Brisbane and Fremantle Face a Defining Grand Final

Thousands of Brisbane Lions and Fremantle Dockers supporters gathered at Melbourne Park for the AFL grand final parade, undeterred by the threat of rain. The atmosphere was festive, with players waving to fans, music from Mike Brady and The Wiggles, and captains Alex Pearce and Josh Dunkley raising the cup. Brisbane captain Lachie Neale was more reserved and received some boos after a late reprieve from the AFL Appeal Board cleared him to play in his fifth grand final, this time against his former club. Brisbane are seeking a third consecutive premiership and will play in their fourth grand final in as many years. Some Lions supporters described the event as a familiar annual trip, including the Hall family, who have attended four grand finals in a row. Other Brisbane fans were experiencing grand final weekend for the first time and said they felt nervous but excited about the possibility of a three-peat. Fremantle, by contrast, are chasing their first premiership after losing their only previous grand final in 2013. Captain Alex Pearce praised the club’s passionate supporters, many of whom travelled more than 3,000 kilometres from Western Australia. Fans described their hopes of seeing the Dockers make history, while some were nervous and others quietly confident. Several players, including Pearce, Andy Brayshaw and Caleb Serong, are preparing for their first grand final. Brisbane recruit Sam Draper also spoke about being struck by the scale of the parade and the support around the team. The article ends mid-quotation as Draper begins describing the advice and encouragement he has received from teammates.

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan says he will wait until after Saturday’s AFL grand final against Fremantle to decide whether to continue coaching. The 65-year-old, who is in his tenth season and has led Brisbane to four consecutive grand finals, said he would speak with the club’s chief executive and president after the season, as he has done in recent years. He stressed that his immediate focus was the match, rather than speculation about retirement or his future. A Brisbane victory would make Fagan only the seventh coach in VFL/AFL history to lead a team to three consecutive premierships. He has already won two premierships with the Lions. Former Brisbane coach and Fagan confidant Leigh Matthews, who coached the club’s 2001–03 three-peat, and former captain Jonathan Brown have both weighed in on the possibility of Fagan stepping away. Brown speculated that Fagan might pursue a fourth consecutive flag if Brisbane wins, while Matthews noted that coaching is a demanding lifestyle and Fagan could eventually decide he no longer wants to continue. Fagan said he was genuinely undecided, as he had been in the previous two years, and that he and the club would need to work out the right time for him to finish. He called the grand final the priority. Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir, who is preparing his team for a chance to win the club’s first premiership, said a victory would fill him with pride. However, he emphasized that Saturday’s result would not define the end of the team’s journey. Longmuir said Fremantle wanted to build a sustained period of contention like the one Fagan has established at Brisbane.

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir questioned why the AFL took until Thursday to decide that Brisbane midfielder Lachie Neale could play in Saturday’s grand final, saying he had expected Neale to be cleared earlier. Neale had initially received a one-match suspension for striking Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan, but an appeals board overturned the ban after Brisbane argued the tribunal had failed to consider exceptional and compelling circumstances in Neale’s disciplinary record. The board instead fined Neale $10,000, noting he had never previously been suspended during his 320-game AFL career. Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said he had not expected Neale to be available and that the team had prepared for his absence. Nevertheless, Fagan called the outcome “good for footy.” Longmuir described himself as cynical about the timing, while also accepting that players with distinguished records may sometimes receive leniency. He said Fremantle had prepared to face Brisbane at full strength and believed the Lions had other capable midfielders if Neale were unavailable. Neale, a dual Brownlow Medal winner and four-time All Australian, will face his former club in the premiership decider. Brisbane defender Noah Answerth was available to return from injury but misses out; Fagan said Answerth would have played had Neale been suspended, with Jaspa Fletcher moving to a wing. Neale has been a central grand-final-week story for a second consecutive year. In 2025, he recovered from a serious calf injury to play as a second-half substitute in Brisbane’s win over Geelong. Although speculation suggests this may be his final grand final for Brisbane, amid a possible off-season move to Collingwood, Neale challenged the assumption that it would be his last. Brisbane will field an unchanged side and seek a third consecutive premiership, a feat achieved by only two other clubs in the past 69 years. A victory would also give the Lions a second three-peat, matching a run they completed from 2001 to 2003.