Key events Q3: 7 min remaining: Fremantle 8.11.59– Brisbane 8.7.55 Charlie Cameron is down now, done an ankle. Hobbling. Oof, twisted under him in a tackle, yuck. In better news for Brisbane, Will Ashcroft from the centre square finds Allen, marking low to the ground 35 metres out, and he goes back and kicks the […]
Key events
Q3: 7 min remaining: Fremantle 8.11.59– Brisbane 8.7.55
Charlie Cameron is down now, done an ankle. Hobbling. Oof, twisted under him in a tackle, yuck. In better news for Brisbane, Will Ashcroft from the centre square finds Allen, marking low to the ground 35 metres out, and he goes back and kicks the goal. We’re back to four points!
Q3: 9 min remaining: Fremantle 8.10.58– Brisbane 7.7.49
Brisbane hanging on at the moment. Amiss spearing inside 50 to Voss, looks a certainty to mark on the lead, but Harris Andrews does superbly to get an arm around the body and spoil. Chris Fagan coaching from the bench is getting animated. The margin only 15 points but the game has been so tight all day that 15 feels a lot, and 21 would feel like double that. Vibe Maths, go with me.
But no! What’s the vibe on nine points? Because Lohmann has just cut the gap to that, after a long chain of counterattacking possession, after Rayner digs it out in the centre square, finds a flying McKenna, who kicks to Morris, who hands over the top to the goal square.
Q3: 12 min remaining: Fremantle 8.10.58– Brisbane 6.7.43
DUDLEY! What a goal from the goalsneak! He bobs and weaves, he’s a human game of Whack-A-Mole. Ball coming shallowly inside 50, he slaps it to his own advantage, runs onto it while going laterally to goal, traps it, doubles back, dodges one tackle, ducks underneath a second, pops up again, and sends the ball home around the body from 45!
Q3: 12 min remaining: Fremantle 7.10.52– Brisbane 6.7.43
Looks like an Achilles snap for Pearce. He’s getting a huge ice chunk glad-wrapped to his lower leg. Freo’s captain is gone for the day.
Q3: 13 min remaining: Fremantle 7.10.52– Brisbane 6.7.43
Uh oh. Alex Pearce has something seriously wrong. In a contest on the wing, sprinting for a ball, suddenly his leg gives way under him. Calf tear? Seemed to be lower leg, the way he collapsed. He’s been helped off the field. Switkowski kicks a long point, another wasted chance by Freo. Brisbane are scrambling to make changes off the bench to take advantage of Freo being down a key defender.
Q3: 15 min remaining: Fremantle 7.9.51– Brisbane 6.7.43
This time Brisbane get out of the centre square after a second bounce, but the long kick forward is picked off. Back go Fremantle the other way with some run and handball, and Amiss on the 50 is scragged in the marking contest, nothing glaring but enough for the umpire to whistle it up. On the left from 55 he hangs it left and Draper punches it through.
Q3: 16 min remaining: Fremantle 7.8.50– Brisbane 6.7.43
Ashcroft goes long to a pack on the wing. Jackson gets up there like Jezza (finish that name with either lenko or Cameron, as you wish) but doesn’t quite haul down the mark. Freo get back inside 50 but the ball is locked up for a time. Finally Young squeezes a low flat kick out of the pack, and Amiss marks! Near the goal line, but on a severe angle … he kicks it anyway!
Q3: 19 min remaining: Fremantle 6.8.44– Brisbane 6.7.43
First centre clearance to Fremantle, Jackson perfect tap down to Bolton, into 50 to find Treacy, huge chance to start the second half with a bang, but his set shot fades right after looking on target off the boot. That point gives Fremantle the lead…
A huge cheer for Brandon Leary of Tasmania, the first time a Tassie rep has lined up in one of these races. Another cheer for Cathy Freeman, firing the starting gun. A bit tough to invite Jarman Impey back to the MCG on grand final day to be doing this rather than playing, but he has a smile on his face as he applauds Jed Walter of Gold Coast who streaks away from the field to win the sprint as he did last year. An omen for the Lions, about history repeating?
Lining up for the Grand Final Sprint…
HT: Fremantle 6.7.43– Brisbane 6.7.43
Scores are level at the half. Wasn’t that also the case last year, before Brisbane dropped the hammer? They looked by far the better side then, and they don’t today. Neither side has dominated, both have been pretty scrappy given the conditions, with occasional bursts of class. It seems like a question of who can turn a burst like that into a three-goal run, and take control of the game.
Q2: 1 min remaining: Fremantle 6.7.43– Brisbane 6.7.43
Finally, Freo slip the noose via a high tackle. Worner pushes forward, Switkowski gets hold of it near the 50, but then two Josh Dunkley smothers in ten seconds defuse two attempts at gold! First from Bolton, after Switkowski hands off, then from Serong who got the loose ball inside 50! Another botch from Fremantle going forward, they’ve had a number of those today. Finally Freo get a shot away, but Karl Worner from 55 wouldn’t be their first-choice route to goal. He misses and ties the scores.
Q2: 3 min remaining: Fremantle 6.6.42– Brisbane 6.7.43
Stuck in Brisbane’s right forward pocket as we count down towards half time. Two boundary throws, two ball-ups, no Moses to part the seas. Another ball-up. Erasmus toes a kick 20 metres. Out of bounds, another throw-in. Another ball-up. Soccered up to the wing by Freo for another throw-in.
Q2: 6 min remaining: Fremantle 6.6.42– Brisbane 6.7.43
Now the Lions are starting to click. Little momentum shifts through the day. Will Ashcroft streaming down the wing with that mullet flowing, kicks inside to find Neale. Also finding Neale is Mason Cox, who has not been sighted otherwise today, and crashes into the Brisbane player, knocking him to the ground. Neale wants a 50 metre penalty. Several Brisbane players want a fight with Cox, who is game to take them all on. Getting heated out there. But after all that, Neale misses the simple set shot to the right. Gives Brisbane the lead by a point.
Q2: 7 min remaining: Fremantle 6.6.42– Brisbane 6.6.42
Poster from Hipwood! Kicking a set shot around the corner from the left forward pocket, he never looked entirely confident. Had marked a ball that drifted across the face of goal. Brisbane get another chance though, Andrews a chiselled pass to Draper, who’ll have a 52-metre shot … and dumps it right through the middle! Scores level again!
Q2: 12 min remaining: Fremantle 6.6.42– Brisbane 5.5.35
Control C, Control V! Dudley to Voss, that is! After a couple of fierce tackles at half back, winning possession for holding the ball, Dudley is in position to take a handball from Jackson in traffic, burn away, take a bounce, then thread a 40-metre pass to Voss between two Lions at full forward. Until today, a Voss slamming goals on grand final day was good news for Brisbane. Not any more.
Q2: 12 min remaining: Fremantle 5.6.36 – Brisbane 5.5.35
Brisbane look like they’re out, down the wing in front of the Southern Stand, but Lester’s long kick forward becomes a shorter kick forward, and Freo pick it off. Dudley finds Voss just inside the boundary, but from 45 metres out his shot is narrow. Freo up by a point.
Q2: 15 min remaining: Fremantle 5.5.35 – Brisbane 5.5.35
Voss handballs to Bolton, whose snap misses. Brisbane try to slow the game down a bit with some possession footy. Easier said than done in grand finals. Lots of tackles being laid. Then Brisbane benefit from a horrible handball on the wing, Cameron applying pressure around the contest, and three of their stars combine. Cameron into 50 to Lohmann, who doesn’t mark but taps to his own advantage and butters up nicely, goes over the top to Ashcroft, and Levi Ashcroft can kick a goal from 30 out straight in front. Scores level again.
Q2: 16 min remaining: Fremantle 5.4.34 – Brisbane 4.5.29
Frematnle back in front! Serong prominent twice, sharp handball from the centre bounce, but Young is caught holding the ball. Brisbane take the advantage but make a mess of it, and Serong eventually gets another chance, a long kick inside 50 to Amiss who kicks his set shot. The lead keeps changing here.
Q2: 17 min remaining: Fremantle 4.4.28 – Brisbane 4.5.29
And back Brisbane go the other way! This has been so tight on the scoreboard. McKenna in the pocket, Punt Road End, right pocket, deep near the paint. Under pressure, through traffic, somehow scuffs the ball off his toe with no angle and watches it dribble through along the turf.
Q2: 19 min remaining: Fremantle 4.4.28 – Brisbane 3.5.23
First strike for Fremantle! Treacy makes up for the last quarter’s disappointment with a big mark outside 50, then a long kick to full forward and Voss in from the side clunks it! Goes back and kicks the set shot.
QT: Fremantle 3.4.22 – Brisbane 3.5.23
Rainy, chilly, but still a decent standard of skills on display at times in the first quarter. That will likely deteriorate as the game goes on. Both teams have botched a few chances. Thinking of last year though, you’re always waiting for a Brisbane switch to flip. Fremantle need to push.
Q1: 0 min remaining: Fremantle 3.4.22 – Brisbane 3.5.23
Footy gods do the right thing as Logan Morris dives like a Swiss striker. Literally ran into Alex Pearce in an attempt to mark and then threw himself on the ground with arms waving everywhere. Umpire gives him a shot from 25 metres out and he butchers it utterly, all the way across the face and not even a behind.
Down the other end with seconds ticking down, and again it’s a big umpiring call on the siren! Chapman, handball, Erasmus, kick, Treacy marks coming out from goal, and everyone assumes that it’s a mark. The Brisbane defenders stop, Treacy starts walking back to take his shot, and everyone’s waiting for it except the umpire nearest, who says the kick was too short! Play on! Finally Oscar Allen gets the memo, and mows into Treacy in a huge tackle.
Touch and go, the kick was pretty short, and they have called several of those already in the quarter. Rare that you see it paid for a stab pass to a leading forward, though.
Anyway, no quarter time shot after the siren for Fremantle.
Q1: 1 min remaining: Fremantle 3.4.22 – Brisbane 3.5.23
Shocking bit of decision-making from Reid. Runs up the wing, has a bounce, runs inside 50, then instead of finding a teammate, cuts inside past a defender, and tries to snap on the run from 45 out. Unsurprisingly, doesn’t have the distance on that style of kick after a 90-metre sprint. But as with Lohmann and Dudley, he gets another chance moments later, reading the ball well from a boundary throw-in and snapping Freo’s third!
Q1: 4 min remaining: Fremantle 2.4.16 – Brisbane 3.4.22
Lohmann is starting to get into this game now. Misses a shot from deep in the pocket, one that doesn’t make the line, but he gets another chance moments later, again on the run but this time from right in front. A brilliant little flip handball to set up Lohmann burning past the contest.
Q1: 5 min remaining: Fremantle 2.3.15 – Brisbane 2.3.15
Who do you expect to see dancing past defenders and slotting them on the run? Is it Oscar Allen? Probably not top of the list. But that’s what happens, as he turns receiver to Kai Lohmann’s provider in the forward 50. Looped handball over the top, Allen does a candy-sell, and can run into goal after getting rid of the defender.
Q1: 7 min remaining: Fremantle 2.3.15 – Brisbane 1.3.9
Charlie Cameron doesn’t have the leg for a shot from the pocket on the run, with plenty of space. It’s marked on the line. And Fremantle go coast to coast! Dudley makes good! A familiar trip for the guys from the West. Young drills a long kick down the line to the attacking arc, Jackson grabs it just on the boundary and holds it back into the field of play before handballing, Dudley has overcommitted in leading up, and the ball goes over his head. He has to double back, dive at the ball to knock it clear from Brisbane’s defence, then pops back up, grabs it off the deck about 45 from goal, and slams it through.
Q1: 8 min remaining: Fremantle 1.3.9 – Brisbane 1.3.9
Like a dollar coin in a pair of tight jeans, the ball is trapped in the pocket. Finally it gets squeezed out, then suddenly Fremantle have space through the middle. Young and Switkowski by hand through the centre, but Frederick overcooks his kick forward, setting up Voss to get flattened by Andrews rather than have a chance at a mark. Scrambling in the forward line, Bolton gets a snap at goal but it falls just short and is punched through. Then when Freo mimic Brisbane’s example in getting another attempt through defensive pressure, Isaiah Dudley flashes a shot wide on the run.
Q1: 11 min remaining: Fremantle 1.1.7 – Brisbane 1.3.9
Pressure footy from Brisbane. Murphy Reid is hassled out of possession on the wing, Brisbane drive the rolling ball forward, but McKenna misses his shot on the run, then there’s another rushed behind moments later. Lions locking down their forward 50 pretty well, Freo’s next attempt to escape is also shut down, and there’s a series of ball-ups near the boundary until Pearce gets a free for a ball that skews out of bounds off a Brisbane boot.
Q1: 13 min remaining: Fremantle 1.1.7 – Brisbane 1.7.7
Voss botches another chance, this time dropping a mark in the pocket on the lead. Ball back outside Freo’s 50, where Shai Bolton has his head removed, puts it back on, and has it ripped off again. Gets a free from at least one of those amateur surgeries. Goes back into the pocket, but the ball is spoiled despite a big fly attempt. The Lions almost make them pay, good movement to the other end, Cam Rayner marks on the lead, runs wide of the man on the mark, and misses to the far side from the right forward pocket.
Q1: 16 min remaining: Fremantle 1.1.7 – Brisbane 1.0.6
The immediate reply from Fremantle to take the early lead, as Josh Treacy marks strongly on the lead after a perfect centre clearance, and despite the wet conditions, absolutely flushes the kick from outside 50!
Q1: 17 min remaining: Fremantle 0.1.1 – Brisbane 1.0.6
First break out of the centre square goes Brisbane’s way, in a vortex of tackling and flying limbs, the ball scrambled forward rather than delivered. Fremantle repel the first two entries into 50, then an incredible pick-up at top speed by Jye Amiss on the wing helps neutralise a dangerous situation.
Ball back inside Lions 50, looks like a rushed behind but there’s a Freo free for a push, so the score is chalked off. Dockers get out via Frederick down the wing, into the pocket for Voss, but he misses a checkside on the run from the pocket. Freo point, and Brisbane rebound immediately, down the other end, finding Charlie Cameron in space… goal!
Harris Andrews wins the toss of the coin, such as it matters, and chooses to kick… in one of the directions. Hard to tell on the close-up. I think he went City End?
Welcome to Country takes place, and now the national anthem. Get ready for the cheer…
Here comes the premiership cup, carried onto the field by Luke Hodge, then handed over to Fremantle rep Shaun McManus and Brisbane rep Simon Black, a couple of huge names from the histories of these two clubs.
Geoff Lemon
Thanks Martin. That was actually quite affecting, the way that Kylie’s show started with a whole montage of her as a kid and then as a young woman, then it cut to a girl in a school uniform walking onto the MCG wearing big Walkman headphones, the kid dreaming of being there one day… and the cameras panned over to Kylie’s centre stage. Where she ended up. Top marks.
Martin Pegan
OK, I’ve almost got my head back in the game after that incredible performance from Kylie. I’m sorry, but it was. And it’s time for me to grab a cuppa. Thanks a lot for following along today. Here is Geoff Lemon to guide you through what should be an absolute cracker.
Wow! An early contender for best on ground from Kylie. I need to collect my thoughts but back to the footy – here are the two lineups as named:
Fremantle
FB: 6 Jordan Clark, 25 Alex Pearce, 17 Judd McVee
HB: 23 Karl Worner, 21 Oscar McDonald, 5 Heath Chapman
C: 44 Matthew Johnson, 8 Andrew Brayshaw, 28 Neil Erasmus
HF: 32 Michael Frederick, 16 Murphy Reid, 39 Sam Switkowski
FF: 24 Jye Amiss, 35 Josh Treacy, 20 Patrick Voss
FOLL: 9 Luke Jackson, 3 Caleb Serong, 10 Shai Bolton
INT: 18 Mason Cox, 34 Corey Wagner, 26 Hayden Young, 13 Luke Ryan, 43 Isaiah Dudley
Brisbane
FB: 22 Ty Gallop, 31 Harris Andrews, 35 Ryan Lester
HB: 44 Darcy Wilmot, 27 Darcy Gardiner, 15 Dayne Zorko
C: 7 Jarrod Berry, 8 Will Ashcroft, 33 Zac Bailey
HF: 23 Charlie Cameron, 13 Logan Morris, 4 Oscar Allen
FF: 30 Eric Hipwood, 16 Cam Rayner, 1 Kai Lohmann
FOLL: 32 Darcy Fort, 5 Josh Dunkley, 9 Lachie Neale
INT: 2 Sam Draper, 3 Jaspa Fletcher, 6 Hugh McCluggage, 10 Levi Ashcroft, 26 Conor McKenna
