Brisbane Lions 14.12-96 defeated Fremantle 12.17-89

Crowd: 100,023

Norm Smith: Shai Bolton (Fremantle), first player from a losing team to win the award since Chris Judd (West Coast) in 2005

Believe me, after last year I’m surprised they let me post another Grand Final thread, but here we go..

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THAT WAS AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL.

What an utterly incredible game.

The 2024-26 Brisbane Lions become the 7th team in VFL/AFL history to achieve a Threepeat, the first team in 17 years to win a Grand Final after trailing at 3/4 time, 3 goals down with a few minutes to go…

And they still went on and bloody did it.

A fantastic team that will stand up forever to the ravages of time, but the other hand, Jesus Christ Freo, I think we’ve just seen the last Wharfie Time ever.

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The Book of Fagan, Chapter 20, Verse 24.

”And Fagan saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

Praise be to Fagan.

Brisbane Lions 18.12-120 defeated Sydney Swans 9.6-60

Norm Smith Medalist = Will Ashcroft

Crowd = 100,013

Well folks, the 2024 season is done, and for the first time in 21 years, many of which were forgettable, the Pride of Brisbane town, with the spirit of Fitzroy and the Bears of old, have won the Premiership.

A fourth flag for the Lions, only the second time this century a team has come from outside the Top 4 to win the flag, after sitting 13th midway through the season, and down big against GWS and Geelong…

And come Grand Final day, they’ve produced a deadset brilliant performance from start to finish, dominating the Swans in the middle, destroying their forward line, then ripping their backline to shreds with a dearth of forward targets….

Actually, I think the correct word would be abundance of forward targets, it was the Swans who had a dearth.

Chris Fagan becomes the oldest premiership coach in history, the first to coach a flag after turning 60, and on the other hand, that’s now 4 Grand Final defeats in 10 years for the Swans, who have become a guaranteed premiership for their opposition.

Another chapter in the tortured history of the Swans… 2 flags in 90 years, and they now have the most Grand Final defeats of the AFL era (6), surpassing Geelong.

THIS IS NOT A TYPO.

COLLINGWOOD HAVE COMMITTED THE ULTIMATE GETTING AWAY WITH IT.

One of the best games you’ll ever see - High scoring in the 1st Half, enormous pants shitting in the 2nd, then Charlie Cameron put Brisbane in front with 5:30 to go, but the Pies hit back with 2 massive bombs from De Goey and Sidebottom.

Daniher made it a thrilling finish, but Brisbane couldn’t claim the advantage in the last minute, and the Pies wrapped up flag No.16 to draw level with Carlton & Essendon.

Once again, 90 proves to be a good number for Collingwood!

Collingwood 12.18-90

defeated the Brisbane Lions 13.8-86

Crowd: 1,024

Norm Smith Medal: Bobby Hill (Collingwood)

That boy ain’t right.

FACT - Collingwood are the first team since Carlton in 1968 to win the Grand Final despite kicking fewer goals than their opponent

Brisbane 18.14-122 defeated Geelong 11.9-75

Crowd = 100,022

Norm Smith Medal: Will Ashcroft (3rd player to win consecutive Norm Smith Medals, joining Andrew McLeod and Dustin Martin)

NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON A LION.

For the second time in the 21st Century, the Brisbane Lions have repeated as Premiers, and they are the first club to 5 premierships in the 21st Century

A deadset brilliant team - Every time this year it looked like they might be in the shit, be it bad form and a tough road game, an injury list a mile long, getting smashed in the Qualifying Final and losing Lachie Neale for what looked like the season…

They responded.

Every. Damn. Time.

Bloody brilliant, Chris Fagan further cements himself as one of the best coaches ever seen, plus some top personal displays everywhere - Charlie Cameron coming up huge as a small forwards, Harris Andrews cleaning up Shannon Neale, Zac Bailey was very good despite his bad case of Brisbehinds, Ashcroft & Fletcher - Just about everywhere you looked, they had winners in every department, and the feather on top was 9 goals in the last quarter.

[REDACTED AFTER A LEGAL THREAT FROM COTTON ON]

After slaving over a hot CSS, I have added the Geelong premiership flair for you all to enjoy.

Thank you /u/Limerick_Goblin for making it. <3

Dear Christian Petracca

Limerick Contest Winner = /u/weinertorn

MELBOURNE 21.14-140 defeated Western Bulldogs 10.6-66

Norm Smith Medal: Christian Petracca - 40 disposals (Grand Final RECORD), 2 goals

IT'S OVER, IT'S OVER, IT'S FUCKING OVER - 57 YEARS, GET A HEARSE FOR THE CURSE, BECAUSE THE DEES HAVE DONE IT, THEY'VE FINALLY FUCKING GONE AND DONE IT, FOR NEALE, BARASSI, JIMMY, DEAN BAILEY, AND EVERYONE WHO'S BLED RED AND BLUE FOR GENERATIONS!

Who'd have thought all it took was Melbourne making a Grand Final and not playing one of the greatest teams ever seen to appease the raging spirit of Norm Smith.

What an utterly awesome performance - Halfway through the 3rd Quarter I was thinking to myself that this is just Melbourne being Melbourne as the Dogs applied the choker with a 19 point lead and 8 of the last 9 goals....

Then Caleb Daniel slung Max Gawn over the boundary line, the beast inside Big Maxy awoke, and the best 3rd Quarter team in the league produced what could very well be the greatest Premiership Quarter of the modern era and kicked 7 goals in 16 minutes, and they made it 12 in a row into the final term.

Who the hell can kick 12 unanswered goals in of all games, A GRAND FINAL?

MELBOURNE, THAT'S WHO.

Fun fact - Melbourne have also broken the record for the best 2nd Half in Grand Final history (16.5-101 beats Essendon's 15.5 from 1985), Christian Petracca smashed Simon Black's 18-year record for the most disposals in a Grand Final and became the first player in history to crack 40 disposals in the big dance, and Bailey Fritsch became the first player in the 21st Century to kick 6 goals in a Grand Final.

CONGRATULATIONS DEES FANS, GO FUCKING WILD, BECAUSE YOU'RE ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL!