Essendon has gone down swinging in a 20-point loss against the Lions at the Gabba.

In club champion Dyson Heppell's farewell game, Brisbane was the better team for most of the night though and deserved its 11.21 (87) to 10.7 (67) win.

Brisbane could have, and probably should have, led by more than 12 points at quarter-time, spurning golden opportunities around goal like it had in the previous fortnight.

07:09

Rd 24 | Match highlights

The Lions and Bombers clash in round 24.

Eric Hipwood and Jarrod Berry missed gettable chances, while Josh Dunkley totally shanked his set shot from 25m to miss everything.

They opened the gap to 28 points by the main break, with Cameron the beneficiary of some good work upfield, kicking two for the term.

Essendon was not helping itself with some horrible decision-making and turnovers, gifting the Lions field positions and putting itself under immense pressure.

03:24

Rd 24 | Heppell post-game

Dyson Heppell gives a heartfelt chat following his last AFL match.

Zach Merrett completed another wonderful season, racking up 37 disposals, while Andrew McGrath and the retiring Dyson Heppell had 34 apiece.

Kyle Langford did his best with three goals.

It was a rough finish to a rollercoaster season for the Bombers, that at one stage saw them comfortably sitting in the top four before losing six of their final seven matches.

Heppell's farewell

It certainly wasn't the farewell he hoped for, but Dyson Heppell's 253rd and final game was an absolute gem. The Bombers veteran was superb for his team, finishing with 34 disposals and a game-high 12 intercepts. As he has so often through his career, Heppell used the ball well off half-back, going at 85 per cent efficiency. With his brother Jamin back in Australia for the first time in two years to watch, Heppell can be well and truly proud of his final performance.

BRISBANE           3.4     7.9     11.17     11.21 (87)  
ESSENDON          1.4     3.5       5.7       10.7 (67)  

GOALS
Brisbane: Lohmann 3, Cameron 3, Neale, Morris, Hipwood, Daniher, Bailey
Essendon: Langford 3, Stringer 2, Merrett, Martin, Hobbs, Gresham, Draper

BEST
Brisbane: McCluggage, Neale, Lohmann, Ashcroft, Dunkley, Wilmot
Essendon: Merrett, McGrath, Heppell, Langford, Roberts, Martin

INJURIES
Brisbane: Nil
Essendon: Guelfi (hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Brisbane: Harry Sharp (replaced Eric Hipwood in the final quarter)
Essendon: Ben Hobbs (replaced Matt Guelfi in the third quarter)

Crowd: 31,663 at the Gabba