Brisbane chase down Geelong to earn shot at AFL grand final redemption

They were gone twice, and barely had a pulse at one point, but Brisbane have booked their place in the AFL grand final after a barely believable preliminary final victory over Geelong .

The rollicking final term saw the Lions first lose the lead, then win it back. They went behind with less than three minutes on the clock, and at that stage all the momentum was with Geelong and most of the 93,066 in attendance.

But the Lions had the final roar, conjuring two late goals in front of their travelling support for a 14.11 (95) to 12.13 (85) triumph. Cam Rayner and Callum Ah Chee were the heroes with the majors, but even veteran coach Chris Fagan will be hard-pressed to dissect how the Lions managed to pull this victory out.

There were desperation tackles and courageous contests, horrible misses and comedic slip ups, slick ball movement and end-to-end swings. But in the end the Lions' incisiveness inside the forward 50 proved telling, with forward Charlie Cameron vital with two goals and three score involvements including setting up Ah Chee's go-ahead major.

Even before the late see-saw it had been a game full of momentum shifts. The Cats looked near certainties at the start of the second half when they took a 25-point lead. At that stage the Lions were down injured ruck Oscar McInerney and were struggling to win clearances.

But Brisbane knuckled down, curbing the wily Geelong threat and wreaking havoc inside 50 thanks to the platform laid by their midfield leaders Lachie Neale and Josh Dunkley. Their precise ball use going forward matched by their appetite for the contest.

The change in momentum can be traced to Rayner's robust aerial contest early in the third term, which allowed Ah Cee to score despite the Cats' complaints. Within 20 minutes the Lions were level, and there were contributions from unlikely sources. They may have their doubters, but the Lions cast of forward characters in Zac Bailey, Eric Hipwood and Kai Lohmann became world beaters with a place in the grand final on the line.

Dayne Zorko was the wildcard off half-back. His glowing orange boots did not have a perfect afternoon. A cheap turnover gifted the Cats a goal in the second quarter. But his distribution kept driving the Cats backwards in the second half and he topped the disposals count with 32.

A Lions victory had looked highly unlikely in the second term, after the Cats blew the game open with their high octane forward line. Geelong kicked seven goals to two after Brisbane let them off the leash. The likes of Tyson Stengle and Brad Close had barely seen the ball in the first quarter, but in the second term the spaces inside 50 were there.

Shaun Mannagh and Gryan Miers were elusive, and both were rewarded with goals. And Ollie Henry's finish midway through the second term – soccered in off a cross-field slice from Miers – will be the fondest memory for Cats fans from a dispiriting evening.

The first quarter was an arm wrestle marked by skill errors in slippery conditions. But the most telling moment was the gruesome shoulder dislocation suffered by McInerney. In a seemingly innocuous scrap with the Cats' Tom Atkins, the 204cm ruck immediately walked off wincing, his bone doing its best to break through the skin on his left shoulder. So it was with disbelief that within minutes he reappeared heavily strapped and joined his team's huddle, nodding to his team-mates.

He played on valiantly, but the Lions were unable to assert themselves in the middle , and another incident in the third quarter forced him off the field to good. It left key forward Joe Daniher in the ruck contest, and the Cats ended up winning hit-outs 57-27, but the Lions' midfielders overcame the disadvantage to win clearances by the end of this wild evening.

Now they can look forward to another grand final appearance after the heartbreak of last year. And they can go into the clash with the Swans confident, having beaten them in round 19 and survived one of the great preliminary finals.