Saturday’s Grand Final win for Brisbane was the 15th flag decider the legendary Leigh Matthews has been involved in as either player, coach or board member.

The extraordinary influence of one of the game’s all-time figures added another notch with the Lions’ 47-point win over Geelong, with Matthews saluting for his 10th premiership involvement.

Last year, as Chris Fagan was celebrating the Lions’ triumph over Sydney, Matthews was at his side on the boundary line, with the Brisbane director one of the first to congratulate the coach.

Again he was there in the Lions’ rooms following the commanding win over the Cats, beaming as the club celebrated back-to-back flags for the second time this century, since Matthews coached the all-conquering 2001, 2002 and 2003 victories.

As a player in his illustrious career at Hawthorn, Matthews played in seven Grand Finals: 1971, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985. Four resulted in premierships (1971, 1976, 1978 and 1983) before his final game was in the 1985 Grand Final loss to Essendon.

It didn’t take Matthews long to be back on the Grand Final stage, though, with him steering Collingwood to its breakthrough premiership in 1990 in his fifth season as Pies coach.

It was his only flag decider in 10 seasons at the helm of the Pies, before he crossed to the Lions, where he built their dynasty and saw them into four straight Grand Finals between 2001-2004.

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Matthews rejoined the club in 2013 as a director as the club plummeted to the bottom rungs of the ladder, becoming football director, and was deputy chairman as Fagan was appointed coach at the end of 2015.

He stopped being the official football director in 2017 but remained on the board through Brisbane’s ascent up the ladder, which has culminated in the back-to-back flags after their 2023 loss to Collingwood.

Already a legend of the Australian Football of Fame, Matthews’ involvement in Brisbane’s premierships – and making a career haul of 15 Grand Finals – only looks set to grow further given the Lions’ star quality.