{"id":904346,"date":"2026-09-25T00:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T00:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/904346\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T00:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T00:30:12","slug":"revered-lions-star-on-brink-of-staggering-feat-after-failed-trade-sparked-great-afl-sliding-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/904346\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Revered\u2019 Lions star on brink of staggering feat after failed trade sparked great AFL sliding door"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exactly 12 months ago, we wrote about how Josh Dunkley\u2019s move north had become one of the great sliding doors moments of the modern AFL era.<\/a><\/p>\n

A year on, somehow, the story has only become more remarkable.<\/p>\n

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Dunkley entered last year\u2019s Grand Final already a two-time premiership player, a four-time grand finalist and one of the most important pieces in Brisbane\u2019s star-studded side.<\/p>\n

He left the MCG that afternoon with another premiership medal around his neck after the Lions conquered Geelong by 47 points \u2014 despite remarkably playing with a grade-three syndesmosis injury, with both an ankle and shoulder surgery following in the off-season.<\/p>\n

Now, at just 29, the former Western Bulldog is preparing to play in a staggering sixth Grand Final and his fourth in as many seasons since arriving at Brisbane.<\/p>\n

For context, Dunkley will be reaching uncharted territory when he runs through the Lions\u2019 banner on Saturday afternoon. No current player has played half a dozen grand finals, with his sixth seeing him surpass Luke Parker and Scott Pendlebury, as well as the now-retired Steele Sidebottom on five.<\/p>\n

It is a remarkable strike rate for a player whose career could have taken a vastly different path when a requested move to Essendon fell through at the end of 2020.<\/a> But perhaps the more revealing story is not simply that Dunkley keeps finding himself in successful teams.<\/p>\n

‘We got delivered a few home truths’ | 01:40<\/p>\n

Three-time Brisbane premiership spearhead Alastair Lynch revealed to foxfooty.com.au\u2019s Courtney Walsh just how quickly the Sale product\u2019s influence was felt after arriving at the Lions at the end of 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone told me, whether it was Fages or someone else in the coaching group, that if he had been there longer than two months, he would be captain now. That was just the acknowledgment of his great leadership and respect around the group,\u201d Lynch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose he shows that week in, week out, in the jobs he does. If there\u2019s a big task to do, he\u2019s the one that puts his hand up and says, \u2018I want that\u2019, and he gets it done more often than not.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been a superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/p>\n

SHREWD TRADE, SECRET WEAPON: Behind Lions\u2019 stunning change from exodus to \u2018destination club\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

FEATURE: Three years ago, this Lion was \u2018finished\u2019. What came next made him a shock modern-day great<\/a><\/p>\n

BRISBANE BOMBSHELL: SHOCK call in Neale\u2019s Grand Final appeal after fresh vision thrown out<\/a><\/p>\n

GF CRYSTAL BALL: Fox Footy\u2019s finest look into 2026 decider… as Norm Smith bolter, first goal standout emerge<\/a><\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, it\u2019s a reputation that extends well beyond what Dunkley does around the football.<\/p>\n

Lions great Jonathan Brown believes the midfielder has become one of the most respected figures inside Brisbane\u2019s four walls, and sees a common denominator across a career increasingly defined by team success.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s revered within the locker room, and obviously from the outside as well,\u201d Brown told foxfooty.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of those players that, wherever he goes, the team succeeds because he\u2019s a great team man and a great person as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s unusual in his abilities to defend opposition players, but still contribute offensively.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the numbers increasingly support Brown\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n

Dunkley (centre) celebrates with Hugh McCluggage (left) and Ryan Lester (right) on qualifying for his sixth AFL Grand Final, thanks to a dramatic preliminary final win over Hawthorn.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s decider against Fremantle will be Dunkley\u2019s sixth Grand Final in just 11 AFL seasons, having reached the decider with two different clubs.<\/p>\n

He won one in his first season at the Western Bulldogs in 2016, returned with the Dogs in a losing cause during 2021, and has now reached four consecutive deciders since crossing to Brisbane at the end of 2022.<\/p>\n

There was the heartbreak of the Lions\u2019 four-point loss to Collingwood in 2023, before consecutive premierships followed \u2014 first against Sydney in 2024, then Geelong last September.<\/p>\n

Yet ask Dunkley about that extraordinary personal record, and his mind quickly turns elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you sit back and think about… In the moment, it\u2019s process, process, process. Last year we win, and you get into the pre-season and you\u2019re thinking about the next one,\u201d Dunkley told Fox Footy\u2019s AFL 360 on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feeling of winning a grand final is so contagious. You just want to be there, and you don\u2019t want anyone else to have that feeling. Even sitting here now, I don\u2019t want Freo to have that feeling come Saturday, so you do everything in your power to make sure it doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Dunkley (left) celebrates his first AFL flag alongside former Wester Bulldogs teammates Luke Dahlhaus (centre) and Tom Liberatore (right) after winning the 2016 AFL Grand Final against the Sydney Swans.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cMy record is a selfish sort of thing. You\u2019ve got to think about the players that are around you, and the footy clubs that have given you the opportunity \u2014 Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs; all those guys that have supported me along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

That team-first mentality has taken on another dimension in 2026, with Dunkley now one of Brisbane\u2019s three captains tasked with helping guide a group containing players yet to experience football\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

Having become a premiership player before his 20th birthday himself, Dunkley knows better than most what some of Brisbane\u2019s younger players have experienced in recent years. But the significance of where his own career has since taken him is not lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty special. I do sometimes check myself, and realise that I\u2019m obviously captain of a football club. As a young kid growing up, I never thought I\u2019d be in this position,\u201d Dunkley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an incredible journey, but now it\u2019s time to put all that work into action. We know these games are tough to win; the Collingwood lesson (2023 Grand Final) a few years ago, everyone learned from that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got guys that have come into our team that haven\u2019t played in a grand final before, and haven\u2019t played finals footy before. It\u2019s about educating them on what we\u2019ve learned, and helping them out there on the day and make sure they\u2019re enjoying themselves too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunkley\u2019s journey to a sixth decider is made all the more fascinating by how differently his career might have unfolded.<\/p>\n

By the end of 2020, four years after becoming a premiership player in his debut season, the midfielder wanted out of the Western Bulldogs and nominated Essendon as his preferred destination. The Bombers believed Dunkley was worth one top-10 draft pick as a 23-year-old, rather than the two the Bulldogs sought, and no deal was struck.<\/p>\n

Exactly 12 months ago, we wrote about how Josh Dunkley\u2019s move north had become one of the great sliding doors moments of the modern AFL era.<\/p>\n

Neale cleared to play in the Grand Final | 01:19<\/p>\n

Essendon ultimately took picks No.6, 7 and 8 to that year\u2019s national draft, selecting Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid respectively. Dunkley remained at Whitten Oval, played in another Grand Final the following season and, two years after the failed Essendon move, again requested a trade.<\/p>\n

This time, Brisbane came calling.<\/p>\n

The eventual deal centred on pick No.21 in the 2022 draft as well as Brisbane\u2019s future first, second and fourth-round selections, with two future third-round picks heading back to the Lions.<\/p>\n

Four years later, it\u2019s difficult to imagine the Lions without him. He has become one of Chris Fagan\u2019s most trusted options whenever a game demands an unglamorous job.<\/p>\n

As he prepares to lead the Lions onto the MCG against Fremantle, Dunkley says the motivation to keep winning extends far beyond adding another medal to his collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it comes down to the want and the will to win,\u201d Dunkley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see Fages, and that\u2019s motivation in itself: doing it for him and doing it as a group. We also do it for the guys that haven\u2019t been involved in one before; there\u2019s so many factors out there that bring us together.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing challenged by the media is one of those too … you see those people say we may not be a chance anymore. But that is motivating within itself and I feel like our group responds to that really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twelve months ago, Dunkley\u2019s career already looked like one of football\u2019s great success stories. <\/p>\n

And another year, another premiership and another Grand Final later, Jonathan Brown put it best. Wherever Dunkley goes, success has simply followed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exactly 12 months ago, we wrote about how Josh Dunkley\u2019s move north had become one of the great…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":904347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-904346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904346","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=904346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}