Inside Brisbane Lions celebrations after defeating Sydney Swans, dressing room photos, video #adessonews

What a difference 12 months can make.

The Lions rooms were buzzing with energy after the club’s premiership win over Sydney in a sea of maroon, blue and yellow with huge smiles on every face in the congested area.

It was the like the celebrations went extra hard for side that had finally climbed the mountain after several deep finals runs that came up short including a heartbreaking four-point grand final loss to Collingwood last year.

It was proper bedlam as staff, fans and family erupted when Dayne Zorko and Ryan Lester proudly marched the troops in with premiership cup in hand before giving off one of the greatest ever renditions of the Lions song as beer flew everywhere.

XXXX Golds were quickly emptied from eskies and passed around in the most joyous scenes for this club since that golden era 20 years ago.

Speaking of, Brisbane legends from those dynasty teams were scattered about including Leigh Matthews and Jason Akermanis embracing in one corner.

Akermanis, who was wearing the No.12 jumper on his back and double-parked with a XXXX and also an alcoholic selzer, was slapping backs and swapping jokes.

Jonathan Brown stood further back in the rooms, proudly wearing his Lions scarf with wife Kylie by his side. He was chatting to Grant Birchall at one stage.

Matthews was highly-sought after for selfies, but when asked for a comment, said he’d leave the speaking to those who had delivered on the field.

When Simon Black wandered into the rooms, he made a beeline for Charlie Cameron, saying, “I hope you enjoyed that, buddy. It was so good. So good. So bloody good.”

Elsewhere, Oscar McInerney towered over Australian opener Usman Khawaja, who was wearing a purple blazer and looked to be in awe of the celebrations unfolding.

The Ashcroft family posed together for photos. It’s hard to believe that they may well have a better one than Norm Smith medallist Will in the back paddock, with younger brother Levi set to join the club next year as a father-son recruit.

Perhaps no Lions personified the contrast from last year more than Will Ashcroft and Jack Payne after both missed the 2023 decider through injury.

Alastair Clarkson stood towards the back of the rooms, initially deep in conversation with Brisbane chairman Andrew Wellington before the 2008 grand final hero Stuart Dew joined him.

The former Gold Coast coach joined the Lions midway through the season and now has the benefit of being part of a team celebrating a flag just 12 months after his own coaching dream was dashed.

Rhys Mathieson was floating around.

Adam Treloar, best mates with former teammate and now two-time premiership player Josh Dunkley, was also about, at one stage chatting with injured Lion Tom Doedee.

Several injured Brisbane players dressed in club polos were among the celebrations including Keidean Coleman, Darcy Gardiner and Lincoln McCarthy, all of whom had suffered ACL setbacks this year.

You couldn’t help but feel for McInnerney more than the others in what would clearly be a bittersweet moment for the injured ruckman.

Not that he was feeling anything but pure joy.

“Ecstatic, to be honest. Everyone keeps asking if it’s tough. How’s winning a flag tough?,” McInerney told foxfooty.com.au.

“Bloody magic. It’s addictive and just makes you want to go after it again. Couldn’t be happier.”

In another corner, Callum Ah Chee was surrounded by close friends and family, who took turns inspecting his premiership medallion. He wasn’t that far off having two medals on the day.

Cam Rayner was already wearing a white Lions premiership t shirt, which you sense might be hard to keep clean later.

Kai Lohmann was noticeably popular, taking selfies with several people. While the likes of Lohmann, Darcy Wilmot and Logan Morris were still in the very early stages of their career, you could tell how blissful these moments were for the youngsters.

Player agent Paul Connors also proudly wondered about, congratulating some of those players he managed.

Players were eventually called into a meeting, with a staff member telling Dunkley: “You’ve got to go in.”

Dunkley responded: “Hang on, I’m just getting the cup.”

Lachie Neale limped through with one XXXX on top of another in his had. You imagine the pain in his foot would ease as the night progressed.

Below are insights from several Brisbane premiership players spoken to to by foxfooty.com.au in the rooms reflecting on the special day that was.

Jarrod Berry

“Giving away a free kick in a Grand Final and the backlash from that is not tough.

“Having cancer for seven years is tough and my mum was able to teach me those lessons when she was alive.

“Now I feel like I honour her by playing my football in that manner and living my life in that manner.

“The resilience we showed the whole season, not to mention in the finals, being 44 points down against the Giants – we had one foot in Mad Monday.

“Then it all comes down to Grand Final day and we played nearly perfect football I guess and the weren’t able to match it with us. It’s pretty special.”

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Darcy Wilmot

“You just want to let everything out, you can’t put anything into words. It’s just whatever comes out.

“I don’t even know anymore (what I shouted into the microphone on the stage), I just yelled something, I just loved it.

“We’ve always had the belief and been confident in our team structure and role players. We just stick at it, things turn around. The belief is so huge and it’s shown throughout this whole year.

“(I thought we’d won) with around five minutes left when I came back on the field. I said the lads to enjoy the two minutes, I won’t say what else happened on the field but there were a couple of cheeky comments.

“It was a very good time.”

Kai Lohmann

“Very surreal and raw. Unbelievable feeling, just so proud of the boys and ‘Fages’. This means a lot.

“There’s been a lot of ups and down in my first few years – three surgeries, in and out of the team and had some stuff to work on in my game. ‘Fages’ was so honest in that time.

“To get here now it’s all worth it and sticking around (after Victorian clubs tried to lure him home).

“I love the big crowds and big moments, I came to these days as a kid and it was everything I dreamed of, I’m sort of pinching myself at the moment.

“This is why I stuck around (pointing to his premiership medal), got there the hard way and it’s all worth it now. I think mum will be happy with this one.

Asked if the Lions were capable of winning more silverware given the exciting youth coming through, Lohmann said: “Me and ‘Darce’ (Wilmot) were speaking about it after the game, hopefully we can get four or five more.

“That might be a bit of a stretch, but you never know, we’ve got such a young core group with so much energy. Hopefully we can get a few more, that’d be nice.”

Logan Morris

“It’s unbelievable. To think I’d be playing in a grand final in my first year, let alone win it, I’m super grateful to be a part of this club and part of the success.

“I love playing in front of big crowds, it gets you up and about. To play a good game in a premiership win is unbelievable.

“I can’t thank these boys enough for the year we’ve had, I love playing with this group and look forward to what’s coming in the next few years.

“We’ll enjoy tonight, it’s unreal.”

Brandon Starcevich

“It’s pretty good, it’s bloody awesome.

“I’ve played on (Tom Papley) a few times now, he’s a real energiser for them. I tip my hat, he kicked a good goal early. I just tried to move on quickly and stop the next one.

“It’s a pretty important thing as a backman, you’re going to get goals on you – being a gold fish and having a short term is memory is important.

“Incredibly proud of the group, at times of the year it didn’t look like we were going to be here at all – as recent as two weeks ago or even a week ago. Just to get here was enormous, obviously the belief is sky high. The character and resilience of this group is second to none.”

Charlie Cameron

“Having fun now and enjoying the moment, that’s all that matters.

“It’s pretty special, I didn’t want to go 0-3 (in grand finals), to have one is incredible.

“There’d been some pressure on Chris Fagan earlier this and I didn’t want to see him get sacked. To see him as a premiership coach is awesome.”