Will Ashcroft made Wharfie Time Washie Time.
Brisbane made it a focus to flick a switch when Hells Bells rang around the MCG and none did moreso than Will Ashcroft.
He put the team on his back and added the most spectacular chapter to the most eye-watering individual September catalogue the game has ever seen.
Under fatigue and pressure, the 23-year-old stepped up and took responsibility with clean and damaging skills breaking the game open and completely turning the momentum.
It was a player seizing their moments. A show of force, fitness, finesse and fluorescence.
It was clean skills under the highest of pressure and using nous and footy IQ sharpened across more than two decades.
21:33: Ashcroft gets the first disposal when Fremantle stretch the lead, reading the ball off Sam Draper's hands and getting the ball from hand to foot quickly, advancing it 30 metres directly towards goal from centre stoppage. The Lions lock it up and get a stoppage.
21:51: Draper wins the hitout and it spills towards Zac Bailey who sees Ashcroft in his peripheral vision and taps it in his direction. Ashcroft gets onto the outside. Getting tackled, he uses his non-preferred left foot to kick it 25 metres in front of Charlie Cameron, who collects on the half volley having paced clear of his direct opponent and he snaps a goal to immediately trim the margin back to 11 points.
22:30: Luke Jackson wins the hitout but it goes towards Josh Dunkley. It's just out of reach of the rugged midfielder who gets a hand to it and Ashcroft, again, times his run perfectly, running onto the loose ball and sends a 35-metre up-and-under pass forward to dangerous territory, with the talls creating a contest and the Lions winning it at ground level. Zac Bailey goes on to kick a goal from that play.
23:19: The most impressive of Ashcroft's centre clearances, he wins a genuine contested ball, having lost his opponent, putting his head over the footy and gathering it cleanly before bursting and accelerating. Hayden Young tackles him, which prevents it from being a completely effective clearance, but he still gains about 20 metres of territory with his affected kick.
27:40: The moment which will live in grand final folklore and perhaps best epitomises Ashcroft as a footballer. Caleb Serong streaming forward cops a Stephen Milne-esque bounce which lands in the hands of Ashcroft. He just about runs into Draper, gives the one-two to the ruck, and then the seas part. As in the preliminary final when the game needed to be sealed, the ball was in Ashcroft's hands. He took four bounces, then handballed to Morris who kicked the sealing goal, breaking Fremantle hearts.
