1996 – An AFL Odyssey
In 1995, the Blues powered their way to a record sixteenth Premiership, and the party which followed on Lygon Street that night was off the charts. Strangers hugging each other, the air rife with the smell of burning rubber, and the Carlton theme song playing on a continuous loop.
The story of the year in 1995 was all about the Blues’ triumph, however, in Round 16 at the Gabba there was a footnote story about how the fledgling Bears overcame a 45-point deficit at three quarter to run over the top of the Hawks.
Hawthorn had been on top all game, however, on a hot day in Brisbane the Hawks moved their three-quarter time huddle to the shade from one of the stands. In the mindset of Robert Walls and his boys, they saw that action of looking for shade as a surrender and the young Bears played out of their skins (fur) in the last quarter to record a heroic win.
After Round 14 of the 1995 season, the Brisbane Bears were 250-1 to make the finals, however, inspired by their win over the Hawks in Round 16 they attacked the rest of the season with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude.
Literally against all the odds in 1995, the Bears finished off the season strongly and their reward was an unexpected and somewhat miraculous appearance in the finals for the first time in their history.
It is history now that the Blues defeated the Robert Walls coached Bears in the Qualifying Finals of 1995 by a margin of just 13-points.
However, the Round 16 win, and making the 1995 Qualifying Final were moments in time when the Brisbane Bears presented their first indications of future success.
As for the successful 1995 Blues and the Lyon Street mob, they had no inkling they were dancing their last dance, smoking up their last tyres, and singing their famous theme song with gusto as Premiers for the last time, as just around the corner their descent into the abyss created by ‘Pig’s Arse’ John Elliott was a horror show in waiting and when it landed, it landed like a wrecking ball.
The only relief for the Lygon Street mob since 1995 was when Italy won the World Cup in 2006, but the Azzurri, much like the Carlton Football Club, had no inkling they were also heading to irrelevancy. Since then, the poor Lygon Street mob have had little to no celebratory reason to burn rubber up and down the famous drag.
There are now generations of Carlton (and the Azzurri) fans wondering Quando, Quando, Quando will the glory days of Lygon Street return? They are asking themselves, is it all just an urban myth passed down by rambling tongues of old crazed guys sitting outside coffee shops sipping their brew?
The Changing of the Guard – 1996
John Northey, the then coach of the Bears, led his young lion cubs to the finals again in 1996 after finishing third on the ladder. After losing the Elimination Final to Collingwood, the Bears had to front up to their nemesis, the Blues in the Semi-Final.
In the Semi-Final of 1996, the Bears defeated the reigning premier Carlton by five goals, to register the clubs first finals victory in their short history. A week later the Bears lost the Preliminary Final to the all-conquering 1996 North Melbourne team, who went on to win the Grand Final.
If anybody dared to dream the Bears (soon to be Lions) would go on to win five Premierships in the next 30 years in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2024 and 2025, while the Blues, who had never won a wooden spoon, would go on to win five wooden spoons, in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2015 and 2018, would have been rightfully locked up in a padded cells.
It rarely gets mentioned, but the 1996 Semi Final was a moment in time when the then loser Bears side passed a winner on their way down, with the Carlton going on to be real losers over the next three decades plus, while the once bedraggled Bears/Lions going on to arguably be the best team of the AFL era.
For those born after 1990, it is hard to describe how omnipresent Carlton were with their players being feted as rock stars all over Ol’ Melbourne town. On the other hand, the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy, apart from the Bears 1995 and 1996 seasons, were complete and utter rubbish with time ticking over their very existence.
A thesis could be written about how Fitzroy ended up being the Brisbane Lions in an uneasy amalgamation with the Bears, but for the sake of this article I will keep it short. A lot happened at the end of the 1996 season, and in 1997 the union of Fitzroy and the Bears morphed into the Brisbane Lions, and the rest as they say is history.
After a few teething problems for the newly formed Lions, they finally got their act together after the disappointment of winning the wooden spoon in 1998. The Lions appointed Leigh Matthews as coach for the 1999 season, as well as gathering the best in the business support staff. Also, the club fought like hell to hold onto their young bunch of stars with a vision for the future, preventing the normal exodus of their young players going back to the southern states at the first available opportunity.
Ironically, the only potential star player who left the Bears was Nathan Buckley, who went to Collingwood as he wanted to play in finals.
Poor Nathan, he had such a could-have-been career as both a player and coach.
This brief history of the moment Carlton’s downhill slide first emerged, and the birth of the all-conquering Lions doesn’t tell the whole story, but it is a damn good yarn.
Just for the sake of completeness, the Lions under Matthews finished fourth in 1999, while 1999 was the last time Carlton appeared in a Grand Final.
Also, the above is written with a fair amount of poetic licence, so yes, there may be some historical facts which could be disputed, but please don’t let that get in the way of the old, almost extinct lost Australian art of spinning a yarn.
Pregame
There is not much to say pregame, the Lions will flog the Blues as they continue their climb up the ladder as they attempt a threepeat this season, while the Blues suffering just continues, unless….
Unless, unless, unless… Carlton can pull off a culture-changing, team-defining victory against all the odds and emulate the Bears famous Round 16 win over the Hawks in 1995.
Dare to dream Baggers.
A Game of Two Halves
The scoreboard will show the Lions beat the Blues by 11-points, however, after leading by 49-points early in the third quarter, the Blues suddenly decided to join season 2026 and play some of the best brand of football I have witnessed this season.
If it was not for a complete howler by Adam Saad with three minutes left on the clock, the Blues may have won. After he took a mark, and for reasons only to him, he tried to run the gauntlet of about six Lions, only for the ball to spill to Lachie Neale who punished him accordingly.
That precise moment, deep in the Lions forward half, required a level head, and Saad has been in the competition long enough to know not to panic.
He panicked.
To rub salt into the wound, shortly after the Neale goal, Harry McKay answered immediately and kicked a goal to again bring the margin back to 11-points, but time was no longer on the Blues’ side.
Saad’s blunder was the ‘what if’ moment of the game.
At halftime the Blues ‘dared to dream’, after playing one of the worst team performances in the first half of football by any team this year. The Blues truly sucked, and they sucked to such a point I had started to write Michael Voss’ epitaph.
In the first half, the Blues totally unravelled with Patrick Cripps and Harry McKay openly arguing with each over ruck duties, Sam Walsh had plenty of the pill however he couldn’t hit up a teammate if his life depended on, Marc Pittonett was being slaughtered by Sam Draper in the ruck, and the Carlton midfielders were getting in each other’s way, while Jacob Weitering couldn’t clunk a mark, Nic Newman was quiet, I didn’t even realise until the third quarter Adam Cerra was even on the field, George Hewett was very average, the senior players were fighting each other for possession, and the majority of the Carlton senior players showed little respect almost to the level of contempt towards some of the Baggers mid-tier and younger players.
Oh, and before I forget, Michael Voss sulked his way back to the Coaches Box after being on the boundary from the start of the game, with a look of resolution his fate was sealed.
Meanwhile, as the hapless Blues tripped over each other, the Lions piled on the hurt, however, they were also making plenty of mistakes and while they led by 38-points at halftime, that margin should have been north of ten goals.
Brisbane First Half Dominance
Anybody who has played tennis at a division one level and are more than proficient at the sport can often be undone by an opponent who just lollipops the ball back over the net causing silly mistakes and frustration, and that is what it looked like in the first half as the Lions had the all the tools to dismantle the Blues, however for whatever reason they couldn’t completely bury them.
Logan Morris started the game like he was going kick ten goals, as he marked everything that came his way as he kicked a couple to start the game, while up back Ryan Lester made the inform Brodie Kemp look like a crab as he intercepted mark after mark, setting up his teammates from halfback with pinpoint precision.
In the middle, Sam Draper was giving his smalls silver tray service as he obliterated the out of form Marc Pittonett in the ruck. The usual Lion midfield suspects like Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley, the Ashcroft brothers, Hugh McCluggage, and Bruce Reville (the player I would have awarded the Robert Walls’ medal) gave Morris, Charlie Cameron and Zac Williams lace out delivery as they ran rings around the Blues so-called defensive six.
Keidean Coleman was possibly the only Lions to lower his colours in the first as he was matched up against Will Hayward, the only Carlton player who even looked remotely interested in the contest. In defence of Coleman, he looked dangerous and still contributed when it was his turn to go.
As stated at the beginning, the Lions were not at their silky best in the first half, and some of their premiership heroes look a bit off their tucker.
I’ll start with Dayne Zorko, who is still contributing but in comparison to years past, he has not been at his dynamic best this season. Similar to Zorko, Jaspa Fletcher is yet to take his game this season to the same level as previous seasons, while Cam Rayner is another who has yet to inspire this season.
As well as the Lions played in the first half, as a team they still looked rusty when compared 2024 and 2025, and it will be a great watch this season to see if they can raise to the standard for the third straight year. It is a high-quality problem as at least another 15 teams in the competition would struggle to beat a Lions team who are still on cruise control as they slowly set up season 2026.
Now let’s flip the coin and discuss the second half when the Lions were seriously threatened by the Blues after not taking full advantage of their total dominance in the first half.
Welcome to Season 2026 Carlton
Midway through the second quarter, Harry McKay twice openly had verbal arguments with Patrick Cripps as to who was going to take on the ruck duties when Pittonet was resting. It was a really bad look having a senior player arguing with his Captain and it was symbolic of the disharmony which had infiltrated the Blues to start this season.
Another bad aesthetic was Michael Voss looking for a period of time like he had totally surrendered when he left the bench and went back to the Coach’s box.
The Blues were rotting from the top down, and it was reflected in the playing group who were making silly skill mistakes and playing with a total lack of confidence. The best example of the Baggers lack of confidence in the first half was Jacob Weitering who was dropping marks only a month ago he would have eaten for breakfast.
So, What Happened at Halftime?
While it wasn’t immediately obvious after halftime, as goals to Kai Lohmann and Hugh McCluggage extended the Lions lead to 49-points, the Blues had lifted their intensity, and they seemed to be playing as a team again and not a group of individuals. Cripps was leading from the front in the middle, Sam Walsh was finally hitting teammates up instead of just bombing the ball, and the enigma that is Harry McKay started to take strong pack marks as he ignited his teammates to follow his lead.
I have a theory that at halftime, Michael Voss may have lost the plot and ordered Cripps and McKay to go away and sort their shit out, while he read the riot act to the rest of the team.
Momentum swings in games rarely if ever arise from nowhere, as the first priority for the chasing team is to nullify the game for a period of time before trying to breach the dam wall, and that is what occurred in this match.
The Blues started winning the clearances after being smashed in the first half, and they stopped the bleeding of scores for a time as they locked the ball in their forward half. Carlton finally started playing as the same team I witnessed at the SCG in the first half of their Opening Round clash against the Swans.
With Cripps and McKay lifting their ouput, the rest of the team, to a man, followed suit.
Eventually the Blues scored a goal on the back of some superb work by new recruit Ben Ainsworth, whose effort in the second half would have endeared himself to his new teammates and the Blues parochial supporter base. Will Hayward is another new Carlton recruit who finally gave his teammates and fans a taste of how good he can be after a very average start to the season.
When Logan Morris slotted his fourth goal to extend the Lions lead to out around seven goals again, most would have thought how far the Lions from here, but against all sensibilities of rational thought, the Blues stunned the Lions and the football public at large with a brand of football that was magical.
The Baggers’ big four, Cripps, Walsh, McKay and Weitering, led the way by example, and more importantly they started trusting the players they ignored in the first half, giving them the vote of confidence that had been lacking for the majority of the season to date.
One of the commentators insinuated the Lions had taken their foot of the throttle from about midway through the third quarter, a comment to which I don’t ‘abide’ (love The Dude). As dominant as the Lions were in the first half, they were certainly not performing at their peak, and giving full credit to the Blues, they exposed and then exploited a Lions team that was just cruising.
After Morris’ goal, the Blues immediately responded by banging on the last five goals of the third term to narrow the margin from 49-points to 20-points heading into the last break.
Jagga Smith showed his class as he snapped a beautiful crumbing goal. After a quiet first half, Smith really lifted his output in the third quarter and even when he was roughed up a bit he walked away laughing. I have heard so much hyperbole about Smith, so it was great to see the young un’ live up to the raps.
Cripps, who was now leading as a captain should lead, kicked the next goal, followed by Ben Ainsworth who was suddenly finding space, and after Mitch McGovern kicked two successive goals to end the quarter, the Blues were daring to dream.
As the Blues were coming hard at the Lions in the second half, Bruce Reville, a one-time fringe player for the Lions, was the thorn in the Blues side as he stood strong repelling attacks and attempting to start halfback runs for his besieged team. Reville played with a maturity and poise I had not witnessed before from him, and while Lachie Neale won the Robert Walls medal, I hope internally the performance of Reville is given the credit it deserves.
In case I forget to mention it later in this review, Ryan Lester played a blinder up back for the entirety of the game, clunking 11 marks as he took Brodie Kemp and others to the cleaners.
The Last Quarter Dance
Harry McKay was on the receiving end of a precision kick from Sam Walsh to start the fourth quarter, and he went back and kicked truly.
Both McKay and Walsh put in sublime performances in the last stanza, never giving up the dream to snatch a win against all the odds.
Straight after the next centre contest from the McKay goal, the Lions replied immediately with Kai Lohmann being on the receiving end of some fine centre break work by Lachie Neale and his mates.
It looked like the Lions would hold on easily, but just like the third quarter, the Blues didn’t panic as they neutralized the game for about five minutes, not scoring themselves, or allowing the Lions to score.
After the lull the game heated up again, and even as a neutral with no dog in this fight, my senses were heightened as the Blues threatened to pull off the greatest heist of all time.
With the ball deep in the Lions forward 50, the umpires did not pay what looked like regulation holding the ball to the Blues, and a second later Levi Ashcroft got a lucky free kick for a high tackle. To the naked eye it did look like he ducked his head into the tackle, aka Joel Selwood style.
Ashcroft goaled, and immediately a nice little barney broke out, with Ashcroft being awarded another free kick, to which he inexplicably shanked.
It was great to see the Blues fly the flag throwing caution to the wind even if it ultimately cost them the game. There comes a time when it is more important a serially downtrodden team makes a statement of we’re not going to lie down anymore, than whether they win or not.
The entire Carlton team lifted after the Ashcroft scrap, especially Harry McKay, Patrick Cripps, Sam Walsh and Mitch McGovern who attacked the ball like there is no tomorrow.
Goals to McKay, McGovern and Will Hayward, who was playing his best game for the Baggers, cut the margin back to 10-points with just under three minutes left on the clock.
All momentum was with the Blues as a number of Lions fluffed their lines, dropping marks, giving away silly free kicks, and not being able to take a couple minutes off the clock to ensure victory.
I won’t go through Saad’s panicked moment again leading to Neale’s goal, other than to say, the Blues were in total control, and the dream was well and truly alive.
In Summary
Brisbane did what good teams do, winning games even when they are having a bad day at the office, however, this game may come back to haunt the Lions one day. While the Blues didn’t win, they left the Gabba knowing their best is at least on par with the best team in the competition.
In the short turn the loss will hurt the Blues as the one that got away, however, the Blues’ sublime game plan and effort in the second half might just be the moment we all look back at as the game that turned the fortune of the Blues around.
The Lions got the four points to continue their dream of a threepeat, while Carlton may have left the Gabba with something more important than win; that being a gut level, heartfelt belief they are good enough to mix it with any team.
Next Week
The Lions host the Grand Final replay in a must watch game against the Cats, who will frothing at their whiskers to seek revenge.
In a matchup which has suddenly become more interesting than what it was before both of the Friday night games this week, the Blues host the Dogs at Marvel Stadium.
Whether it be good news, or bad news, for the third straight week I will be reviewing a game involving Carlton and I sincerely hope they bring the same game plan and belief they displayed in the second half of this match.
Finally, buy HB Meyers a coffee, he reviews four games every weekend, and he ensures at least a couple of articles are published each day. Fearless Leader is a bloody ripper.
