The game of football follows natural forms. Fits and starts, with adrenaline surging teams forward.

The first quarter of the 2024 AFL grand final was as close as most of the experts predicted. It was a slog, a hard-fought contest with shifting fortunes throughout.

But then the rain of goals began. The storm from the Lions up north became a deluge. The deluge became a flood.

Sydney had no answers for Brisbane.

Some footy games are won at the margins. This one was won in the bulk of the game, with the Lions utterly dominant.

After one of the closest AFL seasons in history, fans across the nation were treated to a game that was anything but. The Lions have become just the second team to win the premiership from outside the top four in the current finals format.

Brisbane’s season started slowly, losing their first three matches and having three wins through 10 games. Instead of panicking, Fagan held the faith in his side.

“We certainly haven’t tried to change the way that we’re playing,” Fagan told ABC Sport after the Giants loss in round 7.

“It’s been a pretty successful way to play for the last five or so years.”

That success bore out at the end of September.

This is how the Brisbane Lions won the 2024 grand final.

Where the match was won for the Brisbane Lions

When a game is won by 10 goals it’s rarely just one thing that is the difference. Usually, it is representative of the domination of a variety of areas.

The 2024 grand final was no different.

There was a moment where the game threatened to be close, or even go another way. Sydney managed the two first goals of the game, while the Lions squandered several hard chances at goal.

The Swans also dominated territory early, registering 22 inside 50s to just 17 for the Lions.

But that work by Brisbane set up the core of their success. Instead of forcing the ball to the valuable spots nearby, they attacked the Swans where the defence was thin or nonexistent.

The Swans were notorious throughout the year for having the hardest difficulty of shots allowed.

Sydney protects the valuable area right in front of goals better than any other side in the competition, daring teams to beat them from the pockets and far from goal.

Instead of forcing the ball to the hotspots, the Lions took these difficult opportunities and did damage on the scoreboard.

Sydney was forced to stretch their defence out to stop the bleeding and the seemingly endless stream of Brisbane marks inside 50.

This shift by the Swans opened space closer to goal. The Lions had more targets than the Swans could effectively cover. Kai Lohmann turned into a major force in the first half, as did Callum Ah Chee.

Last year, Fagan articulated the Lions’ attacking strategy to ABC Sport.

“We always try to mix up our mix. We’ve got small forwards who can mark the ball and are dangerous close to goal,” Fagan said.

“We’ve got tall forwards who can play up the ground and help connect us up.

“Some weeks it suits us to play our small forwards closer to goal and other weeks it suits us to play our talls, because we think we might get an advantage with them.”

The Lions also leaned on their strengths in controlling the flow of the game. Brisbane leant on a heavy kick-mark style and trapped the ball in their front half. The Lions finished with a 158 to 88 advantage for marks, including a 22-to-nine advantage inside 50.

The corridor, key to so much Sydney success across the last three years, was effectively closed for business by the Lions.

Brisbane had five more disposals (68-63) than the Swans in the centre square across the entire game, with the Swans only managing 13 disposals in the square when transitioning the ball from defence.

But it was the Lions’ deadly intercept game that truly put the game beyond doubt.

In the second quarter, when the game was to be won, the Lions scored 20 points from seven front-half intercepts. For some teams that would be a good return for an entire game, let alone just one quarter.

Scoring from intercepts across the ground was where Brisbane did the most damage for the entire game.

The Lions scored 41 points to 13 in the first two quarters from intercepts and finished with a 72-27 advantage overall.

The Lions also managed to hold their composure through the game defensively.

Despite having a huge possession advantage, Brisbane also managed to register more tackles across the game. That’s a sign of how disciplined the Lions were at the contest.

Ashcroft was decisive when it mattered most

About 13 months ago, Will Ashcroft’s footy world was turned upside down. The sports most dreaded three-letter initialism — ACL — became associated with him in headlines.

That’s never a good thing.

Ashcroft’s incredibly promising debut season was cut short. Will, the son of Lions premiership legend Marcus, missed the Lions’ 2023 finals push and their tight loss in last year’s grand final.

“We’ve had our ups and our downs and we’ve stuck fat and dug in.” Ashcroft said after the game.

The Queenslander spent much of the year alone, working hard to get back.

Ashcroft’s return coincided with Brisbane’s midfield kicking into another gear.

Ashcroft is a truly two-sided midfielder — able to break lines in attack and stay disciplined in defence. He elevated a great midfield group to become the premiership team.

Ashcroft was seemingly in everything across the game.

His dynamic movement at contests shone through, with the Swans unable to find a match for him. Stopping all of Neale, McLuggage, Dunkley and Ashcroft is a hard equation for any side.

Ashcroft was far from the only contributor for the Lions, with fantastic efforts from across the board.

What’s next for Brisbane and Sydney?

For the Lions, this might just be the start of another golden era.

“I love you guys so much. It’s unbelievable,” two-time Brownlow Medallist and now premiership co-captain Lachie Neale said post game.

Brisbane rejuvenated their best 23 through the course of the year, and is set to recruit Will’s brother Levi in the upcoming draft. Teams will be setting their sights on the Lions as the team to beat in 2025.

Sydney came into the grand final as minor premiers. Two times in the past three years, the Swans have had a final game to forget.

But Swans leaders are keeping the faith.

“We’ve fallen short again but I stand here beaming with pride,” Sydney’s acting captain Dane Rampe consoled after the loss.

“Let’s get back in the ring sometime soon.”

Both the Swans and Lions are young and talented enough to make another run next year.