Key events
McCreery takes it from Wilson by a fraction, lunging for the ribbon with his hands before crashing to ground. I reckon Wilson false started though, he put a hand on the ground beyond the start line before the pistol went.
Right now, the grand final sprint with a field of eight runners representing both their AFL and local clubs:
Lane 1: Jeremy Sharp (Fremantle; Attadale Bombers)
Lane 2: Beau McCreery (Collingwood; Cove Cobras)
Lane 3: Will McLachlan (Brisbane; Colac Tigers)
Lane 4: Will Hamill (Adelaide; Balnarring)
Lane 5: Eddie Ford (North Melbourne; Yarraville Seddon Eagles)
Lane 6: Darcy Wilson (St Kilda; Wangaratta Rovers)
Lane 7: Jed McEntee (Port Adelaide; Mitcham Tigers)
Lane 8: Angus Sheldrick (Sydney; Mosman Park)
Half time: Sydney 4.3 (27) v Brisbane 10.7 (73)
Brisbane have wiped them out in half an hour. Seven goals to one in the quarter. Lachie Neale is talking down their lead at half time: come on. “We’ve been in this position before” and lost, apparently. If you manage that here, you will have done something truly memorable. And so will Sydney. Can’t fault the Swans for attack on the ball, they’ve gone for it, but just been outclassed in quality of possession.
Q2. 1 min remaining: Sydney 4.3 (27) v Brisbane 10.7 (73) It’s another Grand Final capitulation for Sydney. Fox tries to generate something with a surging run down the wing and a kick to a leading Hayden McLean, but the simple set shot misses. Brisbane go down the other end via a contest with Ashcroft and Neale in the centre square, ending up with Morris having a shot. He, of course, kicks straight for six in a row.
Q2. 3 min remaining: Sydney 4.2 (26) v Brisbane 10.7 (67) Three goals in no time at all! This time it’s Ah Chee again. From another mark at half forward, bombed into the pocket, and he’s there to mark under scrutiny. Goes back and kicks it.
Q2. 4 min remaining: Sydney 4.2 (26) v Brisbane 9.7 (61) Miracle goal! Not for the team that needs one, though. Darcy Fort with the tap in the centre. Big clearance kick to the forward line. Cameron feeds it to Fletcher, to Lohmann hard in the pocket with two Swans on him, but that gives space to Hipwood, who hooks a left-footer with no room to spare and no angle to aim for, but somehow the high kick floats through.
Q2. 4 min remaining: Sydney 4.2 (26) v Brisbane 8.7 (55) The pressure is telling on the Swans. Ashcroft charging forward, misses his shot on the run, but Blakey deep in defence can only find Berry of the Lions with his attempted clearing kick. Berry goes back, 45 degrees on the left, and kicks the long goal with a perfect trajectory on the drop punt.
Q2. 7 min remaining: Sydney 4.2 (26) v Brisbane 7.7 (49) Now it’s Daniher in the ruck! Out-positions Grundy at the centre bounce and hits the long pass by foot. Ah Chee marks steaming out from goal, near the 50. Goes back and drills the long goal! Brisbane running the game this quarter.
Q2. 8 min remaining: Sydney 4.2 (26) v Brisbane 6.7 (43) This time, Daniher gets it! Contested mark about 30 from goal as Cameron hits a centring pass from just outside 50 near the boundary. Marks on his chest and nails the set shot.
Q2. 10 min remaining: Sydney 4.2 (26) v Brisbane 5.7 (37) Daniher thrashing around like a stick blender, lying on the ground by the goal line. Brilliant team defence from Sydney. Odd bounce in the pocket, lands in Daniher’s hands, but two defenders manage to drag him to ground. All he needs is to shovel the ball over with a boot, but can’t get a boot to it. Sydney get the rolling maul going to shove it across the line instead.
Another Brisbane point when Fort misses a set shot, then Lohmann misses for the first time today with a tough shot for the right-footer from the right forward pocket.
Q2. 14 min remaining: Sydney 4.2 (26) v Brisbane 5.3 (33) No idea what’s happened there. Centre bounce, chip to centre half forward, and Zorko has a 50-metre penalty paid against him to Fox.
For what, exactly? Far as I can see, he pulled up a metre short of where the mark was taken. The umpire says he went over. Don’t think so, Fox was on the burst towards the ball and didn’t complete the mark until 55 out. But shoots from right in front.
Q2. 15 min remaining: Sydney 3.2 (20) v Brisbane 5.3 (33) Hard tackling pressure into the game now, Zorko gets ironed out at half back, Grundy for Sydney almost has a chance to find someone with a kick but gets closed down. And eventually it’s Lachie Neale from half back. Runs with the ball from the arc of 50 towards the wing. Bounce, second bounce, three. Draws Bailey towards him down the wing, who works Dane Rampe under the drop of the ball then spins on his heels, grabs possession and runs away. Long handball forward inside fifty, and who should it be? Lohmann for his third.
Q2. 16 min remaining: Sydney 3.2 (20) v Brisbane 4.3 (27) Swans with the early push, Warner’s raking snap from outside 50 ends up out of bounds in the forward pocket instead of finding a mark at full forward. Doubles up with a flying shot at goal 20 seconds later but misses. Brisbane take some time to work forward, Sydney take very little to fly back. Grundy, Fox, Hayward, then a kick inside looking for Papley who almost takes a speccy but can’t hang on, mid air, one-handed.
Quarter time: Sydney 3.1 (19) v Brisbane 4.3 (27)
Late goal for the Lions! They work their own move down the left wing, McCluggage to Berry, with Morris loose in the forward pocket even before Charlie Cameron shakes his man and doubles the Brisbane presence there. The kick was probably intended for Morris but wobbles Cameron’s way, and he snaps his set shot through the middle with 7 seconds to play.
Q1. 1 min remaining: Sydney 3.1 (19) v Brisbane 3.3 (21) Sydney respond now. A tough set shot for Rowbottom, from on the 50 and swerving left to right, but finding its path through the middle after a mark from a good move down the wing.
Q1. 3 mins remaining: Sydney 2.1 (13) v Brisbane 3.3 (21) Callum Ah Chee! The style in the finish. All starts with Will Ashcroft at half back who gets the ball moving through traffic for the Lions. McLuggage finds Daniher in the centre square, kicks to half forward. Blakey for the Swans is coming out of the forward line to mark, and drops his head towards Ah Chee, who crashes into him, hits the ground hard, but bounces up to grab the ground ball and handball to the oncoming McCluggage. Nails it on the run from just inside 50, while Blakey is still staring at the umpire holding his head and asking why a free kick wasn’t paid. Probably because he dropped his head himself.
Q1. 5 mins remaining: Sydney 2.1 (13) v Brisbane 2.3 (15) Luke Parker from about six feet out misses a snap under high pressure. The Lions move forward but get repelled at half back. Sydney do the same, Morris marking and finding Ah Chee on the right flank, who finds Daniher twisting in mid air just inside the boundary. But his round-the-corner shot at goal misses.
Q1. 8 mins remaining: Sydney 2.1 (13) v Brisbane 2.2 (14) Now it’s two in a minute for Lohmann! Talk about impact. The ball fast and flat into the forward line, bouncing free. Everyone gets involved: Daniher taps a loose ball to Ah Chee, who handballs towards Hipwood who finds Lohmann on the move, snapping his second. Lions in front.
Q1. 8 mins remaining: Sydney 2.1 (13) v Brisbane 1.2 (8) Brisbane get away with a lapse, Ryan Lester’s errant kick at half back sent back inside 50, but Starcevich cuts off the move. Lions move back the length of the field, Lester involved again as a kick finds Ah Chee inside 50, who chips a pass to Lohmann off the bench and close to goal. Lohmann nails the set shot to get Brisbane in the game.
Q1. 10 mins remaining: Sydney 2.1 (13) v Brisbane 0.2 (2) Two in a minute! Swans out of the centre, Papley has lost his man in traffic, tracks back inside 50 and is there in the left pocket to pounce on a chance to sneak a second Swans goal on the run.
Q1. 11 mins remaining: Sydney 1.1 (7) v Brisbane 0.2 (2) First goal for the Swans! They get a point before that, James Rowbottom’s hurried snap just sneaking in for a behind. But up on right half back as the Lions try to exit, there’s a tackle and a turnover and the ball is speared back towards Joel Amartey. His legs are taken out by Zorko as he tries to mark, but advantage is paid to Hayward who nails it from the pocket.
Q1. 12 mins remaining: Sydney 0.0 (0) v Brisbane 0.2 (2)
Charlie Cameron in the game early, winning a free kick on the wing for holding the ball. The Lions’ move forward breaks down though. Daniher tries a kick out of the rock after a stoppage but barely makes contact with it. The Swans get down their end.
Q1. 15 mins remaining: Sydney 0.0 (0) v Brisbane 0.2 (2)
Another miss from Brisbane, this time Joe Daniher marking in the left forward pocket, not far in from the 50. He’s kicked plenty of long goals from this spot but like Cameron, starts right and stays right.
Q1. 17 mins remaining: Sydney 0.0 (0) v Brisbane 0.1 (1)
A typically frenetic start, though the ball has zoomed up and back the field a bit more than the classic contested tackling of the first few minutes of a grand final. Charlie Cameron took a big mark under pressure in the first minute but hung his kick out wide to the right expecting it to come back with the wind, and it didn’t.
Geoff Lemon
Thanks Martin. A cold morning in London, where I’ve been watching Australia play cricket, but who wouldn’t want to be up at 5am watching this day of days? Missing Melbourne big time, as it looks a September beauty of the day.
“Right Here, Right Now” by Fatboy Slim is playing. Harris Andrews wins the toss for Brisbane and will kick to the Punt Road end. And off we go.
Martin Pegan
Back at the MCG we have the Swans great Josh Kennedy delivering the premiership cup to former Sydney skipper Stuart Maxfield and Brisbane’s three-time premiership coach Leigh Matthews. One of that pair will hand the trophy to the captain of the triumphant team in three hours or so.
Uncle Colin Hunter Junior is presenting the Welcome to Country, Cody Simpson belts out the national anthem, and while we take all that in I’ll hand you over to Geoff Lemon for the goal-by-goal, blow-by-blow and minute-by-minute updates as the Swans and Lions clash in the 2024 AFL grand final. #lessssgo
The 46 players are on the field and the 100,000-plus fans are in the stands at the MCG, while we have Mostafa Rachwani roaming around at the Footy Festival in Marrickville:
Swans fans have begun filling out Henson Park for the AFL’s Footy Fan Festival in Sydney, and they say they are quietly confident of a win today. Amid a sausage sizzle and a pumping jumping castle, Swans fans have been setting up shop on the hills of the inner-west oval all afternoon, and are preparing themselves for what they say will be a good day.
Daniel Lund plays for local club the Balmain Tigers, and sitting on his esky, he says he feels “zero nerves.” He adds; “It will either be close or we’ll smash them. We’ve been the best team all year, we just have to pull it together when it counts.”
Ben Jones brought his own picnic chair for the occasion, and Solo in hand, said he was a believer. “I know it’s ironic to say it out loud, but I’m quietly confident.”
Here come the Swans as the Cheer, Cheer spreads around the MCG.
The Lions are the first team to enter the MCG, running out to the familiar tune of La Marseillaise with lyrics pointing to their past as Fitzroy and the Bears, but now very much as the modern-day Brisbane Lions.
While I’m far from an expert on the music and stylings of Katy Perry, I have had a much keener eye on every Sydney (and GWS Giants) home match for the past four seasons. I was even privileged to witness first hand as Brisbane turned on something special in their semi-final victory a couple of weeks ago, and have pulled all those memories and theories together for an in-depth preview of the 2024 AFL grand final.
Here is where the Swans and Lions can each get the job done while also taking away their opposition’s key strengths, as well as a tip for the Norm Smith Medal and which club will claim the premiership cup:
Katy Perry has certainly set the scene for a rollicking finish to the main event in roughly 3.5 hours, as she closes with Firework. Happy to admit Katy’s music isn’t really in my wheelhouse, but that was fun.
Tina Arena brings a local flavour to the stage as Katy Perry leaps into I Kissed a Girl.
Katy Perry perhaps reveals her true colours for the day early as she opens up with her classic Roar. The singer completes a lap of the MCG standing on what traditionalists can only hope is a new and shiny version of the Batmobile.
We’ll have a review of Katy’s performance shortly from Katie Cunningham, but in the meantime send me your thoughts and star ratings on email or X @martinpegan.
Final teams
Sydney
No changes but Robbie Fox comes into the starting 22 with Braeden Campbell to don the vest, hoping to make an impact as the super sub as he was in the qualifying final against GWS.
Substitute: Braeden Campbell
Brisbane
In: Darcy Fort
Out: Oscar McInerney
Substitute: Conor McKenna
Brendan Brown has just followed up on the suggestion doing the rounds that Joe Daniher might be playing in his farewell match: “What do you think about Brian Taylor breaking/leaking the news the news that Joe Daniher may retire after the game tonight? I think it’s not all his place to be announcing such news and considering Taylor’s track record in calling many things in a game wrong I don’t trust it anyway”
My view is that it is fair to report on the news especially as Taylor is far from the first to do so over the past 24 hours around Daniher’s future plans. The Lions key forward is one of the more private players in the AFL, and even after he booted two goals in the last four minutes when his side overran the Giants a couple of weeks ago, he had no interest in speaking to media and instead celebrated by spending quiet time with his family in the rooms.
A little bit of housekeeping to be aware of just in case we – as in the neutrals among us that might actually be able to survive the tension – are fortunate enough to witness the fourth drawn grand final in VFL/AFL history. The Swans and Lions will then play out extra-time for the first time ever in the premiership decider.
That will mean two periods of three minutes – plus time-on – are played with no break as such in between, other than the time it takes for the players to switch ends. If scores are still tied after that first pair of extra-time periods, then another two three-minute periods are played, and so on until a winner is declared.
There was only two points the difference when these sides last met in round 19, and with a pair of evenly-matched outfits taking the field today, it’s probably safe to prepare to drop the classic radio call; “we’ve got the close one”.
This is the first non-Victorian grand final since 2006 (which was the last of the only three premiership deciders to be played without a Victorian club), but the main event on the AFL calendar continues to be played at the MCG. On what is surely the toughest day to present a case for why the grand final should be shared around the country, Nino Bucci and Caitlin Cassidy have done just that:
The Lions are back in familiar surroundings.
The Swans are in the building.
If you’re new to AFL, Australian rules football or (trust me) “footy”, perhaps happy to dip in and out of the action across the season, or just here for Katy Perry and the rest of the pre-match entertainment, then we have the guide for you!
The grand final showdown between the Swans and Lions might be a puzzler for neutrals, casual fans and bandwagon jumpers, but Alex McKinnon helps you decide which team should win the hearts and minds of the undecided masses:
Word coming through for our intrepid reporters at the MCG is that North Melbourne’s Eddie Ford has beaten St Kilda’s Darcy Wilson in the quicker heat of the grand final sprint. Adelaide’s Will Hamill and one of today’s fan favourites, Brisbane’s Will McLachlan, have crossed the line as 1-2 in the other heat. Collingwood’s Beau McCreery, Fremantle’s Jeremy Sharp, Port Adelaide’s Jed McEntee and (either Sydney’s Angus Sheldrick or Western Bulldogs’ Riley Garcia) are also through to the final.
The final will take place at half-time of the main event, with Ford laying down an early marker to perhaps give some joy to long-suffering (men’s team) Kangaroos fans.
Last time they met: Brisbane 11.13 (79) defeated Sydney 11.11 (77)
The grand finalists only met once this season in round 19 at the Gabba but it was enough to set the stage for a gripping return bout at the MCG. The injury-riddled Swans were without captain Callum Mills, James Rowbottom and Justin McInerney, then lost Dane Rampe and Tom Papley before half-time. The Lions opened up a handy early advantage as the Swans made one of their now-trademark slow starts until turning the contest around to edge in front heading into the last term. The lead swung five times in a rollicking final stanza before Lions forward Callum Ah Chee snapped the match-winner with three minutes remaining.
The clubs behind the Lions and Swans have not crossed paths in a VFL/AFL grand final for 125 years, when they were known as Fitzroy Maroons (long before a merger with Brisbane in 1996) and South Melbourne Bloods (ahead of their eventual relocation to Sydney in 1982). Fitzroy won the 1899 decider 3.9 (27) to 3.8 (26) in front of 4,823 fans at Junction Oval.
Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions, in their current guises, have only met in one final when the team in red, maroon and gold won a preliminary final at Stadium Australia en route to completing a three-peat with victory in the 2003 grand final.
Jack Snape digs into the archives to find out more about the last time these clubs met in a decider 125 years ago (conspiracy theories welcome):
Brisbane were forced to swing the one change for the grand final after ruck Oscar McInerney twice dislocated his shoulder in the preliminary final against Geelong. Darcy Fort is the player in the right place at the right time as he takes McInerney’s place for just his third game this season.
The Big O will be seated on the Lions bench after the AFL gave permission for both clubs to have a non-playing player on the sidelines alongside the usual 12 staff members, with Swans skipper Callum Mills to also have a front row seat on their interchange after the heartbreaking call to leave him out of their side.
The 16 clubs not competing today will be looking on in envy, not only at two supreme teams but also at the way that Sydney and Brisbane have been able to build their playing lists. Both the Swans and Lions are reaping the rewards of their academies for talented young footballers, and for what it’s worth – as a Victorian now living behind enemy lines in Sydney – I’ve seen first hand the benefits that they bring for footy more broadly.
Jack Snape has more on the northern academies and how the grand finalists’ football factories have prompted fears of a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ over competitive balance. The (mostly) considered debate in the comments is one worth reading and perhaps even weighing into:
Melbourne is again hosting two interstate clubs: the first decider without a Victorian team since 2006. As if to emphasise the “interstate raider” trope, both teams will be wearing home strips.
The city has been flooded with interstate arrivals. Airlines put on thousands of extra seats, running dozens of additional flights and swapping out Boeing 737s for larger Airbus A330s. Friday was flagged to be Melbourne airport’s busiest day since an army of fans of a certain Taylor (Swift, not Adams) landed earlier this year.
Ben Doherty has more on the two out-of-state teams – and most importantly their fans – returning to their roots:
Everyone’s second favourite event on grand final day is about the take place with the heats of the grand final sprint. Below are our runners for today, with a few hearts no doubt to be in mouths at least among Blues and Tigers fans. Josh Weddle will be carrying the extra burden as the first of my tips for the day.
Adelaide: Will Hamill
Brisbane: Will McLachlan
Carlton: Orazio Fantasia
Collingwood: Beau McCreery
Essendon: Ben Hobbs
Fremantle: Jeremy Sharp
Geelong: Shaun Mannagh
Gold Coast: Tom Berry
GWS Giants: Nathan Wardius (me neither)
Hawthorn: Josh Weddle
Melbourne: Oliver Sestan
North Melbourne: Eddie Ford
Port Adelaide: Jed McEntee
Richmond: Dion Prestia
St Kilda: Darcy Wilson
Sydney: Angus Sheldrick
West Coast: Jai Culley
Western Bulldogs: Riley Garcia
If you thought grand final day was just about the action between 46 players chasing a ball filled with air, I’ve got a pleasant surprise for you!
Here is the run sheet for the next 2.5 hours:
12.15pm: Grand final sprint heats (final at half-time)
1.23pm: Christine Anu Performance
1:26pm: Grand final motorcade
1.33pm: Mike Brady
1.40pm: Katy Perry
2.13pm: Teams walk onto the hallowed turf
2.25pm: Welcome to Country by Uncle Colin Hunter Junior
2.26pm: National anthem performed by Cody Simpson
2.28pm: Coin toss
2.30pm: Game on!
If you aren’t among the 100,000 fans fortunate enough to be at the MCG on grand final day there are at least several other ways to catch all the action from the showdown between Sydney and Brisbane. You’re already at the right place to follow the scores and updates with the Guardian Australia live blog, but you can also watch the game on Channel 7 and its streaming services.
Fans in Sydney can head to the home of the Swans, with the SCG doors to be thrown open from 1.30pm and people able to sit in the Ladies Stand or roll a picnic rug out on the field to watch the game on the big screen (that’s where I was for the 2022 grand final, where the crowd was strangely subdued after about the first 10 minutes of play!). A Footy Festival is already up and running at Henson Park in Marrickville with free entry, Giants AFLW player Georgia Garnett on the decks, and fun activities to entertain the kids before the broadcast of the big game begins.
For those in Brisbane, AFL Queensland are again taking over South Bank Parklands from 1pm for footy clinics, family-friendly activities and a place to watch the grand final.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 2024 AFL grand final between Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions. All signs point to this being a classic encounter with the weather playing its part and the two best sides of the season set to battle it out.
As the first premiership decider since 2006 without a Victorian side on the grand stage, fans have flocked from interstate as much as the local Melbourne suburbs for the match at the MCG. The streets were packed with fans of both persuasion for the grand final parade yesterday and more than 100,000 fans will be watching on today.
I’ll be seeing us through to the first bounce at 2.30pm, when Geoff Lemon will take the reins, but there is more than enough action even strangely without an oval-shaped ball to keep us busy until then. Katy Perry headlines the pre-match entertainment along with Cody Simpson, Christine Anu, Zipporah Corser-Anu and Mike Brady playing their part. And let us not forget the traditional grand final sprint. I’ll list the timings for all of that and the rest of the day shortly.
The forecast is for a high of 22C and sun leading into the first bounce, perfect weather for a grand final barbecue for those watching from home. There could be a bit of cloud coming across later in the day but nothing that should affect the play too much.
Get in touch with any comments, questions, thoughts and predictions – Swans, Lions or otherwise. You can find me on X @martinpegan or shoot me an email. Let’s get into it!