Brisbane chase three in a row as Fremantle chase first flag

Brisbane will meet Fremantle in the 2026 Toyota AFL Grand Final at the MCG on Saturday, September 26.

The first bounce is set for 2.30pm AEST, according to the AFL, for the decider of the Australian Football League season — the championship game for Australia's national code of Australian rules football AFL.

The stakes are simple. Brisbane are chasing a third premiership in a row. Fremantle are chasing their first ever.

Brisbane's bid would add to five flags since the club's Brisbane-based reincarnation in 1997, The Guardian reports. The Lions have done the three-peat before, winning in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Another would put this group alongside that great side.

Fremantle have never won the premiership. Their only previous Grand Final ended in defeat to Hawthorn in 2013. Thirteen years on, the Dockers are back for a second chance.

Brisbane took the hard road here. The Lions lost their qualifying final — the first-week finals match that offers a second chance — to the Sydney Swans by 53 points. Then they trailed Hawthorn by as much as 22 points before half-time in the preliminary final, the semi-final that decides a Grand Final spot, before fighting back to win.

The two finalists have met once already this season, clashing in Round 12 of the home-and-away campaign AFL. Finals are different. The Grand Final is played at the MCG in front of about 100,000 people, and the winner takes the premiership cup. No second chances.

Back west, Fremantle is ready to party. The city is bracing for 40,000 fans to flood its streets and venues for the Dockers' showdown with Brisbane, ABC News reports. Expect purple everywhere. Fremantle's colour is hard to miss.

What makes this stand out is the contrast. Brisbane know exactly what Grand Final week feels like. Fremantle are walking into new territory, with a whole port city behind them. That is the whole story on Saturday. Experience against hunger.