Where to here for the Brisbane Lions?
It’s the question that seems to fall even harder on every grand final loser given how close they got to achieving the ultimate success … and how much longer the off-season will feel as a result.
And in the Lions’ case in particular, this is a side that’s been thereabouts in the premiership race in recent years under Chris Fagan — reaching two semi-finals and two preliminary finals — though Saturday’s decider was their first in the Fagan era.
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From that regard, there was clear progress made this year.
But has this team maxed out, or is there room to grow in the coming years and go one step further than in 2023?
Fagan was certainly confident this was only the beginning of the Lions’ run.
“We had a lot of quite young players out there today — 23 years of age or younger. We’ve got Will Aschroft, who’ll come back from his knee, and we’ve got his brother coming a year after that,” he told reporters post-match.
“We’re well and truly in the window and I think we’ve only just moved into the window.
“Maybe because we’ve been in finals for the last five years, the banter has been that maybe we’re going to miss our window, but I don’t think so. We’ve just got to make sure we handle this loss well.
“Don’t get too upset, don’t get too downhearted, use it as a spur to get better.”
The Lions coach also pointed out that teams that have just fallen short in grand finals have historically bounced back better than before.
“There’s lots of teams in the history of the game that have lost close grand finals and have gone on to win premierships in the ensuing years, so that will be my attitude – what can we learn today to make us a better team next year,” he said.
Fagan’s sentiment was felt in the rooms post-match — a side that knew it’d let a huge opportunity slip, but wasn’t completely dishevelled or down and out.
Ultimately, what’s previously happened is now irrelevant, it’s what sort of shape Brisbane is in moving forward.
From a list perspective, the club is still very much in the sweep spot.
Going into the 2023 season, they ranked third in the competition in average age with the third-most experienced playing group.
That included Daniel Rich (33 years old), Jack Gunston (31) and Marcus Adams (30), who made up three of their oldest seven players, but didn’t finish the season in the team.
In fact, their grand final side only had three players aged 30 or more — Dayne Zorko (34), Jarryd Lyons (31), who was the sub, and Lachie Neale (30).
Compared to Collingwood, it had nine players who received premiership medallions aged 30-plus.
There was a view from some going into the grand final that the Lions were more primed to win a flag, but the reality was that the Magpies’ list had ample more experience including in finals.
You have to think from a sheer experience perspective, Brisbane will have taken plenty away from playing on the last Saturday in September in the epic showdown that was, unlike teams like Sydney (2022) and GWS (2019), who got smashed off the park in recent grand finals.
And speaking on Fox Footy’s On the Couch, former Magpies coach Nathan Buckley believes Fagan has already done a good of regenerating the list while staying at the top of the ladder.
“It was courageous coaching throughout the year … what Brisbane did is they moved on from a couple of stalwarts — Rich has moved on and (Darcy) Wilmot got more time. Gunston (missed) through injury, but didn’t come back in and you see a Jaspa Fletcher pop up. (Keidean) Coleman pops up,” he said.
“I think (Fagan’s) right with that — Ashcroft would’ve made a difference and will continue to — given his professionalism, and attitude towards the game.
“When you look at where Brisbane has got, it’s clearly a step forward from where they were … there’s no reason to suggest they can’t go on.”
Indeed, both from a development and players missing on the grand stage standpoint — with Ashcroft and Jack Payne both absent on Saturday due to injury — there’s clear upside.
The crux of this list is still coming into it’s own including Harris Andrews, Josh Dunkley, Eric Hipwood, Callum Ah Chee, Jarrod Berry, Hugh McCluggage, Brandon Starcevich, Zac Bailey, Payne, Cam Rayner, Coleman and Deven Robertson and aged between 22 and 26.
That core is experienced at the top with Neale, Lincoln McCarthy, Joe Daniher, Charlie Cameron and Conor McKenna, who all but Neale are still on the right side of 30 and have plenty of good years left.
Throw in exciting youngsters Ashcroft, Wilmot, Fletcher (all 19) and Kai Lohmann (20), who rebuffed rival interest to stay in Brisbane, and it’s a squad set up for sustained success that should be more hardened.
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“They had a very good year, I thought their back-end was very good. They developed some good composure since that close Melbourne loss at the MCG,” triple-premiership Lion Jonathan Brown told On The Couch.
“They were able to handle finals when they were the favourites. I thought they showed incredible maturity at quarter-time of the preliminary final (against Carlton), so I think they’re growing.”
Going a step further the following year is as much about mental resolve than it is personnel and tactical changes.
In terms of what moves they could make, the Lions already made their huge swing last off-season — adding Dunkley, Ashcroft, Gunston and McKenna, all of whom played key roles at different stages.
This is a list that doesn’t want for much, if anything, outside of a replacement for Adams to hold down a key defensive post, as good a job as Darcy Gardiner did upon replacing him midway through the finals series.
Enter Tom Doedee.
Brisbane is reportedly the frontrunner to land the Crows free agent in the ideal addition to shore up Fagan’s back six and bolster a part of the ground the club has already improved in significantly.
With Payne missing on the weekend and Andrews nullified by Billy Frampton for most of the day, the Lions’ defence did feel more vulnerable and lacked bounce and composure going the other way.
Plus Ryan Lester (31) and Gardiner (28) aren’t getting any younger.
And so the potential addition of Doedee, who’s just 26, the return of Payne and more development to the likes of Coleman and Wilmot and this Brisbane defence can get even better … even if Doedee is set to be sidelined for a chunk of next season due to his brutal ACL blow.
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Considering how lethal Brisbane is up forward and it’s more balanced midfield with recruits Dunkley and Ashcroft, the possibility of the defence becoming stronger is an exciting prospect — and scary one for other clubs.
“They are a strong group and play magnificently at home,” chief Herald Sun reporter Mark Robinson told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I don’t subscribe to the fact they’re not going to be round about the top four next year … maybe Doedee comes in as a defender. They’ve got to improve in areas, just a little bit.”
AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley added: “This is not the end of their run and they’re so good at the Gabba,” — where the team of course went undefeated in 2023.
Indeed, just like Saturday’s heartbreaking outcome, it’s only small margins Brisbane has to make up, not reinvent the wheel.
There’s not many sides better placed moving forward to go all the way, the tough reality is however the unknown of whether or not they can get back there, given how hard it is.
That also might not necessarily happen straight away, and even if they improve next year, any side needs a bit of luck along the way.
But if Fagan’s words were a true insight into the team’s mentality, Brisbane will be back stronger than ever.
