The Western Bulldogs got out of jail against Brisbane but coach Luke Beveridge still felt their hard-fought win was an appropriate celebration of Bob Murphy's 300-game milestone.
The wasteful Dogs trailed by 38 points late in Saturday's second quarter, before setting up the 17.20 (122) to 14.6 (90) win with a four-goals-to-nil third term.
"They had us on the ropes, I'd like to acknowledge that, but (in the end) it was a celebration of a fine and remarkable achievement by Bob," Beveridge said.
"I knew that (the players) would want to play well for him and maybe they were frustrated that they weren't able to do that to the degree they would have liked in the first half.
"But they found a way in the back end of the game.
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"It's always dangerous to use milestones as inspiration, you tread an interesting path so I definitely didn't do it.
"But the players have acknowledged it, spoken about it, and maybe worked off it a little bit as the game went on."
The final margin wasn't an accurate reflection of Brisbane's brave performance.
The Lions led by five points at three-quarter time but Luke Dahlhaus converted a set shot to give his side the lead for good with just over nine minutes left.
A bizarre incident proved costly for the visitors.
Man-of-the-moment Murphy kicked a goal from point-blank range in the pivotal third quarter after a Brisbane trainer incurred a 50m penalty when he ran through the mark.
The Dogs skipper finished with 20 touches and was chaired from the ground to the wild applause of the 31,822-strong crowd at Etihad Stadium.
The inaccurate Dogs dominated inside 50s by 17-6 in the first quarter but only managed a return of 3.7, with two shots out of bounds on the full.
Eric Hipwood kicked three first-quarter goals as the Lions booted five straight to lead by five points at the first break.
The Dogs continued to kick poorly in the second quarter, while the Lions bagged nine goals straight before blotting their copybook with a rushed behind.
Chris Fagan's side led by 32 points at halftime but the lightning-fast transition, which allowed them to get behind the Dogs' defence and score some easy goals, deserted them.
The Lions scored just two behinds in the third term but they fought on bravely early in the last before the Bulldogs rattled home with the final seven goals.
"We did a lot right but we probably got tired in the second half," Fagan said.
"I thought it was a fantastic day for the development of our club.
"It showed all of them that when we contest hard, we apply pressure and we do that consistently we get a really positive result.
"We weren't able to sustain it for long enough but I'm very proud of most of the effort for most of the day."
Jack Macrae and Jason Johannisen were outstanding for the Dogs with 29 and 28 possessions respectively, while Jake Stringer and Josh Dunkley kicked three goals apiece.
Dayne Beams led the way for the Lions with 36 touches and Stefan Martin had 18 disposals and 49 hitouts.
