01The Ashcroft full circle
Marcus Ashcroft won three flags in the dynasty. Two decades on, his son Will won the Norm Smith Medal in the 2024 premiership — and did it again in 2025. Football rarely writes a story this perfect.
Chapter IV · 2017 – Now
From the bottom of the ladder to the top of the mountain — twice. Chris Fagan's patient rebuild survived a gut-wrenching 2023 Grand Final loss to deliver the club's first flag in 21 years in 2024, then went back-to-back in 2025. Twenty-one years of waiting, repaid with interest.
When Fagan arrived, the Lions were a punchline. He built culture before results, then results followed: finals from 2019, agonising preliminary-final and Grand Final near-misses, and finally the breakthrough. This is the era we're living through together — and it isn't over yet.
The climb
Fagan and football boss David Noble rebuild the culture from the ground up. Draftees and recruits — Zorko, Andrews, McCluggage, Charlie Cameron, Lincoln McCarthy — start to form a spine.
Brisbane storms back into finals in 2019 and becomes a perennial top-four side. Lachie Neale wins the 2020 Brownlow Medal. But a run of preliminary-final and knockout losses earns the club a painful "can't win the big one" tag.
A Grand Final for the ages, decided by a straight kick. Brisbane fell four points short at a packed MCG. Neale added a second Brownlow that year — but the premiership drought stretched on, and it stung.
Twenty-one years of waiting ended in a demolition. The Lions blew the Swans away for a 60-point Grand Final win — the club's first flag since 2003. Will Ashcroft, son of triple-premiership Lion Marcus, won the Norm Smith Medal at just 20, the youngest since 1979.
Level at the last change, the Lions detonated — an unanswerable second-half burst to bury Geelong and go back-to-back. Will Ashcroft won the Norm Smith again (13 of 15 votes), the youngest dual medallist in history.
As of mid-year the Lions sit right in the mix — around fifth and climbing after a big win — hunting a three-peat that would echo the golden age. This chapter is still being written.
Watch it again
"Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions Highlights | 2024 Toyota AFL Grand Final" · official AFL channel. Opens in a new tab.
The creed
Chris Fagan's back-to-back premiers ran on a mantra that evolved with each campaign. In 2024, chasing a drought-breaking flag, the catch-cry was "dancing on thin ice" — bold, daring, take-the-game-on football that lived on the edge. In 2025, as hunted reigning premiers, it became "run towards the fire" — Fagan's philosophy of sprinting straight at adversity and expectation instead of away from it, and the title of the book written about his methods.
Bold, daring, attacking football — living on the edge and refusing to play safe. The mindset that finally broke a 21-year drought.
Face the pressure of back-to-back head-on. Endure, believe, and run straight at the challenge. The creed of a repeat champion.
14 September 2024 · Semi-final v GWS · thin ice made real
Forty-four points down against the Giants, the season hanging by a thread — and the Lions kept dancing on the edge. They stormed home to win 15.15 (105) to 15.10 (100), the greatest semi-final comeback in VFL/AFL history. It was Joe Daniher who stood tallest when it mattered most, slotting the decisive goals late to break Giants hearts. Two weeks later, they were premiers.
The modern Lions
Dual Brownlow Medallist (2020 & 2023). The relentless ball-winner at the heart of it all.
The intercept-marking cornerstone and skipper who led the club to the promised land.
Son of dynasty great Marcus. Dual Norm Smith Medallist (2024 & 2025) — the youngest ever, after returning from a knee reconstruction.
The wilderness-years leader who stayed for the whole climb and finally lifted the cup.
The elegant 2016 draftee turned All-Australian — class and consistency across the wing.
Lightning pace and hangers; the spark up forward through the whole resurgence.
Found a home and a flag in the north, capping his journey with the 2024 premiership.
Took the job nobody wanted at 55 and built back-to-back premiers. The architect.
Plus the engine room and the next wave: Josh Dunkley, Cam Rayner, Zac Bailey, Eric Hipwood, Kai Lohmann, Jarrod Berry and father-son follow-up Levi Ashcroft.
The stories of the comeback
Marcus Ashcroft won three flags in the dynasty. Two decades on, his son Will won the Norm Smith Medal in the 2024 premiership — and did it again in 2025. Football rarely writes a story this perfect.
A serious knee reconstruction cruelly cut short his rise. He came back better than ever — best afield on the game's biggest stage, twice. Courage runs in the family.
Losing a Grand Final by four points is the kind of scar that can break a club. Instead the Lions used it as fuel, coming back to win it all the very next year.
From the 2003 three-peat to 2024 — a generation of Lions fans grew up without a premiership. The 60-point demolition of Sydney ended the wait in the most emphatic way imaginable.
The oldest first-time senior coach in AFL history, dismissed by many, quietly built a powerhouse — and steered his players through adversity to two flags. Vindication doesn't get sweeter.
One flag ends a drought. Two in a row builds a legacy — putting this group in the same rare air as the club's golden generation.
Still writing the story
Two decades ago we watched the dynasty. We sat through the lean years wondering if we'd ever feel it again. Now the Lions are back-to-back premiers, chasing a three-peat — and we get to watch it together, all over again. What a time to be maroon, blue and gold.