Much has, and will, continue to be made of Will Ashcroft's second Norm Smith Medal-winning performance, and the romance of younger brother Levi's first flag coming in his first season at the top level. Both are top five draft picks with shimmering blonde locks and a penchant for hard-ball gets and game-breaking goals. However, plying his trade on a half-back flank is another second-generation cub, just beginning to realise how good he can be.
A member of Brisbane's Academy, Jaspa Fletcher was taken with Pick 12 at the 2022 National Draft, and started his career as an unassuming wingman. Son of inaugural Brisbane Lion Adrian, Jaspa's debut came in Brisbane's Round 14 clash with Sydney in 2023, and in his 14th game, Fletcher would represent the Lions in that year's Grand Final.
The Lions would lose in a classic to Collingwood, with Fletcher amassing the nine disposals.
The next year, Brisbane would go one better, claiming their first premiership in 21 years. Jaspa had never seen his boyhood club win a flag, and now he was a pillar in a side that achieved that feat, playing all 27 games en route to their rout of the side he debuted against.
That wasn't enough.
In April of this year, Fletcher confided in afl.com.au that he was ‘unhappy' with his contribution to the side in his second year, having expected to do more after a debut season that showed promise.
Versatility has been a hallmark of sides and players coached by Chris Fagan, and ‘Fages' set about making Fletcher his next project. In the pre-season, groundwork was laid for Fletcher to join the likes of Darcy Wilmot and Dayne Zorko across half-back, should the need arise during the season. Very early, such a need did arise, with another unfortunate concussion to premiership teammate Brandon Starcevich.
With his number called, Fletcher seized the opportunity, and almost immediately flourished. Old head Zorko called his younger counterpart's from down back ‘red hot', and coaches have tended to agree. Since the move, Fletcher has turned in four performances worthy of coaches votes this season, after only one populated in his first 44 appearances for the Lions.
The most recent of these four was, of course, Saturday's Grand Final trouncing of the Geelong Cats.
Fletcher amassed 29 disposals, six intercepts, eight score involvements and eight marks from his post on a half-back flank - a role of significance given Geelong's fleet of dangerous, nifty half-forwards. The performance inspired two-time Norm Smith medallist Luke Hodge to award Fletcher maximum votes in this year's award - enough for Fletcher to finish fourth in the count.
An ultimately inconsequential 50m penalty he conceded to Mark Blicavs in the fourth quarter was the only blight on a stellar performance that's sure to ease the self-inflicted burden of perceived underperformance the Sherwood Magpies product grappled with previously.
Before making the switch to the storied inner-west Brisbane club, in the hopes of playing U18s QAFL football, an undersized Fletcher was a junior at Coorparoo, an inner-east suburb in the shadows of the Gabba.
There, a former Lions Academy member, Jimmy Seidel, was overseeing development, and is hardly stunned by Fletcher's recent flourishing.
“He was one of the most well-mannered, good humans you'd ever come across - very coachable, very likeable, and a genuine star,” Seidel told Zero Hanger.
“He was always one of the smartest players on the field, and read the game so well. Seeing him impact from half-back comes as no surprise.
“It's funny; now he's somewhat of a tall halfback flanker, but he was undersized coming through juniors. He'd still play midfield, and would just scrap and fight. Those traits look to have helped as he's grown into his body.”
Jaspa's father was also involved at the Roos, and according to Seidel, struck a balance between pushing and nurturing his son.
“He (Adrian Fletcher) helped coach, and was always around. He's a great bloke, and was always super humble about Jaspa. Jaspa wanted to make the AFL, and his dad held him to that standard,” Seidel added.
Saturday's exquisite performance shapes as the next step in Fletcher's development as a halfback, as he and fellow counterparts Darcy Wilmot, Noah Answerth and Keidean Coleman complete apprenticeships under the tutelage of the quarterbacking Dayne Zorko.
Fletcher's kicking, in particular, is more risk-averse than Zorko's, but his skills have the polish to one day take that mantle. His play is almost a microcosm of Fagan's philosophy; tough and uncompromising in the contest, and expansive and skilful when in space. Such qualities have been rewarded with a contract extension that sees him represent his beloved Lions until the end of 2030.
Look for his name to only grow in stature until then.
