Brisbane will play for Jarrod Berry in the AFL grand final with his teammates hailing the injured Lion's courage and selflessness in ruling himself out of the decider.
Berry dislocated his shoulder in the Lions' preliminary final win over Collingwood last Saturday.
He always appeared an outside chance at best to play but approached coach Chris Fagan on Thursday and officially pulled the pin on any attempt to prove his fitness for Saturday's decider against Geelong at the MCG.
Berry was replaced by co-captain Lachie Neale and will instead support his teammates from the sidelines, like ruckman Oscar McInerney did last year.
"I spoke to Bez a few times. We're pretty close," star midfielder Josh Dunkley said.
"What he's been able to do this week has been incredible.
"I get a bit emotional thinking about it, because there'd be a lot of guys out there that would put their hand up to play in his position, and we always talk about putting the team first, and he's done that.
"Like he's walked into a meeting yesterday before training and said 'I'm not right' and to do that takes incredible courage and awareness to put the team first.
"So I feel for him that I hope we get out there and get the job done for him, because like last year, Oscar McInerney missing out from a shoulder, it's a similar storyline.
"So fingers crossed, we can get out there and do it for him."
Fellow on-baller Will Ashcroft also hailed the 27-year-old's willingness to sacrifice his own ambition for the sake of the team.
"Fages just pulled us all in after training and just relayed the information," Ashcroft said.
"Bez is obviously one of our leaders. He's a bit of a heartbeat for our footy club, really. He's been at the club for a long time.
"So for him to make that decision's obviously very selfless and tough for him individually, and probably all the boys a little bit.
"Yeah, we obviously want to play for him and we appreciate that."
Berry has spent time poring over vision with the likes of Bruce Reville and Sam Marshall, working to help the young Lions deliver on the biggest stage.
"Yesterday, after he wasn't playing, he was talking to those guys," Dunkley said.
"He's just an incredible leader, Bez and I really hope we can get it done for him, because the act of courage that he's shown is incredible."
