Sports

Hawks host Lions at MCG for a place in the Grand Final

Bridie MoloneyPublished 25m ago2 min readBased on 8 sources
Hawks host Lions at MCG for a place in the Grand Final
Photo by Abhishek050592 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Hawthorn and Brisbane met at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 19 for a place in the 2026 AFL Grand Final.

The clash was listed as the First Preliminary Final of the 2026 finals series. It was scheduled for Saturday, September 19 at 5:15pm AEST at the MCG, according to the league's fixture confirmation AFL.

A preliminary final is simple. Win and you play for the flag. Lose and your season is over. It sits at the sharp end of a long year, after the home-and-away rounds and into September's knockout finals.

Hawthorn chose stability. The club named an unchanged line-up for the preliminary final on September 18 Hawthorn FC. Forward Dylan Moore was named to play. No ins. No outs.

That call showed trust. Coaches rarely hold the team when a final looms unless form warrants it. Hawthorn decided its group was right.

Brisbane arrived with a fresh reminder of its best. The Lions beat Hawthorn 125 to 58 at the Gabba in Round 22, according to Hawthorn's match preview Hawthorn FC. The margin was 67 points. That game was in the home-and-away season. Finals are different.

September then added its own history. Hawthorn forward Jack Gunston kicked his 50th career finals goal during the September 19 match, according to the ABC News live blog. Finals goals only come under knockout pressure. Fifty puts a forward in rare company.

Brisbane countered with proven big-game class. Midfielder Will Ashcroft was a two-time Norm Smith medallist as of September 19, per the same blog. The Norm Smith Medal goes to the best player on the ground in the Grand Final. To hold two is exceptional.

Off the field, the day followed a familiar finals routine. Tickets for the MCG preliminary final were sold via Ticketek. Public Gates 1 and 3-5 opened at 3:15pm. Hawthorn had listed a Ticketek on-sale window of 10am to 2pm on Monday, September 14.

Coverage matched the stakes. AFL.com.au ran a live blog titled 'LIVE: Hawks host Lions for a place in Grand Final' AFL. The ABC also ran a live blog of the September 19 final. Both published on game day.

For fans, this means a clean test. Unchanged Hawks. In-form Lions. One Grand Final spot decided at the MCG.

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