Amid the midfielders and key-position pillars preparing to make their mark in the Grand Final, there are two eccentric livewires on either side that threaten to do the game-breaking on Saturday.
With the heart of a Lion and the swagger of a cub, Kai Lohmann is spearheading Brisbane’s youth towards an elusive premiership, while, on Sydney’s side, chief antagonist Tom Papley has re-entered the fray at the perfect time.
At just 21 years of age, Lohmann has roared this final series in what looms as the ultimate coming of age for the Maryborough product, while the seasoned Papley returned to the senior side from an ankle injury just in time to help drive the Swans’ finals foray.
Taken with Pick 21 in the 2021 national draft, the medium-sized forward Lohmann was touted as “an elite athlete who has a combination of speed, evasion and vertical leap”.
Less than three years later, the confident, blonde-haired prodigy has helped greatly in getting his Lions into to the big dance the hard way – no less in come-from-behind wins on the road against GWS and Geelong.
His two goals and nine disposals against the Giants in their semi-final held genuine significance – with the second of his majors the first of 11 goals that took Brisbane from 44-point trailers to five-point victors.
Lohmann doubled down on his high-impact performance with 16 disposals and 1.3 against the Cats on the MCG last Saturday; an outing that truly could have been anything had he kicked straight.
The Maryborough maestro has brought a perfect amount of haughtiness to Brisbane’s set up both this regular season and this finals series — he’ll let you know when he’s got one over you, don’t worry about that.
And now, the 187cm forward is one of a dozen Brisbane players that will play their first grand final on Saturday.
The 28-year-old Papley, meanwhile, had a rocky end to an otherwise-stellar home-and-away campaign — ironically injuring his ankle in Round 19 against Brisbane, costing him the final five games of the regular season.
However, the master celebrator still managed to notch 1.8 goals per game in 2024; 0.1 shy of his career-best figure he achieved in 2021 when he earned his maiden All-Australian gong.
He stamped himself on this year’s finals series from the jump, characteristically tussling with GWS captain Toby Greene — which included coming in contact with Giants football boss Jason McCartney — en route to two goals from 16 disposals.
He substantiated that performance with three more goals from just eight disposals in Sydney’s comprehensive preliminary final win over Port Adelaide.
