Jack Payne is sitting in a plastic white chair with strapping on his troublesome left knee and a premiership medal around his neck.
The big Lion has finally stopped playing through pain.
But grinding through the frustration was worth the wait.
Payne, 24, was a hard-luck story in 2023, injuring his ankle in the qualifying final and ultimately missing out on that year's decider, which Brisbane lost by four points to Collingwood.
The key defender admitted he had similar fears when a foot stress fracture struck late in the 2024 home and away season.
Then, in his return game, the elimination final against Carlton, he tweaked his knee, was substituted off, and thought an awful history was repeating.
But this time, Payne was cleared of serious injury, played the next week and never looked back.
"Story of two tales," Payne told AAP.
"Last year was disappointed to miss out - to play the whole year and then miss the pointy end of the season, miss the prelim and the grand final.
"I was faced with a similar issue this year - I got injured in round 17 but had great support staff around me, the medical crew were able to get me up and the last four weeks have been unbelievable.
"I was a bit worried, for sure, but luckily the scans cleared me. I had a bit of an MCL issue.
"But it was well worth playing the last four weeks to be able to get up and win the premiership."
Payne and the Lions defence, including Harris Andrews and Brandon Starcevich, were superb in Saturday's decider - completely shutting down Sydney's attack.
"The whole back group is just so good," Payne said.
"We feel like we can play tall or small, there's no real match-ups. I'm so proud of the boys."
The victory capped off a sensational end to a rollercoaster season, where Brisbane hauled themselves off the canvas multiple times.
"It was a funny season, for sure," Payne said.
"A lot of injuries, we started the year pretty poorly. But that mid-season bye going into the second half of the year, we had so much belief in the group.
"A lot of young guys come in and they were really energised. The messaging from (coach Chris Fagan) Fages in our second half of the year didn't change.
"It was all about going out there and playing with enjoyment and having a smile on your face, and whatever happens at the end of the day happens."
With premiership medal in hand, the good news keeps coming for Payne, who was confident he wouldn't require any post-season operations.
"I'll be OK," he said.
"I've faced a few injuries this year - stress fracture, plantar fascia and the MCL.
"So it'll be all about resting now, which will be good."
