The question of how the Dockers blew their shot at glory will haunt them for years, but the story of this grand final was the magnificence of the Lions.
You run into an open goal and you have a shot from centimetres out, you better make sure you kick it.
The final quarter will be remembered for a flurry of moments – moments of madness, brilliance, Swiss precision, confusion.
When Patrick Voss put the Dockers 17 points up in time-on, he set off on what was expected as a lap of the entire perimeter of the MCG.
Fremantle had their chances to win this grand final.
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The story of this grand final was the….
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The article, shortened and in plain language
The question of how the Dockers blew their shot at glory will haunt them for years, but the story of this grand final was the magnificence of the Lions.
You ring your bell and you hoist your flag, you better make sure the game’s in the bag. You run into an open goal and you have a shot from centimetres out, you better make sure you kick it. Don’t get sucked into any narrative that Fremantle pissed this premiership away.
Brisbane won it on their merits.
The final quarter will be remembered for a flurry of moments – moments of madness, brilliance, Swiss precision, confusion.
We can’t tiptoe around it, or downplay it, or dismiss it altogether. When Patrick Voss put the Dockers 17 points up in time-on, he set off on what was expected as a lap of the entire perimeter of the MCG. No one knows whose finger hovers over the activation button.
Everything that makes the Lions a champion team was evident in those final few minutes. If you want to learn how to cooly exit a stoppage with bodies flailing all around you, study Ashcroft’s final quarter. If you want to know what motivates this team, and how not to press their buttons, listen to what the Lions’ players said after the game.
Fremantle had their chances to win this grand final.
At one stage he took off from half back like Byron Pickett in the 2004 decider – bouncing, weaving, cutting the Lions to ribbons. Dayne Zorko was at his best.
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The Guardian Australia (Sport)When it mattered most in the AFL grand final Brisbane were at their imperious best | Jonathan Hornplain
SBS News2026 AFL Grand Final: When is it, who's playing and how to watchplain
SBS NewsBrisbane lions win AFL Grand Final in nail-biting finish against Fremantle Dockersplain
The AgeAFL Grand Final 2026plain
The AgeAFL grand final 2026plain
How each outlet filed it
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