The moment Leigh Matthews knew the Lions meant business in the 2001 grand final

Leigh Matthews can still picture it.

The Brisbane Lions were 20 points down, deep into the second quarter of the 2001 grand final against Essendon, when champion midfielder Simon Black collected the ball at half-forward on the MCG.

“He turned inside onto his right foot with a nice little hit-up pass to Alastair Lynch on the lead,” Matthews recalled on 3AW’s Footy: Then and Now podcast.

“Lynchy went back and nailed the goal.

“We went in at half-time 14 points behind and kicking the last goal, getting the margin back to 14 points, I think that was a good starting point.”

Press PLAY below to hear Leigh Matthews explain

And he’s exactly right.

The Lions stormed home to collect the first of their three successive premierships from 2001-03.

But that reign of dominance wasn’t always looking likely.

If you’d asked a footy fan earlier that year which club would win the next three flags, almost all of them would have said the Bombers.

They were coming off their utterly dominant 2000 season and were flying again the following year.

But in Round 10, 2001, the Lions proved the Bombers could bleed.

And they quickly got a taste for it.

In this episode, Leigh Matthews explains the story behind his use of a well-known Arnold Schwarzenegger quote in the build-up to that game and how it helped spur them to their future success.

Press PLAY below to hear the full episode!

Picture: Getty Images (Hamish Blair/ALLSPORT)