In the VFL/AFL there are ever-shifting goal posts like the level of professionalism, rules around the draft and salary cap, depth of the squad and quality of rivals.
Even the parameters for such debates are generally tricky to pin down.
But no matter what way you want to try to spin it, Saturday's seven-point win was confirmation of Brisbane's status as one of the greatest teams to grace the league.
And it was a three-peat coronation that proved far more remarkable and dramatic than that produced by the class of 2003.
The Lions of '03 wrapped up their third consecutive premiership in a canter; bullying Collingwood to take a 42-point halftime lead en route to a 50-point win.
The Lions of '26 had, frankly, little reason to believe they were a chance of winning when Patrick Voss galloped away after boosting Fremantle's lead to a game-high 17 points with a tick over four minutes remaining in the match.
Yet, schooled by Chris Fagan and emboldened by comeback victories studded throughout their run of sustained success, that very belief was somehow palpable.
As 'Wharfie Time' sounded out, triggering euphoria among those clad in purple in a 100,023-strong crowd, the Lions flicked a switch.
Some three minutes later, Logan Morris put his side in front.
Morris then slotted his third goal to put the exclamation mark on a snatch and grab that will haunt Fremantle until they claim the club's first premiership.
"My boys, they've got a stack of heart," Fagan beamed on stage, acknowledging the Dockers deserved to win a tense, tight, topsy-turvy tussle in which the margin rarely drifted into double figures.
Fremantle fans have lived through false dawns, a plethora of gags, a grand-final loss in 2013, an Eagle-sized chip on the shoulder that took some time to shake off and plenty of painful moments in their club's 32-year existence.
This will hurt more than any of it, all the more so given the visceral image of inspirational captain Alex Pearce on crutches in the sea of post-match misery.
Post-match analysis will likely centre on how the Dockers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Fagan's side will care less, reset and chase a fourth straight flag, minus Lachie Neale and potentially their much-loved coach.
Fagan admitted pre-match he is unsure whether he will go again.
The affable Tasmanian is the seventh VFL/AFL coach to complete a premiership three-peat, having memorably been the yin to Alastair Clarkson's yang at Hawthorn when they went back to back to back.
Saturday is arguably his greatest triumph, achieved after his charges trailed for the vast majority of the second half after momentum shifted Fremantle's way in the premiership quarter.
Brisbane and Fremantle had clashed in 37 previous regular-season games, even meeting at Cape Town's iconic cricket ground Newlands for a pre-season bout in 1998.
But, up until this overcast afternoon at a sodden MCG, they had never squared off in a final.
Kylie Minogue set the tone with her rendition of 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' before the two sides produced something that will live long in the memory.
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