepare for another crack at September, Fagan is also investing in the future on the go. Massively so.
On Saturday night the Lions fielded a side which included seven players aged 22 or younger. The Magpies had two. The Lions had six players 29 or older. The Pies had 12.
That is despite the fact that missing from the Brisbane side through injury were first-choice Kai Lohmann (22), Noah Answerth (25), Jack Payne (25) and Keidean Coleman (25). And they’ve given Ty Gallop (19) and Will McLachlan (19) a taste of senior football this year.
It’s not a question of which approach is right – and there will be people who say Collingwood’s apparent preference to load up on more experienced players is better - but historically the best way to regenerate a side is via the injection of youth.
Fagan said as much when he took charge of the Lions in 2017 and hasn’t wavered. And ahead of the biggest game of the year on Saturday night he made the biggest selection call of the year when he included 24-year-old Henry Smith for just his fifth game, and his first in almost 12 months.
And when Smith had three goals inside 40 minutes and the Lions had taken an early stranglehold on the game, he was more than vindicated.
There were untold heroes in a critical Brisbane win, but it was Morris’ night.
He was coming off a tough match against the Suns, when he marked inside the first minute and missed a very gettable set shot, and then had one more kick for the day.
As Fagan revealed, Morris had been “really hard” on himself in his review of the Suns game. And in a week he went from the lowest of lows to grab a piece of Brisbane history.
He was the seventh Brisbane player to kick six or more goals in a now 93-game club history at ‘headquarters’. He is 220 days younger than Tim Notting, the next youngest, and, in his 38th game, was the second-quickest behind Notting, who booted six against Melbourne at headquarters in just his 13th game in 1999.
Brad Hardie –- 7 goals v Richmond – Round 1 1987 - 24 years 322 days – 68 games
Brad Hardie – 6 goals v Collingwood – Round 19 1988 – 25 years 300 days – 85 games
Roger Merrett – 6 goals v North Melb – Round 1 1993 – 32 years 342 days – 244 games
Jarrod Molloy – 7 goals v Melbourne – Round 12 1997 – 21 years 34 days – 63 games
Tim Notting – 6 goals v Melbourne – Round 21 1999 – 20 years 304 days – 13 games
Jared Brennan – 7 goals v Collingwood – Round 17 2007 – 23 years 0 days – 54 games
Jonathan Brown – 7 goals v Hawthorn – Round 19 2007 – 25 years 286 days – 136 games
Logan Morris – 6 goals v Collingwood – Round 21 2025- 20 years 84 days – 38 games
The Brisbane #13 is the youngest player across the entire AFL to kick six or more goals at the MCG since Lance Franklin kicked six for Hawthorn against Carlton in his 31st game in 2006 aged 19 years 95 days.
Morris’ career-best performance on Saturday gives him 63 goals from 38 games in a start to his career superior to all but one of the 12 players who have kicked 200 goals for the club.
Daniel Bradshaw is the only player ahead of him at the same stage – he had 67 goals.
The equivalent number for the other 11 – including games at opposition clubs if relevant – has Craig McRae next best at 56 from Joe Daniher 52, Eric Hipwood 51, Alastair Lynch 50, Luke Power 48, Charlie Cameron 46, Jason Akermanis 44, Jonathan Brown 43, Dayne Zorko 42, Michael Voss 23 and Roger Merrett 8.
Yet for all that, the Lions’ win on Saturday has done nothing except ensure they sit third on the ladder with a 14-1 5 record at Round 21, behind only ladder leaders Adelaide (15-5) and Collingwood (15-5), instead of sixth, which is where they would have been if they’d lost to Collingwood.
The big movers over the weekend were Adelaide, who beat Hawthorn in Adelaide on Friday night after conceding the first five goals. Have gone 12-1 since Round 8, losing only to Collingwood by 10 points at the MCG.
But still the Lions face the toughest draw in Rounds 22-23-24 against a rejuvenated Sydney at the Gabba on Saturday night, followed by Fremantle in Perth and Hawthorn at the Gabba, and need two wins to be assured of an all-important top four spot.
Astonishly, in the last 11 rounds, in which there have been 46 games between the top nine sides and the bottom nine sides, the more fancied side has won 45 of them.
The only ‘upset’ was Sydney’s win over Fremantle at the SCG in Round 17, which was the highlight of a 6-2 Sydney run after a nightmare 4-8 start put the 2024 grand finalists out of contention early.
This will set the warning lights off inside the Lions camp ahead of the Saturday’s grand final rematch and an even tougher finish to the home-and-away season.
There are only six games in the last three rounds in which two top nine sides are opposed – and after Sydney this week Brisbane play in two of them. The six games effectively worth ‘double points’ are:-
Round 22
Hawthorn v Collingwood (MCG)
Round 23
Fremantle v Brisbane (Perth Stadium)
Gold Coast v GWS (Carrara)
Adelaide v Collingwood (Adelaide Oval)
Round 24
W/Bulldogs v Fremantle (Marvel Stadium)
Brisbane v Hawthorn (Gabba)
