{"id":173175,"date":"2025-09-27T16:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/173175\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T16:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:33:08","slug":"brisbane-lions-back-to-back-premiership-oscar-mcinerney-darcy-gardiner-first-premiership-after-missing-with-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/173175\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisbane Lions back to back premiership, Oscar McInerney, Darcy Gardiner, first premiership after missing with injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only two players get to carry the winning premiership cup off the MCG on grand final day <\/a>– and for Brisbane, that honour was given to Oscar McInerney and Darcy Gardiner.<\/p>\n

The gesture to lead the Lions off the ground was significant given the duo were the heartbreak tales of Brisbane\u2019s 2024 premiership success \u2013 with both missing the victory through injury.<\/p>\n

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But on Saturday, they became the centre of celebrations as the Lions defeated Geelong by 47 points<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McInerney himself received the biggest ovation when players took to the podium to receive his premiership medallion.<\/p>\n

He had stolen the show in 2024 with his joy \u2013 despite not being part of the side that claimed the flag.<\/p>\n

When asked post-victory if he ever thought about giving up his AFL playing days, McInerney replied: \u201cNah not at all.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so lucky to play footy as a job. To keep trying to pound the rock, as the group sort of instils in us, whether that was in the twos, travelling or just trying to get the body right, it\u2019s much better than laying bricks or anything like that,\u201d he told 7 AFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gassed now. We\u2019ll have a good break now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darcy Gardiner (left) and Oscar McInerney carry the premiership cup off the MCG.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

McInerney endured a tough 2025 season as he battled a persistent back injury that restricted him to just 11 games \u2013 and only three after early May before his reprieve came against the Gold Coast Suns in the semi final.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played Box Hill in a final and we got eliminated, I threw everything at that and the body didn\u2019t pull up too great,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n

Lion Oscar McInerney with his premiership medal.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought: \u2018Unfortunately that\u2019s me best shot\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cFages said: \u2018I hope the body is alright to get up for Gold Coast\u2019. We hung on to every last straw to get up that week and just ride the emotional rollercoaster from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike McInerney, Gardiner had played in a grand final \u2013 but his came in the 2023 loss to Collingwood before injury cruelled his 2024 charge.<\/p>\n

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Speaking with his premiership medal now around his neck, the defender praised Lions coach Chris Fagan for his belief and trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the losing one in 2023 and I missed out last year. I wasn\u2019t quite sure if I\u2019d get back out there last year and a few dominoes fell my way so I was able to get in and give it a real red hot crack,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty amazing result, to be honest.<\/p>\n

Oscar McInerney celebrates winning his first premiership.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

\u201c(Fages is) very special. I\u2019ve had a few hiccups over the years with injuries and that sort of thing, but he\u2019s always held strong belief in me and given me the right messaging along the way. That\u2019s why I\u2019m still going and wanting to come and achieve this. He\u2019s been very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

McInerney echoed the sentiments on Fagan, who famously gifted his 2024 premiership medal to the big ruckman in the days following their grand final win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said \u2018I\u2019ll be dropping it back off in his office\u2019,\u201d McInerney laughed of the Fagan medal gift.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was like \u2018no\u2019, but he deserves to have it for his grandkids and everyone. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe puts in just as much as anyone else. He bleeds for our boys and he\u2019s such a special man.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Only two players get to carry the winning premiership cup off the MCG on grand final day –…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[65232,64,63,689,27716,112725,3237,112721,3244,40737,13659,2105,2485,9130,11288,49317,3230,112722,112726,112723,647,677,83950,112727,25564,112724,28879,701,112720,85,660,112719],"class_list":["post-173175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-adam-trafford","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-box-hill","tag-brilliant-day","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-cats-player-ratings","tag-chris-fagan","tag-darcy-gardiner","tag-geelong-cats","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-grand-final","tag-grand-final-day","tag-grand-final-win","tag-lion-oscar-mcinerney","tag-lions-player-ratings","tag-medal-gift","tag-melbourne","tag-oceania","tag-player-ratings","tag-polarising-player-swings","tag-premiership-cup","tag-premiership-medallion","tag-premiership-success","tag-queensland","tag-right-messaging","tag-sports","tag-victoria","tag-winning-premiership-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}