BRISBANE will turn back time on Sunday night, wearing its old heritage Bears guernsey against Gold Coast at the Gabba.

That won't be the only retro nod to the past either, ahead of what is the most anticipated QClash on record.

With the 'Carrara Koala' (as it was infamously known when Brisbane based itself out of Gold Coast's current headquarters) on their jumper, players will run through a Bears banner to the 'Dare to Beat the Bear' theme song.

Keep an eye out for some cheerleaders as well – a staple of many games in the 1980s and 1990s – in the guard of honour.

There might also be an appearance from a former blonde-haired full-forward that had a reputation for sky-scraping marks.

(Hint: Known as 'The Wiz', he likes referring to himself in the third person).

The Bears, who existed from 1987 to 1996, famously merged with the Fitzroy Lions to form the current iteration of the club ahead of the 1997 season.

Adrian Fletcher, who had already played for Geelong and St Kilda, headed to Brisbane in 1993 at the same time the Bears moved from Carrara to the Gabba.

It was a true turning point for the club.

"We started in poverty at the Gabba and ended up playing in finals," he recalled for AFL.com.au.

"We got to a preliminary final (in 1996) in that Bears strip.

"We did a lot of hard yards. 'Wallsy' (Robert Walls) put us through the ringer and toughened us up a bit.

"We had a good footy club by the end of it."

Fletcher was not exaggerating about "hard yards".

They won just six games in their first year in 1987, seven in 1988 and eight in 1989. In fact, the Bears didn't win 10 games in a single season until 1995 when they stormed into the finals (more on that soon).

By this stage, the nucleus of what would become the Lions' three-peat from 2001-2003 was in place.

Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Justin Leppitsch, Nigel Lappin, Chris Scott, Marcus Ashcroft and Shaun Hart were becoming established.

Fletcher played 86 games for the Bears and 21 for the Lions in 1997 before finishing his career at Fremantle.

Aside from that preliminary final against North Melbourne in '96 – the last game ever played in a Bears guernsey under that club name – his fondest memory came from 12 months earlier against Hawthorn.

Trailing by 45 points at the final change, Brisbane unleashed the biggest comeback in VFL/AFL history in the fourth quarter to snatch victory.

"The Hawks went and stood in the shade at three-quarter time and 'Wallsy' wound us up and we kicked something ridiculous, maybe eight goals straight," he said.

"We were nearly gone that year, but won a heap of games late and made finals."

They would lose to Carlton in an elimination final that year, but storm to the prelim 12 months later in a year Voss would win his Brownlow Medal.

With his son Jaspa now at the club, and one of Brisbane's best players to date in 2025, Fletcher said it was terrific to recognise the decade of history that can sometimes be lost in the shuffle.

"I think things like this help the club respect where it came from," he said.

"It was a lot of hard yards those early days. On the Gold Coast, then in Brisbane, a lot of people, guys like (CEO) Andrew Ireland, did a lot of hard work.

"It wasn't Easy St at the start.

"You've got to remember the hard times to appreciate the good ones."