Lions kingpin Jonathan Brown kicked a monster goal just seconds before the fulltime siren to snatch a dramatic AFL draw with Sydney in a Gabba thriller.

Brown let roost a 55m set shot with the last disposal of the rugged affair which sailed truly to give the Brisbane co-captain his fourth major and tie the scores 9.9 (63) to 8.15 (63).

It brought the crowd of 33,077 - the biggest in Brisbane this season - to their collective feet after it appeared Swans skipper Brett Kirk had stolen the match for the visitors.

Captain courageous Kirk snapped a dramatic goal with four minutes left to break the deadlock in a helter-skelter last term.

The result ends a six-match winning streak by Sydney over Brisbane and hurts the Swans' AFL top-four hopes, but keeps the Lions' finals aspirations flying even though they drop out of the eight.

St Kilda's win over Fremantle puts them past the Lions (40 points) on 42 points with two rounds to play.

"It's better than nothing. It keeps us in the finals race," Brown told Fox Sports.

"The ball's in our court.

"The boys just kept fighting tonight. We were out of it early in the game but we stuck at it and stuck at it."

The Lions, smashed at the clearances after losing ruckman Jamie Charman early, were down by 18 early in the second quarter and responded with three unanswered goals to be deadlocked at halftime.

They had to do the same to claw their way back into the match in the final quarter after the Swans dominated the third term.

A Nick Fosdike goal after the third-quarter siren gave the visitors a 17-point lead in the tight arm-wrestle, which appeared unassailable for the brave Lions.

The crucial major came thanks to a piece of smart thinking by impressive debutant Ed Barlow who executed a perfect long pass cross-field for Fosdike.

Barlow, elevated off the rookie list this week and included following Tadhg Kennelly's knee dislocation, enjoyed an 18-disposal effort off half-forward.

But the Lions stormed back with three goals in the first two minutes of the final term, including Brown's third from a piece of brilliance by the savvy Jed Adcock, to steal a one-point lead.

The Lions copped a major blow just before the end of the first term when the influential Charman limped off with a suspected calf injury and never returned.

It left teenager Matthew Leuenberger to valiantly fight it out with old dogs Peter Everitt and Darren Jolly in the rucks.

Lions defender Jason Roe was also reported for bumping and making contact of the head of Luke Brennan in the first term.

Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews was full of praise for Brown's last-ditch effort.

"It was fantastic," he said.

"He had to kick it 55m and straight and he did. It wasn't quite a winning goal on the siren but it was akin to."

Matthews was proud of Brisbane's effort and persistence with their backs to the wall.

"I guess the fact that we made up three goals in the last quarter, we salvaged a draw rather than sacrificed a draw.

"The (finals) destiny's still in our hands."

Swans coach Paul Roos lamented his side's inaccuracy with Sydney having 23 scoring shots to 18, including nine of the first 10 in the scrappy first half.

"It was one of those nights and due to our inaccuracy it was going to come down to one or two little things at the end," Roos said.

"Any time there's a draw you have an empty feeling but when you come up here you know it's going to be a hard game and two points, glass half full or half empty?"

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