The twist was it took a move to the Brisbane Lions to be able to leave the ground with a premiership trophy.

Clarke led the Lions reserves to a resounding 69-point victory over the Queanbeyan Tigers in the NEAFL championship match.

Returning to the capital revived Clarke's memories of losing three preliminary finals while he was the playing coach at Eastlake.

''It's a sweet feeling, I must admit that, being able to come back here and get one,'' Clarke said.

''Being able to walk down at the end knowing we had the game at the end I thought, 'bloody hell, I've finally got one at Manuka'.

''It's a really nice feeling and it's great to be back here doing it, I've got a lot of respect for Queanbeyan as well.''

After a tight opening, the Lions showed their class to cruise to an 11-goal triumph.

They did it with nine AFL-listed players and caught the Tigers off guard after the Queanbeyan side ended a 12-year eastern conference drought last weekend.

Jordan Lisle finished with eight goals, while former Sydney Swans AFL premiership winner Amon Buchanan controlled play through the middle.

The crushing win came despite Clarke admitting he thought his team would lose to Queanbeyan when he arrived in Canberra.

The Lions were missing some of their stars after a physical northern conference grand final last weekend.

But they still had enough firepower to outlast the Tigers.

''We didn't expect to come down and win, to be honest. We had a lot of outs from last week and a lot of sore bodies, but it was good to win really well,'' Clarke said.

''[Playing this last game] goes all the way back to your pre-season training. We did [notice] Queanbeyan tired at the end.

''The mental side of things is really important, but if you've got the conditioning then you know you will be OK and they know how to handle that sort of pressure … it was a terrific performance.''