On 6 June last year, I was in a dark room behind a hole-in-the-wall bar in Woolloongabba when I delivered what I believed to be a hard truth to an old mate.<\/p>\n
We are past our mid-30s now. An age when life\u2019s possibilities no longer appear infinite, when the topics of conversations are less of risky adventure and boundless ambition and more of hobby, career and mortgage. My friend was seeking solace. Having racked up six losses and a draw from the opening 11 rounds, the Brisbane Lions<\/a> were sitting 13th on the ladder and appeared on track to miss the finals of the 2024 AFL season.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease,\u201d my friend implored, \u201cconvince me I must not abandon all hope of another Lions premiership?\u201d<\/p>\n We had both pulled on the black and yellow of the Mayne Tigers as juniors, dreaming of being professional athletes. We cheered on Brisbane to those famous three consecutive flags when we were in high school together.<\/p>\n Two decades later, on that night in 2024, we believed we were on the cusp of that glory once more. And yet there we were, drinks in hand, wondering: how did it all go wrong? This was not how it was supposed to be.<\/p>\n From Chris Fagan\u2019s first season as coach in 2017, we \u2013 or at least I \u2013 had invested increasingly messianic faith in the former school teacher from Tasmania\u2019s ability to resurrect our beloved Lions. Yes, we finished bottom of the ladder in that first year and would win just five games in each of those first two seasons. But, under Fagan, watching the Lions play went from excruciating to exciting. After years in the doldrums, a whisper of hope began to flutter the sails of our once mighty football club.<\/p>\n Chris Fagan joined Brisbane in 2017. \u2018My mate and I have to accept we will never receive the call-up.\u2019 Photograph: Morn\u00e9 de Klerk\/Getty Images<\/p>\n In Fagan\u2019s third season in charge we won 16 games, shot to second on the ladder and never looked back. Inching ever deeper into September, we ground our way into the grand final in 2023 \u2013 which we lost by a miserly four points.<\/p>\n If the ultimate prize appeared foreordained, understand this: we are a fanbase accustomed to extremes. I visualised the historic trajectory of our club in the pre-Fagan days as Kilimanjaro rising from the great plains of the lands of our mascot. First, there were the dark days of the \u201cBad News Bears\u201d. Then, the glorious three-peat years of 2001-03. Finally, the rapid descent back towards the bottom end of the competition.<\/p>\n In those lean years after the three-peat, Lions fans like us would retell the exploits of Michael Voss and Jonathon Brown bestriding the Gabba turf as dark age Greeks spoke of those of Achilles and Ajax upon the fields of Troy. Heroes of bygone age, never to be repeated. Fagan changed that. With him at the helm, we began to believe: we would be premiers again.<\/p>\n Or we did, until that dark winter of 2024, when our conviction began to quaver. There was scuttlebutt in the pubs and the internet forums of rifts and players wanting out. Commentators wondered if we\u2019d missed our window.<\/p>\n So, I told my mate that night in the bar that it was time we grew up and accepted that we shared the fate of so many other fans. Those supporters of clubs who have a few good seasons, do OK in the finals for a year or two, then slide back to the bottom again with no silverware to show for it.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps we must realise,\u201d I said, \u201cthat we had invested our hopes in a good, but not great team.\u201d<\/p>\n To illustrate, I posed a hypothetical question most tragic Lions fans will be familiar with.<\/p>\n \u201cWho in this current team,\u201d I asked, \u201cwould Leigh Matthews field among his pantheon of heroes from 2001-03?\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Australia Sport<\/p>\n Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u2018We thought Michael Voss and Jonathon Brown were heroes of bygone age, never to be repeated.\u2019 Photograph: Hamish Blair\/Getty Images<\/p>\n My mate made a case for a player or two but conceded the point. Just as we had with our own sporting careers, we must be a bit more realistic: as fans, we weren\u2019t part of something so special after all. But at least we saw the golden age together when we were young.<\/p>\n The night after that conversation in 2024, the Lions went to Melbourne and beat the Bulldogs. The pundits said the win gave \u201ca pulse\u201d to our season. It started a nine-game winning streak and the Lions clawed their way to fifth on the ladder by the end of the season.<\/p>\n Adopting a \u201cdancing on thin ice\u201d mantra, the Lions took risks, embraced ambition. In the finals, we did the impossible with a last-quarter comeback against the Giants and edged the Cats in a classic. Then we thrashed the Swans and became champions.<\/p>\n We both have kids of our own now, who joined the riotous celebrations that followed. Mine is four \u2013 too young to divine meaning from 36 men chasing a Sherrin around an oval. But when she saw her old man and his friends weeping as they sung to the tune of La Marseillaise, my daughter understood.<\/p>\n \u201cDaddy, can I have a hat and a scarf too?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cDear, sweet child,\u201d I thought. \u201cYou were always going to be draped in maroon, blue and gold. But how proud I am that you asked.\u201d<\/p>\n