Brisbane star Hugh McCluggage "couldn't imagine" playing for any other club despite the obvious suitors around the competition, especially from his home state in Victoria.

McCluggage is set to play his 200th game for the Lions after being taken with Pick 3 in the 2016 National Draft, the first intake under Chris Fagan, and proved to be the fork in the road that altered the fortunes of the Queensland club.

The 27-year-old was drafted alongside great mate and fellow Victorian Jarrod Berry, and both have denied interest from rival sides in their formative years, which ultimately played a pivotal part in turning a 2017 wooden spoon into a premiership last year.

 Friday, July 18 
Brisbane WON BY 10 POINTS
Gabba
BL   
86
FT
76
   WB

Their long-term commitment - McCluggage (2031) and Berry (2029) - is a testament to the culture built in the northern state, and has seen teammates Eric Hipwood (2029), Jack Payne (2029) and Cam Rayner (2031) follow suit.

"I don't think we ever spoke about it directly once," McCluggage said of going home.

"It was just one of those things you knew if you were to leave it would be pretty hard to look them in the eyes and say, 'I'm going to go home' because we'd built something so special in terms of how close we were.

"That was enough to keep us here, along with the fact we knew we had great leadership in Danny (Daly) and 'Fages' and 'Nobes' and 'Swanny'."

Under Fagan's leadership, Brisbane has returned to the powerhouse it once was over two decades ago, when the club collected three consecutive flags.

Since 2019, the Lions have finished sixth or higher on the way to two deciders, and yet, that reality looked farfetched for the club stalwarts Dayne Zorko and Ryan Lester, who battled through the difficult times.

"I was really keen to help guys like 'Zorks' and 'Frog' (Ryan Lester) play in some finals. That was the aim at the start," McCluggage said.

"We were sitting down the bottom of the ladder the first two years, and probably in our wildest dreams couldn't imagine we'd do what we've done in terms of the consistency we've been able to play at.

"How close I was with guys like Jarrod Berry, Cam Rayner, Zac Bailey, Zorks, Frog, 'Diz' (Darcy Gardiner), Harris (Andrews) โ€ฆ they helped us when we first got here, we became really close and learnt a lot of lessons on the way.

"If you achieve success with people you've gone through the ups and downs with, there's nothing that can compare to that."

McCluggage's incredible durability will see him become the first 200-game player in his draft class, missing just five games since his debut. At the same time, his impressive form puts him in the mix for a maiden All-Australian blazer.

The classy right-footer has notably been included in the All-Australian squad on four occasions, which runs parallel to his five podium finishes in the club's best and fairest award.