Brisbane Lions won 2026 AFL Grand Final Day with an Excited Twist of Late Comeback
Updated: 3 days ago
On Grand Finale Day, The 2026 Toyota AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was already history before a ball was bounced. It was also a rainy afternoon in Melbourne, VIC on Grand Finalie Day at the MCG. For the Brisbane Lions it was a fourth straight September Saturday on the biggest stage a run that began with the 2023 Grand Final, was sealed with premierships in 2024 and 2025, and now asked them to go one step further: a three-peat, matching their own 2001–03 dynasty and joining Hawthorn (2013–15) as the only clubs this century to win three flags in a row. Chris Fagan’s side had survived an all-time classic preliminary final against Hawthorn to get here, and a capacity crowd of 100,023 packed the ‘G to see whether the Unstoppables could do it again. Kylie Minogue lit up the pre-game, the anthem rolled around the stands, and then it was on Brisbane’s fourth consecutive Grand Final, Fremantle’s first, and a three-peat on the line.
Charlie Cameron opened the Grand Final with a superb goal for Brisbane, then Josh Treacy answered from beyond the arc to get Fremantle on the board. The term was frantic and even in the wet: both sides missed makeable shots, Isaiah Dudley put the Dockers in front, and Oscar Allen and Kai Lohmann replied for the Lions. Murphy Reid snapped out of a pack to drag Fremantle back to within a point, and a late Treacy mark inside 50 was controversially judged not to have travelled 15 metres. Brisbane led 3.5 (23) to 3.4 (22) at the first break. The second term was a shootout, the lead changing three times as neither side would let the Grand Final breathe. Patrick Voss was everywhere, kicking two for the quarter and stretching Fremantle to a seven-point break. Jye Amiss answered the call up forward, Levi Ashcroft hit the scoreboard for Brisbane, and Sam Draper’s long bomb eventually dragged the Lions back level. Michael Frederick’s desperate tackle on Zac Bailey saved a certain goal; Josh Dunkley smothered everything that moved. Then came the highlight that had the ‘G on its feet.
Conor McKenna, the Tyrone Irishman off the interchange, had already missed a simpler chance in the first quarter. He would not miss this one. Deep in the right pocket at the Punt Road end, a bouncing ball fell among a jumble of Dockers legs. McKenna stooped as if to pick it up then, instead, did what only the Gaelic footballer in him would do. He poked it. A low soccered toe-poke, instinctively threaded through the pack and between the big sticks. Irish wizardry on the biggest stage.McKenna, also did a great soccer miracle like he did against Collingwood.
Lachie Neale’s behind edged Brisbane in front 43–42, Karl Worner’s late point squared it up, and the teams went to half-time locked at 6.7 (43) apiece. The Irishman’s soccered goal was the moment of the quarter and a reminder that, on Grand Final day, McKenna does not do ordinary.
The 3rd Quarter started off as Fremantle took control after the restart. A miss goaled first, then skipper Alex Pearce collapsed with a suspected Achilles and was ruled out of the match. The Dockers lifted rather than wilted: Dudley produced an electric second major, and they looked set to pull away. Brisbane answered with three goals in six minutes Lohmann, Oscar Allen and Charlie Cameron to sneak in front 61–60. Hayden Young immediately restored the lead from the next centre bounce, then, in the final minute, snapped a stunning goal from a tight angle in the right pocket. Fremantle led 10.12 (72) to 9.8 (62) at three-quarter time.
During the Fourth and final quarter, Brisbane is egeding their way to get a 3 peat as Logan Morris finally opened his account to cut the margin to three, but Michael Frederick answered to make it nine. Treacy then ran into an open goalsquare only for Ryan Lester’s desperate chase to knock him off enough to miss. Patrick Voss marked metres out and goaled, putting Fremantle 17 points up with under five minutes left as they triggered Wharfie Time as it blasted around the MCG, and a first flag looked seconds away. Then Charlie Cameron struck. With the Dockers celebrating, he finished a lightning counter and cut the lead in a heartbeat the first punch of the comeback. Almost immediately Zac Bailey had the ball on his boot and slammed through the second. Two goals in a minute. The 17-point cushion was gone, the purple party had frozen, and the Lions were suddenly within a kick.
Then came the one that will be replayed forever. With 90 seconds left of the match, Logan Morris, quiet for most of the afternoon, took a contested mark in a forward 50 that no longer had Alex Pearce in it. The fans of Brisbane Lions went Electric as they take the 1 point margin as it became an absolute thriller. 32 seconds remaining, Fremantle still had one final opportunity to steal the premiership back. Brisbane led by just one point, 90–89, and after Fremantle drove the ball forward, the Lions’ defence managed to scramble it away from danger. The ball was pushed toward the wing with roughly half a minute left, where Fremantle desperately needed to regain possession. Instead, Brisbane won the loose footy and suddenly had open space. That was when Will Ashcroft took over. He collected the ball, accelerated away and took a series of running bounces through the middle and toward Brisbane’s forward 50. Rather than simply trying to waste the remaining seconds, Ashcroft kept attacking. He spotted Logan Morris loose ahead of him and delivered the footy into Morris’ path. Morris gathered it, finished the play and kicked Brisbane’s final goal with only about eight seconds left on the clock. Fans at the MCG explodede to see what witnessed in the final 5 minutes of the match. It was the perfect ending to an unbelievable comeback. Brisbane had been 17 points behind with just over four minutes remaining, but suddenly Cameron, Bailey and then Morris twice had turned the Grand Final around. Morris’ final goal stretched the margin from one point to seven points, 14.12 (96) to 12.17 (89), meaning Fremantle no longer had any realistic chance of responding with only eight seconds left. Brisbane went electric for the greatest comeback in AFL Grand Finalie History as Brisbane was ready to break the spell of winning their 3rd successive Premiership.
The siren sounded on the greatest Grand Final comeback in Brisbane Lions history. Players in maroon, blue and gold piled on Morris. Dockers dropped to the turf. Chris Fagan had a third straight premiership. The three-peat was complete. The celebration
When the siren sounded, the MCG became a sea of maroon, blue and gold. Brisbane players sprinted to Logan Morris, piled on in the goalsquare, then found each other in hugs that had been four years in the making a fourth straight Grand Final, a third straight flag. Microphones found them almost immediately. Morris, still catching his breath, spoke about holding his nerve on the set shot that put them in front. Josh Dunkley talked about heart and never counting this group out. Charlie Cameron and Zac Bailey grinned through the chaos of the two goals that had turned Wharfie Time on its head. Co-captains Harris Andrews and Hugh McCluggage thanked the travelling Lions army. Even in victory, they were generous to Fremantle.
Then Chris Fagan took the stage, Jock McHale Medal around his neck, and stole the evening with a speech as classy as the comeback. He looked across at the Dockers and said what few premiership coaches ever say: they had probably deserved to win. “You guys probably deserved to win the game today.” He praised their contest, their third quarter, their courage after Alex Pearce went down. Then he turned to his own men. “My guys have a stack of heart.” He called it the most amazing three-or-four-minute comeback he had ever seen, and he did not hide how close it had felt from the bench. Ten years at the club, four Grand Finals, three cups and still the humility of a man who might yet walk away on top.
After the speeches came the medals. One by one the Lions stepped forward, premiership medallions around their necks, and as they did they handed premiership hats down to kids along the fence and in the family bays little Lions in replica jumpers reaching up, eyes wide, as heroes they had just watched pull off a miracle dropped a hat into their hands. Fagan, Andrews, Dunkley and McCluggage then took the cup. They lifted it together, high above the ‘G, and the roar rolled around the stands. The rest of the team flooded in behind them for the photo that will hang in the rooms for decades: the Unstoppables, three-peat premiers, the silverware gleaming in the Melbourne dusk.
The party moved inside. Beers flowed in the locker room. Sweat still on their jumpers, they belted out the Brisbane Lions song until the walls shook, then went back out to the centre of the MCG and sang it again. Later they would pile onto the bus, take the cup to the function, hoist Fagan onto Harris Andrews’ shoulders, drink from the trophy, dance with staff and teammates. But the true ending was quieter and better: partners, parents, kids, old teammates and friends flooding in. Hugs. Tears. Photos with the cup. A fourth September Saturday, a third premiership in a row, and a happy ending written in the last four minutes of the greatest Grand Final of their lives.
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