"We were saying Hail Mary's up in the box, to be honest," he said, after his team had led by as much as 47 points, then been forced to withstand a withering Suns comeback.

"I could see that the boys were tired. I didn't know whether we'd be able to hold on or not, or whether we'd be able to find that bit of extra effort to kick us across the line. But it's a privilege to be an AFL coach, and it's a privilege to coach the Brisbane Lions," he said.

The Lions had jumped the Suns from the start: at the 18-minute mark the score read 45-1, and Fagan was as excited by the attacking flair his team showed in the early stages. But it was his defence he was more impressed by, as his team withstood a whopping 74 inside-50 entries by the Suns to hold on.

He reserved special praise for 20-year-old defender Harris Andrews, who fought tirelessly to hold superstar Suns forward Tom Lynch, who fought back late, to three goals. "What a fantastic battle. I thought Harris Andrews was outstanding tonight. Lynch is a great player [and] I dip my lid to Harris Andrews for the job he did tonight.

"It's great for our group ??? It's such a great thing for a young group of men who have worked incredibly hard over the summer to improve as footballers.

"We're not going to get too excited. There's some mighty good teams in the AFL. But if we bring that effort and that intent as we did in the first half, and we show the spirit that we showed, particularly in the dying stages, then by the end of the year we'll be known as a really honest football team. But there's a long way to go."

Suns coach Rodney Eade was subdued, confessing he wasn't sure whether his side was flat at the outset, or simply outworked by a youthful team that, in fairness, would have shocked any side with their intensity around the ball.

"Do they handle being favourite? Do they think it's just going to happen? Were they totally surprised by it? I don't know," he mused. "But the fact they fought back shows they've got a bit of fight in them. I'd like to think it's an aberration, what happened in the first quarter and a bit."

"They were just sharper. They had more numbers to the ball, they used the ball extremely well, and we didn't put enough pressure on. That was the game, wasn't it, that [first] 20 minutes.

"But we've got to pick ourselves up and be able to be positive. It's a tough game next week and we've got to go to Sydney and be able to win. It's not about a good effort; we've got to get back on the board."