Chris Fagan reckons he's the "happiest man in Australia" after the Brisbane Lions learnt from six years of hard finals knocks to lift the AFL premiership cup.
The Lions were greeted by more than 6000 fans at Brighton Homes Arena on Sunday afternoon to complete a whirlwind 24 hours since their 60-point grand final flogging of Sydney.
There they joined with their AFLW side - the defending champions fresh off a thrilling win of their own - to sing the song together.
Co-captain Harris Andrews had lost his voice, so left the talking to Lachie Neale.
He admitted there hadn't been much sleep, before the squad sat to sign autographs for the fans in queues that stretched hundreds of metres and filled the playing surface.
But there were no complaints and no wiping the smile off coach Chris Fagan's face.
"I'm probably the happiest man in Australia," he beamed before saluting with the cup.
"I'm so proud of this group of players, the people who work at our club."
The Lions lost last year's decider to Collingwood by four points, their first grand final appearance after four years of post-season disappointment.
Before that they managed back-to-back, five-win seasons after Fagan had arrived, the first of those good enough for the wooden spoon.
"It's been an enormous effort over the last six years," he said of their league-best run of consecutive finals appearance.
"We've had our disappointments, but we've learnt from them and ... got to pick the big cup up."
Fagan recalled the emotion of the final siren and his tearful embrace with former coach Leigh Matthews, the last man to take the Lions to the flag in 2003.
"The last few minutes felt like two hours ... it's silly; the game was all over at three-quarter time but I'm the coach and thinking 'anything can happen'," he said.
"Then I see the happiness in everyone's eyes ... suddenly it hits you in the face - we've won a premiership."
