THE FIRST steps towards the Brisbane Lions becoming a triple premiership-winning juggernaut took place at the MCG 20 years ago this weekend.

The Brisbane Bears, as they were then known, had stormed their way into the finals for the first time, winning six of their last seven games to sneak into the eight.

They proved to be no pushovers once they got there, running eventual premier Carlton to 13 points in a qualifying final – bearing in mind the finals system of the time called for first to play eight, second to play seventh and so on in the opening week of the finals.

To put things in perspective, North Melbourne (which lost by 62 points) in the preliminary final and Geelong (61) in the Grand Final failed to get as close to the Blues for the rest of the season as the Bears had.

Brisbane’s meteoric rise starting in 1995 is recounted in this week's edition of the AFL Record, with midfielders Adrian Fletcher and Craig Lambert recounting how it all started on a sunny afternoon at the Gabba, when the Bears trailed Hawthorn by 45 points.

The sight of the Hawthorn players taking respite from the shade at the final break sparked the Bears into action and they stormed home to win by seven points.

The Bears knew coach Robert Walls would be gone at the end of the season and the shackles were released. Among those who emerged over those final few weeks of the season were future superstars Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Nigel Lappin, Chris Scott and Justin Leppitsch.

"It's amazing how much confidence went through the group," Lambert said. "With every match we remained in contention the enthusiasm of the young guys was electric."

The Bears defeated Melbourne in the final game of the season on a Friday night, then gathered at a pub two days later to watch the Swans-Magpies game at the SCG. Brisbane needed a win by the Swans to knock Collingwood out of the eight and their hopes looked forlorn at half-time when the Pies led by 25 points. But a brilliant second half by the Swans enabled them to win and put Brisbane into the finals.

"It was really emotional," Lambert recalled. "There was lots of laughter and lots of joy. I'd only been there for two years but a lot of the guys had been through some really dark times."

There were more than 52,000 fans at the MCG for the qualifying final and some clever marketing by the Bears ensured every neutral fan there was on their side. So when the Bears hit the front briefly in the third term, the MCG erupted.

The Blues ground out the win, but the Bears knew they were building something special.

Fletcher said the mood afterwards was one of deep disappointment.

"We thought we were a top-four team by the end of the season," he said. "(The Blues) were a great side, but we thought we matched up with them pretty well.

"The kids were starting to believe; Akermanis was young but so exciting with the ball in hand, 'Vossy' was our Rock of Gibraltar and from there it started to flow. We believed we could play at the highest level."

Read the full feature on Brisbane's emergence as a powerhouse in this week's edition of the AFL Record, available at all venues.