Brisbane midfielder Josh Dunkley says Lions turned Wharfie Time against Fremantle Dockers in miracle comeback

Brisbane midfielder Josh Dunkley has revealed it was Fremantle’s Wharfie Time cry late in the fourth term that sparked their miraculous run to a third-straight grand final triumph.

Fremantle had owned much of the last term as Pat Voss slotted his third major of the game from the top of the goal-square to put the men in purple 17 points up with barely five minutes remaining.

Then came the Wharfie Time everyone had waited for as AC/DC’s Hells Bells blared around the MCG, signalling what appeared to be a historic first AFL premiership with less than five minutes to play.

And then in the blink of an eye, it was gone as Dunkley revealed it proved the turning point in what will go down as one of the greatest AFL grand finals of all time.

“Everything we’ve learnt this year about momentum and trying to continue to go at the game when they get momentum...we’ve talked about Wharfie Time and making that our energy” he told 7SPORT post-game.

“I felt like when I looked around at centre bounce and Wharfie Time came on, we all looked at each other, connected and we grew a leg.

“When you talk about it and arises, there’s only one choice and it’s to go at the game. They challenged us.”

Thus began a run of four straight goals in the final four minutes and 18 seconds of the game as Fremantle’s maiden premiership was yanked out of their grasp in the blink of an eye.

From the ensuing bounce after Voss’ goal, Charlie Cameron goaled following an incredible pick-up in the forward 50. Then came Zac Bailey’s miracle goal in the middle of peak-hour traffic to further cut the margin.

When Logan Morris out-marked a valiant Oscar McDonald with less than a minute to, Fremantle fans knew what was coming and the Lions star made no mistake from his set-shot.

Even though Fremantle won the resultant clearance and hoisted the ball forward, the Lions got out of trouble and it was left to Morris to put the icing on the cake.

Lions coach Chris Fagan played Hells Bells and initiated a trial run of Wharfie Time in his final team meeting before the grand final and it appeared to work wonders on the Lions players.

“I played Wharfie Time to them and said this might happen at some stage during the game — and if it does, how are we going to treat it?” Fagan said on 7SPORT.

“The idea was, if it got played, that was going to inspire us rather than Freo.”

Brisbane star Lachie Neale said Wharfie Time had been spoken about within the Lions camp throughout the week in the build-up to the grand final and when the time came, they executed perfectly.

“We spoke about it quite early in the week. Obviously, they’ve used it a couple of times, and we knew that it had been accepted for today if the game was close, and if they kick the goal,” Neale said on 7SPORT.

“We spoke about using that as fuel for us to put the foot down and go. And if you see the footage, Josh Dunkley’s in the middle, and he’s getting the arms up for our boys.

“It was great leadership. It meant go-time for us as well, I’m sure that Freo were trying to get a lift out of that, but we spoke about making sure it gives us a lift as well.”