"We'd probably beat them by five or six goals, easy."
Those were the words of Brisbane champion and 2001 Brownlow Medallist Jason Akermanis.
The effervescent and lively Lions star was a showman at his best, performed freakish goals, post-game handstands and was arguably part of the greatest team in the 21st century.
But as the modern-day Lions reach the edge of replicating a three-peat of premierships and four consecutive Grand Finals, it begs the question: Which side is better and who would win if they were to play one another?
"We were a different team, bigger-bodied. We'd probably beat them up a bit," Akermanis said on ABC.
"And you could do that back then, and now you can't do it as much. We had some pretty good players. I mean, we had, I don't know, how many All-Australians, Hall of Famers, like some pretty good players.
"They've got some pretty good players as well, but it would be hard for them to match up against us in our prime.
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"I'd hate to see the result of that. It would be brutal.
"Just go through the midfield and rotate forward. I'd have a field day. 'Zorkes' would be loose. I'd kick five goals on him.
"And they got the stand rule. We didn't even have the stand rule back then; there I'd kick another five goals. It's going to be way easier.
"We'd probably beat them by five or six goals, easy. And that's us just going easy. I don't think we'd go that hard. We'd be pretty tough to beat, but we'll never know."
When drawing comparisons between the two sides, there are plenty of similarities.
For starters, both sides had three key forwards: Jonathan Brown, Daniel Bradshaw and Alastair Lynch against Oscar Allen, Eric Hipwood and Logan Morris.
Both teams had a pair of ruckmen: Clark Keating and Jamie Charman against Sam Draper and Darcy Fort.
In the midfield, Simon Black and Lachie Neale played similar roles, while Will Ashcroft's clearance work can be likened to Michael Voss.
Akermanis and Kai Lohmann pose as the obvious like-for-like given their style of play and blonde hair.
Senior coaches Chris Fagan and Leigh Matthews also present very similarly during their times in Queensland.
Matthews coached the Lions on 237 occasions for 142 wins, four grand finals and three flags. Fagan has led Brisbane 242 times for 147 wins, four grand finals and potentially three flags.
Lachie Neale holds two Brownlow Medals. The Lions of old have three Brownlow Medallists (Black, Voss and Akermanis).
Not much can split the two dynasties.
2003 Brisbane Grand Final team
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2026 Brisbane Grand Final team
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