<p>Welcome to The Huddle’s AFL 2024 finals previews!</p> <p>After the tightest and craziest season ever, we are finally down to the final eight teams that will battle it out for this year’s premiership.</p> <p>As we gear up for all the September action, it’s time to look at and preview all the teams that have qualified for the AFL Finals in 2024.</p> <p>After coming so close last year and enduring a slow start and then a rollicking run back up the ladder, let’s preview the Brisbane Lions ahead of another finals campaign.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Brisbane Lions’ Road to the AFL Finals</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>2024 has certainly been a journey for the Lions.</p> <p>It started with the impenetrable home ground record being broken.</p> <p>After being 50-points up against Carlton in Opening Round, the Lions went down by a point, ending an over year-long winning streak at their home ground.</p> <p>They went on to lose their first four games of the season which threatened to throw everyone’s pre-season predictions into a tailspin.</p> <p>Compounding matters, the Lions endured a horror injury run over the first half of the year, losing five players to season ending knee injuries across the first 10 weeks of the year.</p> <p>Sitting on just four and a half wins at their mid-season bye and with a mountain of work to do to even make the finals, that’s where the climb of the Lions started.</p> <p>A nine-match winning streak propelled the Lions back up to second on the ladder before a pair of late-season slip ups to the Giants and Collingwood slid them back to an elimination final slot.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Players to Watch</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Joe Daniher</h3> <p>The game's biggest enigma is also one of the Lions most important players.</p> <p>Joe Daniher can do it all on the footy field, yet so often you watch him play and you scratch your head over something he’s done that’s either remarkable or remarkably silly.</p> <p>This year, he’s rated elite for disposals and marks – which is amazing for a key forward and has topped a half-century of goals for the third time in his career.</p> <p>He’s shown his ability to rip games and finals apart in the past. Lions’ fans are hoping they get four weeks of “Good Joe” to take them to the promised land.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Lachie Neale</h3> <p>The two-time Brownlow Medallist’s catalogue of monstrous September performances is already chapters full. But it’s a safe bet to assume that the Lions skipper has more to give.</p> <p>Another barnstorming season from the gun midfielder sees him ranked first for stoppage clearances, sixth for effective disposals and seventh for contested possessions per game this season. Numbers that put him on track for yet another All-Australian blazer and possibly even a third Brownlow Medal.</p> <p>After getting so close to adding a flag to his glittering CV last year, he’s hungry to finish the job.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Will Ashcroft</h3> <p>Hearts broke around the country last year when the father-son sensation went down with a season – ending knee injury.</p> <p>He missed the Lions run through September, and even as a first-year player, his absence was profoundly felt.</p> <p>Now back playing, in form, and playing a significant role in the Lions’ engine room, the young son of a gun is ready and waiting to stamp his authority in September.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Why Brisbane Lions can win the AFL Grand Final</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Throughout the craziness of the season, and the craziness of the injury carnage and slow start, the Lions have emerged as one of the more trustworthy teams in the finals race.</p> <p>Even with the late slip ups, Their brand of football is back in order, ranking top four for points for and top six for points against.</p> <p>Most pivotally, despite their long-term absences, they’re almost at full health with their best players at the right time of year which is a big tick.</p> <p>If Jack Payne is fit to play in the finals to help Harris Andrews down back, it goes a long way to helping the Lions, despite them needing to go the long way round.</p> <p><strong>Prediction: </strong>Semi Final or Prelim loss. The travel will get them. 5th.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>How Many Premierships Do Brisbane Lions Have?&nbsp;</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>11 (8 Fitzroy + 3 Brisbane Lions) – Most recent 2003</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Brisbane Lions AFL Premiership Odds</h2>