Brisbane general manager of football Danny Daly has spoken about how and when Zac Bailey revealed to him that he would sign a long-term contract to stay at the club.
Bailey signed an eight-year multi-million dollar extension to stay at the Lions until the end of the 2034 season during the week after spending the majority of the 2026 season as one of the league's most sought after free agents.
The 26-year-old midfielder-forward is coming off the back of two straight premierships and two consecutive All-Australian blazers and was being seriously courted by Adelaide to return home to South Australia for 2027 and beyond.
Speaking on the 3AW broadcast on Saturday, Daly said he spoke with Bailey after the Lions' addressed their horrible 53-point Qualifying Final loss to Sydney.
"Before the review meeting on Monday afternoon (Bailey) grabbed me and goes, 'Can I have a chat to you after the meeting?'" Daly said.
"During the meeting I'm thinking, 'Golly where's this going? I'm not sure which way this is going to go.'
"Poor old Zac got mentioned a couple of times in the meeting. After the meeting he came up to me and goes, 'I'm staying mate'. I said, 'Even after the review you're staying?' Like he copped a fair whack there. He goes, 'Yeah I can't leave this joint.'
"That was Monday afternoon and obviously we had to get some board approval and AFL approval before we could announce it to the media and wider football club. Had to sit on it overnight and then did that Tuesday morning."
As the season dragged on, many believed that Bailey was more likely to take up Adelaide's eye-watering contract offer.
Daly conceded even he grew some doubts as Bailey's decision continued to delay.
"I was pretty confident that he would (re-sign). But then from week-to-week you'd read articles and a few of the players come wandering through my office every week for a chat and they weren't sure, so it got me in a bit of a negative mindset as well about it," he said.
"In the last couple of weeks I just thought, 'He will let us know what he is going to do and I'm not going to worry about it too much because he is the only one who knows what he is going to do.' Thankfully he stayed and we also didn't want to put any pressure on him.
"He had a big decision to make for him and his family and we just felt the worst thing we could do is keep pressuring him because it might force him to leave. We just let him run his race and though it took a long time, that probably helped us to be fair doing that."
Coincidentally, Brisbane hosts Bailey's would-be-poachers Adelaide on Saturday night in a Semi-Final at the Gabba. The winner will go on to play Hawthorn for a spot in the Grand Final next Saturday.
