Brisbane Lions have shown their finals credentials by withstanding a barnstorming start by Hawthorn to seal a 19-point AFL win at the Gabba on Saturday night.
The Lions were blown away when the Hawks kicked five unanswered first-term goals.
And the hosts didn't grab the lead for the first time until after the siren in the third term.
Yet the Lions (7-4 record) surged to a 12.13 (85) to 10.6 (66) victory in front of 25,051 fans, momentarily moving into the top four with their third straight win over Hawthorn.
Brisbane looked set to again give coach Chris Fagan heart palpitations after enduring one point results in the past fortnight - a win over Adelaide and a heartbreaking last-round loss to Fremantle.
They reeled in a 25-point first quarter deficit to level the scores by the second term 39-39 before threatening a close finish by leading at the final interval by seven points.
However, Fagan's nerves were finally settled when Cameron Rayner audaciously volleyed a goal before Dayne Zorko booted truly moments later in the final five minutes.
"It felt forever to catch Hawthorn but we handled the last five minutes of the game - so much better than we have handled the last five of the last couple of weeks," Fagan said.
"Thank heavens our fellas are good learners. I am proud of them."
The Hawks (5-6) couldn't break their Lions hoodoo in a blow to their hopes of staying in touch with the top eight.
Brisbane have now claimed five of their six home games, winning contested possessions (145-118) and inside 50s (53-46) on Saturday night.
For the Lions, Harris Andrews stood tall along with Jarryd Lyons (33 touches) and Lachie Neale (30) while Rayner, Eric Hipwood, Rhys Mathieson and Charlie Cameron all kicked two goals.
For Hawthorn, James Worpel had 24 touches and Mitch Lewis two goals.
They lost Chad Wingard (hamstring) for the final quarter.
"We are just spluttering as a side. We haven't been able to put together two games - it's been the story of our season," Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said.
"We will lick our wounds, review our season and see if we can get ourselves a bit better in the second half of the year."
The Hawks led 5.1 (31) to 0.6 (6) at the first break.
But the Lions kicked four of the first five goals of the second term and dominated inside 50s 28-20 to cut the half-time deficit to 7.3 (45) to 5.9 (39).
The third term became an arm wrestle but Brisbane finally hit the lead for the first time in the match despite their radar being off.
Ben Keays kicked yet another behind to give the hosts a one-point buffer before Mathieson booted truly on the siren to lead 9.11 (65) to 9.4 (58) at the final break.
