Amazing careers: Ashley McGrath and Simon Black are chaired off after McGrath's 200th game and Black's 320th game. Source: Getty Images
BRISBANE will head into their clash against Hawthorn with a giant-killer mentality after claiming another top-two scalp at the weekend.
Veteran Simon Black described the win over the Cats as the best he had been involved in since the 2003 premiership win over Collingwood, and urged his teammates to carry the momentum to Launceston.
It repeated a pattern for the Lions, who have knocked over West Coast, Adelaide, Essendon and Geelong in the past two seasons, all of which were in the top two and considered legitimate premiership contenders at the time.
Premiership-winning coach Paul Roos said the win showed Brisbane's top-tier players such as Black, Matthew Leuenberger and Daniel Rich were in the AFL's top level.
The former Swans coach said the Lions' greatest ever comeback victory could be the catalyst for a major form reversal.
He said the win should act as a confidence-booster, but warned against attacking the corridor in an attempt to replicate the formula of the frantic final moments when the Lions swept the ball the length of the field and into the hands of Ash McGrath, who slotted a goal after the siren to secure the win.
Geelong was still trying to score in the latter stages of the quarter, rather than holding on to the footy and stopping Brisbane's momentum.
It is a formula that has served the Cats well, but Roos does not believe Hawthorn would give Brisbane the same chances.
"If you try to go through the corridor every time you will turn the ball over and a side like Hawthorn will score against you," he said.
"What I took from the last 15 minutes was not that the corridor opened up, it was that Brisbane started making great decisions. Their better players got their hands on the ball and made the right choices; they are talented at that top level."
Roos said Brisbane did not need to drastically alter the way they had prepared all year, they needed was consistency of effort.
He said while Hawthorn had superior talent to the Lions, the major difference between the top sides and the rest of the competition was their ability to stay switched on until the final siren.
"Football is about minimising risk," he said. "That's why I get frustrated with commentators when they say take risks, take risks.
"What Brisbane did was they minimised the risks because they had free players in the middle."
The Lions honoured Black's club-games record throughout the game on Sunday afternoon, with an appearance by previous record holder Marcus Ashcroft and big
screen messages of congratulations.
But it was his teammates who paid him the greatest respect with their effort.
"That was the best win I've been involved in since the 2003 flag," Black said.
"It was incredible; momentum, it is a living thing."
