Draper completes injury comeback with Brisbane premiership

Sam Draper has completed a remarkable return from an Achilles tendon injury by helping Brisbane win the Australian Football League premiership. Draper suffered the season-ending injury while playing for Essendon in the sixth round of last year’s season. He later moved to Brisbane through free agency and collected a premiership medal after the Lions defeated Fremantle.

The ruckman said the medal felt almost surreal after the difficult period that followed his injury. Speaking after the victory, he said he had been overwhelmed by emotion and was happy that the work invested in his recovery had brought him to that point. Draper said he had experienced the darkest moments of his life after the injury and had worried whether he would return with the same explosiveness.

He described rehabilitation as repetitive, involving extensive calf exercises, but said he had rebuilt his body and believed he had improved as a player. He thanked Brisbane’s high-performance team, list manager Dom Ambrogio and football manager Danny Daly for believing he would return to his best. He also said joining a successful side had helped his progress.

Brisbane’s victory was secured by a late surge. The Lions came back from 17 points down, kicked the final four goals and regained the lead through Logan Morris before the final siren. Kai Lohmann attributed the win to the team’s close relationship, describing the players and staff as friends and brothers.

Ryan Lester said the result had looked unlikely before the late turnaround. Lester, who had played in the previous three grand finals, said Brisbane’s third premiership was difficult to believe. The team had won against Geelong in 2025 and Sydney in 2024, after losing to Collingwood in 2023.

He said the narrow margins against Hawthorn and Fremantle could have gone either way, adding that Brisbane had benefited from some luck during its successful campaign.