Lions Silence the Cattery and I Am Not Calm

There is a version of this column where I try to be measured and balanced and very serious about football analysis. This is not that column. Brisbane went to GMHBA Stadium in Round 17 of the 2026 AFL season and beat Geelong on their own turf, and I am going to need a moment.

Okay. Moment had. Let’s talk about it properly.

Why This Win Means More Than Three Premiership Points

Beating Geelong at Kardinia — sorry, GMHBA, old habits — is one of those results that separates the contenders from the pretenders. The Cats have built that ground into a fortress over two decades. They know every bounce of the surface, every pocket of wind that curls around the stands, every sightline. When Brisbane ran out there, the bookmarks in the football universe were firmly against them.

And yet. The Lions did not just scrape over the line in a nail-biter. They competed for four quarters with a clarity and intensity that has been the hallmark of this group when they are playing their best footy. This was a statement. A legit, full-volume, turn-it-up statement.

In the context of the 2026 season, where the top four has been a revolving door of form teams jostling for position, a road win of this magnitude could define where Brisbane sits come the business end of the year. If this group is going to make a genuine run at September, they needed moments like today to prove to themselves — not just the critics — that they are built for the big occasions.

The Midfield Brigade Ran the Show

You want to know the single biggest reason Brisbane won this game? The midfield brigade simply refused to give Geelong’s engine room a clean look at the footy. In the first half especially, the Lions’ clearance work was outstanding. They were hitting the contest with numbers, they were winning the hard ball, and they were transitioning quickly into space before Geelong’s defence could organise.

When Brisbane’s midfield is humming like that, they are genuinely hard to play against. The ball movement had purpose. It wasn’t just kick-to-kick hoping for the best — it was calculated, with players reading each other’s leads and finding the overlap time and again. The Cats tried to push up and apply pressure at the source, which is their trademark move, but the Lions had answers.

Credit where it is due: Geelong did not lie down. They are too experienced, too well-coached to roll over. They came surging back in the third quarter the way they always seem to, and for a stretch there I was doing what every Lions fan does in that situation — catastrophising quietly while pretending to be confident. But Brisbane held their nerve. That composure in the contest under pressure is something you cannot manufacture overnight.

The Forward Line Found Its Groove

One of the genuine joys of watching this Brisbane side when everything clicks is the variety in their forward structure. They are not a team that relies on one big marking target and kicks it long all day. They use the corridor, they find the pocket runners, they work one-twos around the arc. Today that variety was on full display.

The Lions inside 50 entries were clean and they were creating genuine scoring opportunities rather than just lobbing it in and hoping. When you are playing away from home, that efficiency matters enormously. You cannot afford to waste entries. Brisbane did not waste many today.

Geelong’s key defenders are as good as any in the competition — experienced, smart, positionally excellent. The fact that Brisbane’s forwards were able to find scores against them consistantly across four quarters was enormously encouraging. It tells you the structure is working and the forwards have confidence in the system.

The Defence Held When the Cats Turned It On

I want to specifically call out Brisbane’s defensive six because I do not think they get enough love in the big-picture conversation about this club. When Geelong applied their third-quarter surge — and they always have one, it is practically written into the MCG’s DNA even when they are playing at home — the Lions’ back half did not panic.

Spoils were taken, ground balls were smothered, and key defensive decisions were made under enormous crowd pressure. Geelong fans inside GMHBA Stadium are not a quiet bunch when their team smells a comeback, and the atmosphere was intense. Brisbane’s defenders just kept doing their jobs. No fuss, no drama, no notes.

That is what separates good defensive units from great ones. It is easy to defend when you are fifty points up and the game is dead. The character test comes when the opposition has a run and the crowd gets behind them and every decision feels magnified. Brisbane passed that test today.

What Does This Mean for the Top Four Race?

Let’s talk ladder implications because they matter. A win over Geelong away from home in Round 17 does serious things for Brisbane’s percentage and for the confidence metric that does not show up in the stats but absolutely influences how teams play finals football.

The top four in 2026 has had real fluidity — no single team has run away with the competition the way some sides have in previous seasons. That means every game in the back half of the regular season carries enormous weight. Teams are going to gain and lose positions week to week right up until the final siren of Round 23.

Brisbane fans have been here before. We know what it feels like to have a good regular season and then fall short in September. But this group has a hunger and a self-awareness that I genuinely believe is different from some previous incarnations. They know what they need to fix. They are working at it. And performances like today’s suggest the work is paying off.

A Word on Growing the Game Up North

I always want to take a second in these pieces to acknowledge what this Brisbane Lions side means for AFL football in Queensland. Every time the Lions put on a performance like today’s on a national broadcast, kids in Ipswich and Townsville and the Sunshine Coast are watching. Families who might be on the edge of engaging with the sport are drawn in.

The Lions doing well is not just good for football fans who already love the game. It is the engine that drives participation, that fills junior clubs, that builds the next generation of players in a state that is only growing its footy culture. The AFLW Lions have been incredible in that space too — the women’s program at Brisbane is genuinely world-class and it is pulling girls into the sport in huge numbers across Queensland.

When the men’s side wins like this, it amplifies everything. It is all connected. So yeah, I will take the win on both a purely tribal level and on a bigger-picture, growing-the-game level. Both things can be true.

Final Word: Dare to Dream, Lions Faithful

It is Round 17. There is a long way to go. I am not going to sit here and tell you the premiership cup is already on the cabinet because I have been a Lions fan long enough to know better than to get ahead of yourself.

But today was real. It happened. Brisbane went to Geelong’s place, played four quarters of sharp, committed, high-quality football, and came home with the four points. That is not nothing. That is actually everything right now.

We are in the conversation. We belong in the conversation. And this Brisbane Lions side is absolutely worth getting excited about.

See you next week.