Callum Ah Chee's manager has taken the extraordinary step of fronting a press conference with Adelaide after the dual Brisbane premiership hero's trade to the Crows failed.
After the Lions held firm on their desire to net a first-round draft pick for Ah Chee, Ben Williams was seething with the reigning premiers.
Williams declared there was "zero chance" Ah Chee would return to Brisbane next year, with the Crows set to pick him up in the pre-season draft.
"I'm disappointed in Brisbane," Williams said, standing alongside Adelaide list boss Justin Reid.
"We've told them for months what we wanted to do, and we tried to go through the front door and be as transparent as possible.
"We'll pick up the player welfare pieces after this, and then concentrate on getting to Adelaide."
The Crows offered a future second-round draft pick for Ah Chee, declaring from the start of the trade period they would not be handing over No.16 to Brisbane.
Lions list manager Dom Ambrogio wanted to keep Ah Chee and retained a glimmer of hope the 28-year-old would stay.
"Our main aim has been trying to retain him the whole time," Ambrogio said.
"We put a lot of effort into that. We put a long-term deal to him.
"At the end of the journey, I don't think there was that much difference between the deals. We think he's a great player and we'd love to have him around.
"He'll be disappointed, I'm disappointed for him. But at the end of the day, it was largely out of our control."
Ah Chee has played 124 games for the Lions after joining them from Gold Coast ahead of the 2020 season.
He became a Brisbane hero in the 2024 finals, starring in the club's run to the premiership, including kicking four goals in the grand-final smashing of Sydney.
Ah Chee enjoyed another outstanding grand final this year as the Lions claimed back-to-back flags.
