BRISBANE'S meteoric rise in 2019 is due to many things, not least of which is its remarkable run with injuries.
One of the pin-up boys for the success of the Lions' high performance program is ageless ruckman Stefan Martin.
He is the only player to not miss a game in Chris Fagan's three-year, 66-game, coaching tenure.
Martin's run is far more than good luck.
He had some pre-season niggles that kept him out of many of the match simulation sessions, but Martin timed his run nicely for round one and got better as the season wore on.
Now, the 32-year-old is preparing for his first final after 180 games and 12 years in the system.
Martin is intelligent, a deep thinker, and speaking to AFL.com.au, said he took pride in his durability, something that hadn't come easily.
"It coincided with me putting a lot more attention into my body and it's paid off in terms of consistency," he said.
"I'm glad that hard work in the gym and on the track has helped me get out there consistently." - Stefan Martin
After an injury-riddled first seven seasons, Martin played 20 games in each of 2015 and 2016 before beginning his current unbroken streak.
He said Brisbane's high performance team, and in particular its strength and conditioning program, had opened his eyes.
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"Over the years I've been lucky to be coached by some very good strength and conditioning guys and picked their brains, and I've also gone away and worked on my own education.
"Between that I feel like I've learned a fair bit.
"Then trial and error over the years, learned what works for me and working with the strength and conditioning guys to write programs that suit my position and me as an individual.
"A lot of that is injury prevention type stuff.
"You can never guarantee it, but you help stave off soft tissue injuries by doing the work in the gym an on the track.
"It's tempting to single out a few, but I've got no doubt our strength and conditioning guys play a huge role because you build a body that can stand the rigours of AFL and a lot of that is done by those guys and the programs they write."
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Brisbane has had 11 players play every match this year and another four play 20 or more.
"It gives us a great chance doesn't it?" Martin said.
"It means there's pressure always on positions. Our NEAFL team is going well (they finished the premiership rounds undefeated with an 18-0 win-loss record) and if a man goes down we've got another one ready to take their place.
"I've been part of teams that have really bad injury lists as well, it was here, and it affects the players, the quality of players out there, that's the fact."
And now it's Martin's time to shine.
He said he's been "process driven" for most of his career, because thinking about finals was not a reality, so poor were the Melbourne and Brisbane teams he was part of.
"Wow, 180 games before playing a final, I wouldn't have chosen that. I can't wait."
