COACH Leigh Matthews called it a “victory for perseverance”.

Ruck-rover Michael Rischitelli said it was about “pride” and “persistence”.

And while neither coach nor player could really finger just how it happened, both were certain that those three “P’s” were the key to last night’s amazing comeback win by the Brisbane Lions over Port Adelaide.

“We kept fighting – that’s what we pride ourselves on,” Rischitelli told lions.com.au after the match, which saw the Lions overturn a 47-point deficit deep in the third quarter with an irresistible 11 goal to one finishing burst.

“Things weren’t going our way early, there were lots of mistakes, but the persistence was there for the whole match, and eventually things went our way.

“We’re pretty stoked, to say the least.”

While the last quarter goal avalanche was highlighted by outstanding performances from Daniel Bradshaw (three goals for the quarter) and Jonathan Brown (two), the player who persisted hardest and longest when others were struggling was Simon Black.

Black’s four-quarter effort – 32 possessions, 10 clearances (including five in the last quarter) and a sensational solo goal to keep the Lions in touch when his side trailed by eight goals during the third quarter – was the stuff the 2002 Brownlow medalist is renowned for.

“He’s a workhorse,” Rischitelli said. “You don’t ever expect anything less from Simon Black. He’s there every week with his head over the ball, and that’s what you get out of him.

“And obviously Bradshaw’s a big help to us. We missed him last year – it’s good to see him getting a few kicks, the big fella.

“His knee seems to be going fine – as you saw tonight especially with the twisting and turning and going for those lower ground balls. I’m sure the coaching staff would be pretty happy with the ‘big gun’.”

While Carlton and Hawthorn are in the spotlight for their developing young squads, the Lions are quietly getting games into their own young players, with telling effect. Jed Adcock (58 games), Joel Macdonald (44) and Cheynee Stiller (36) aren’t household names yet, but their development in the last two years has been exciting as the Lions reinvent their list.

Rischitelli, 22, and with 48 games now under his belt, is another one of those. He acknowledged the important roles of two other young players in the win – Anthony Corrie (37 games) and Justin Sherman (58 games).

Corrie was terrific in the first half, with clean hands and pinpoint disposal when other Lions seemed to be floundering. He ended with 10 inside 50s – double the count of any other Lions player except for Adcock.

Sherman, on the other hand, was handed a defensive role in the second half, tagging Port midfielder David Rodan, who had been absolutely rampant in the first half with 20 possessions and two goals. The ‘Shermanator’ restricted Rodan to just six touches for the rest of the match.

“Anthony is a player we really need in the side,” Rischitelli said. “He can run and carry the ball and he’s got a good penetrating kick. He stepped up tonight.

“And Justin did a great job, restricting him (Rodan). It was good to see Shermo back and playing good footy.”

The Lions now meet Hawthorn at the Gabba next Saturday night.

Rischitelli says the side just can’t afford to keep relying on comebacks.

“Hawthorn you can’t afford to give even three or four goals head start, they’ll just run over the top of you” he said.

“We’ll look forward to meeting them, getting the match-ups right, and playing from the word go.”