The Brisbane Lions have won a third consecutive AFL premiership, beating Fremantle by seven points in the Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday 26 September 2026, in front of a crowd of 100,023.
The Lions finished the match 14.12 (96) to Fremantle’s 12.17 (89). In AFL scoring, the first figure in a side’s line is its number of goals, worth six points each, and the second is its number of behinds, worth one point.
Logan Morris kicked the go-ahead goal with about a minute left, and he added the sealer in the dying seconds. The win extends a premiership run that began in 2024, and it came in a game the Lions had trailed inside the final five minutes.
The quarter scores, Fremantle first, were 3.4, 6.7, 10.12 and 12.17 to Brisbane’s 3.5, 6.7, 9.8 and 14.12, with the final line the one that went Brisbane’s way.
The Comeback From 17 Points Down
Scores were level at half-time, at 43-43, and Fremantle carried a 10-point lead into the last change. Inside the final five minutes the Dockers stretched the margin to 17 points, the day’s biggest lead, and that is where the game turned.
Brisbane’s reply produced the last four goals of the match. Charlie Cameron began the run, Bailey continued it, and Morris finished it with two, the second of them inside the final minute.
Fremantle had led deep into the last quarter, and those four goals decided the game. AFL.com.au called it “the most incredible comeback on the biggest stage”.
The Three-Peat in Context
The victory makes it three premierships in a row for Brisbane, in 2024, 2025 and 2026, and it completes the second three-peat in the club’s history, following the run from 2001 to 2003.
Brisbane is only the second club in VFL and AFL history to win two three-peats. Melbourne was the first, winning in 1939 to 1941 and again in 1955 to 1957.
The most recent back-to-back-to-back before this one was Hawthorn’s, from 2013 to 2015. The result gives coach Chris Fagan his third flag.
For the club, the run places this side alongside the team of 2001 to 2003 as the club’s second side to win three flags in a row.
Fremantle’s Side of It
Fremantle played in their first Grand Final since 2013, and the club remains without a premiership since it entered the league in 1995. The Dockers were level at half-time and led until the final minute, when the go-ahead goal went through.
The Dockers kicked 6.10 after half-time, and Josh Treacy missed from the goal square in the last quarter.
Captain Alex Pearce left the game in the third quarter with an Achilles injury that ended his match.
Lachie Neale was booed throughout, after his one-game striking ban was overturned on appeal.
The Honours and the Numbers
Shai Bolton, of Fremantle, won the Norm Smith Medal with 26 disposals. The medal is awarded to the best player on the ground in the Grand Final, and Bolton is the first winner from a losing side since Chris Judd in 2005.
Will Ashcroft had 31 disposals for Brisbane, 12 of them in the final quarter, and Josh Dunkley had 21 disposals and 12 tackles.
Kylie Minogue headlined the pre-game show. The Melbourne Cricket Club records the match as the most watched on record, averaging over 4.52 million viewers.
Fagan’s future is open, with AFL.com.au reporting that he is torn on coaching on.
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Sources: AFL.com.au, https://www.afl.com.au/news/1621721/; The Examiner (AAP), https://www.examiner.com.au/story/9357794/lions-overrun-dockers-to-seal-afl-flag-three-peat/; SEN, https://www.sen.com.au/news/2026/09/26/afl-2026-grand-final-celebrations-brisbane-lions-will-ashcroft-afterparty; MCC, https://www.mcc.org.au/news/2026/september/lions-secure-a-hat-trick-at-the-g
Photo: Totallynotarandomalt69, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Scenes outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground before the 2026 AFL Grand Final on 26 September 2026. The photograph does not show the match, its result or any person involved.
