DESPITE bowing out in the penultimate round of the season, Carlton coach Matthew Buck said he was “really proud” of what the developing side had been able to achieve in 2025. The Blues went down to Brisbane at Brighton Homes Arena in a preliminary final defeat, with the Lions booting six third quarter goals to secure a spot in a fourth straight grand final.

Outside of that 6.1 to 1.0 term, the Blues booted 4.2 to Brisbane’s 4.6 showing just how close they are to the league’s best sides on the biggest of stages. For Buck, the 10.7 (67) to 5.2 (32) loss would sting, but the Blues would automatically move into “reflection mode”.

“The way our group’s performed this year and developed across the season and to get into a prelim final and play Brisbane in Brisbane has been a great effort by our team,” Buck said. “We got found out a little bit tonight but overall I walk away really proud of the group of what we’ve achieved this year.”

Brisbane took control of the clearances to win 27-21 and beat Carlton at one of its biggest strengths, while having a plus-13 in contested possessions (126-113) and plus-71 in uncontested possessions (167-96) to beat the Blues on the inside and outside. It culminated in a whopping 50 inside 50s for the Lions compared to Carlton’s 28.

“Their (Brisbane’s) contest around the ball has been really great for them for since they came into the competition really and they’ve got some great players who run through the midfield,” Buck said. “I thought the way they attacked the contest and in particular got after us was really strong.

“Then they came out the front of us and we couldn’t quite plug that so that gave them lots of territory, centre bounce was a real issue for us all night. We couldn’t quite get the territory game going our way.”

Carlton lead Brisbane at quarter time with the only goal of the opening term, but the going was tough with the Lions’ defensive pressure red-hot. Buck said he was pleased with how the team started, and also how despite the disappointing third term, did not fly the white flag at any stage.

“They turned up ready to play and they also didn’t roll over and kind of let the game fizzle out, I was so proud that they kept turning up and wanted to keep playing the game out,” Buck said. “If we were applying eight quarters I’m sure they’d be out there having another go.

“We were really sharp coming in and the preparation and professionalism that our players have showed over the whole season has been incredible. To come up here to Brisbane they’ve prepared well again and that’s why they were sharp again.”