2024 AFL Grand Final

The 2024 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match that was contested between the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, 28 September 2024. It was the 129th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL), staged to determine the premiers of the 2024 AFL season. The match was attended by 100,013 spectators, a record for an AFL match between two non-Victorian teams. Brisbane won by a margin of 60 points, marking the club's fourth AFL premiership and their first since 2003. Will Ashcroft of the Lions was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.

Background

Sydney came into the 2024 season after a six-point 2023 elimination final loss to Carlton. They dominated the start of the season, at one stage having a win–loss record of 13–1. Although becoming somewhat less dominant in the second half of the year (which included a 112-point loss to Port Adelaide in round 21), they ultimately finished on top of the ladder with a 17–6 win–loss record to claim the minor premiership. They defeated Greater Western Sydney by six points in the first qualifying final to progress to a preliminary final in which they defeated Port Adelaide by 36 points. Sydney's last grand final appearance was the 2022 AFL Grand Final, which they lost to Geelong by 81 points.

Brisbane came into the 2024 season after losing the 2023 Grand Final to Collingwood by four points. They struggled early, sitting with a win–loss record of 2–5 after seven games, before a strong second half to the year which saw them qualify for the finals with a 14–8–1 record, finishing fifth on the ladder. They beat Carlton by 28 points in the first elimination final to advance to the semi-finals, in which they came back from a 44-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat Greater Western Sydney by five points. In their preliminary final, they came back from a 25-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat Geelong by 10 points to advance to the grand final.

Sydney was aiming to win its sixth premiership, and its first since 2012, having lost its last three grand finals in 2014, 2016 and 2022. Brisbane was aiming to win its fourth premiership, and its first since winning three in a row in 2001, 2002 and 2003. It was the first grand final meeting between Sydney and Brisbane, though South Melbourne (who relocated to Sydney in 1982) and Fitzroy (who merged its AFL operations with the Brisbane Bears in 1996 to become the Brisbane Lions) did meet in the 1899 VFL grand final, which saw the latter prevail by one point. It was the first grand final since 2006 in which both teams competing were from outside of Victoria, and the first ever between two teams from states traditionally dominated by rugby league.

The two sides met once in the 2024 home-and-away season in which Brisbane 11.13 (79) defeated Sydney 11.11 (77) during round 19 at the Gabba. Sydney was the favourite among bookmakers, with odds of $1.73 for the win against Brisbane's $2.10.

The 2024 grand final was the first in which the Ron Barassi Medal was awarded. The award, named in honour of ten-time premiership player and coach Ron Barassi, Jr who had died in September 2023, was henceforth awarded to the captain or co-captains of the winning team.

Entertainment

At approximately 1:40pm, US pop star Katy Perry performed a 17-minute set on-stage as the pre-game entertainment, singing a medley of "Roar", "Dark Horse", "Gorgeous", "California Gurls", " Teenage Dream", "I Kissed a Girl" (with Tina Arena), "Chains" (with Tina Arena), " Lifetimes", and "Firework". The pre-game entertainment was supported by 4× ARIA Award winner Christine Anu with her daughter Zipporah Corser-Anu for the First Nations Ceremony alongside the Songlines Youth Choir, and singer Mike Brady performed "Up There Cazaly". The national anthem was performed by Australian singer, actor and athlete Cody Simpson. The performance was greeted with a positive reception.

''All times are in Australian Eastern Standard Time (GMT +10)''

Match summary

First quarter

Sydney opened the game slightly stronger than Brisbane. No goals were scored by either team in the first ten minutes, until Will Hayward kicked the first for Sydney, and a Tom Papley goal followed soon after. Brisbane then kicked two quick goals, both from Kai Lohmann in the 16th and 17th minutes, to take a lead they did not relinquish for the remainder of the match. At this point, Sydney had enjoyed a territory advantage with nine inside-50s to five, but Brisbane had marked and converted more effectively in their forward line.

Three more goals followed, with Hugh McCluggage kicking a goal for the Lions in the 24th minute followed by goals from Sydney's James Rowbottom and Brisbane's Charlie Cameron in the final four minutes of the quarter.

Brisbane 4.3 (27) led Sydney 3.1 (19) by eight points at quarter time. Although scores were close, Brisbane had more control of general play, and had missed several very gettable shots at goal. Sydney was unable to stop Brisbane's short-passing ball movement game, with Sydney having less than 35% time in possession and Brisbane dominating the uncontested marks and handball receives statistics. Hugh McCluggage, with nine disposals and a goal, was the best on ground for the quarter; and forward Callum Ah Chee, although he had not scored, had been involved in setting up most of Brisbane's scoring chances.

Second quarter

Through the first ten minutes of the second quarter, both teams scored one goal: Lohmann kicked his third goal in the 6th minute, and Robbie Fox kicked a goal from a 50m penalty in the 8th minute.

From that point onwards, Brisbane took control of the quarter. Over the next five minutes, Brisbane kicked four behinds from gettable shots, before a run of six goals in only fifteen minutes: Joe Daniher kicked the first from a 30m set shot in the 16th minute; Daniher then set up the second, cleanly winning the subsequent centre bounce and kicking straight to Callum Ah Chee 40m from goal, who converted the set shot; Jarrod Berry kicked the third in the 22nd minute, after intercepting a hurried rebound and converting a 45m set shot; Eric Hipwood, kicked the fourth in the 24th minute with a banana kick from the forward pocket boundary line, after which he mimicked a memorable celebration which former Lion Jason Akermanis had done after kicking a similar goal in 2005; Ah Chee kicked the fifth in the 26th minute from a mark 15m from goal; and Logan Morris kicked the sixth in the 29th minute from a mark 20m from goal. Sydney at one stage went ten minutes without an inside-50, and at half time, Brisbane 11.7 (73) led Sydney 4.3 (27) by a commanding 46 points.

Through the twenty-minute purple patch to end the quarter, Brisbane dominated all statistical indicators, including: disposals 55–26; contested possessions 17–8; inside-50s 13–3; and clearances 7–2. Will Ashcroft had six disposals during this period through the midfield, while many of Sydney's midfield leaders had none.

Third quarter

Callum Ah Chee kicked a goal in the 9th minute to increase the Lions' lead, before an Isaac Heeney goal for the Swans in the 13th minute broke a sequence of seven consecutive Brisbane goals. Brisbane then continued to dominate for the rest of the quarter, with four more goals for Brisbane from Will Ashcroft, Cameron Rayner and Ah Chee, extending the three-quarter time margin to an unassailable 73 points.

Final quarter

With Brisbane's premiership victory assured, the final quarter was played at a more leisurely pace. The Swans kicked four consolation goals, three coming from veteran midfielder Luke Parker in his last game for Sydney, and the other coming from Chad Warner. Brisbane kicked two final quarter goals: Lohmann at the 17th minute, and Daniher, in the final game before his retirement, in the 27th minute. The final margin was 60 points, Brisbane 18.12 (120) defeating Sydney 9.6 (60).

Overall

Brisbane dominated several key statistical indicators, including disposals (385–305) and tackles (64–45). Playing under its typical style of methodical ball movement and short passing, Brisbane outmarked Sydney 158–88 and was able to control the uncontested game and prevent Sydney from scoring heavily from turnover – an area where Sydney was strongest in the league throughout the year. Although inside-50s were relatively even (Brisbane led 51–49), Brisbane's quality of entries was significantly higher, and Brisbane dominated the marks inside-50 statistic 22–9 across the whole game, after leading 14–2 in the decisive first half.

Norm Smith Medal

midfielder Will Ashcroft won the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground, scoring 14 out of a maximum 15 votes for his performance which included 30 disposals, 11 score involvements, and one goal. The son of triple premiership winning Brisbane player Marcus Ashcroft, Ashcroft was in only his second season and had missed the first half of the season recovering from an ACL injury; at 20 years old, he was the youngest Norm Smith Medallist since inaugural winner Wayne Harmes () in 1979.

Midfielder Lachie Neale finished second with 35 disposals, including 18 contested, at 86% efficiency, and nine clearances. Forwards Callum Ah Chee (four goals, eleven score involvements) and Kai Lohmann (four goals, one goal assist) finished third and fourth respectively.

Other Brisbane players considered among the best were forward and back-up ruck Joe Daniher (two goals, four behinds), midfielders Hugh McCluggage (21 disposals, including nine in the first quarter) and Jarrod Berry (20 disposals), tagger Josh Dunkley (nullified star midfielder Isaac Heeney), and rebounding defenders Brandon Starcevich (six rebounds and nullified Tom Papley), Dayne Zorko (nine rebounds, seven intercepts) and Noah Answerth (four rebounds).

Few Sydney players were considered to have played good games, and only midfielders James Rowbottom (18 disposals, one goal) and Robbie Fox (21 disposals, one goal) received a grade higher than 7/10 when their performances were assessed by three major sportswriters.

Medal and cup presenters

2018 premiership player and former West Coast Eagles forward Josh Kennedy was the AFL premiership cup ambassador; he delivered the cup to Brisbane's premiership cup ambassador, Leigh Matthews, who coached the club to its three-peat from 2001 to 2003. Sydney had nominated a former club captain and 200-game player with the Swans, Stuart Maxfield. Four-time premiership coach David Parkin presented the Jock McHale Medal; the Norm Smith Medal was presented by three-time Geelong premiership player and 2007 winner Steve Johnson; and 1963 Geelong premiership captain Fred Wooller presented the inaugural Ron Barassi Medal.

Teams

The teams were announced on Thursday, 26 September. Sydney made no changes to its preliminary final 23. Forward Logan McDonald was declared fit despite an ankle injury suffered in the preliminary final, although with just one first half kick before being substituted off with a recurrence of the injury, Sydney was ultimately criticised for selecting him. Sydney was also missing captain Callum Mills, who passed a fitness test but had been out of the team since a hamstring injury suffered at training in early September; Dane Rampe captained the team in his absence. Brisbane made one change to its preliminary final 23: ruckman Oscar McInerney was ruled out after twice dislocating his shoulder in the preliminary final, and he was replaced by journeyman ruckman Darcy Fort, playing only his third game of the season.

At age 63, Brisbane coach Chris Fagan became the oldest coach to win a grand final and, having played his entire senior career in the Tasmanian leagues, he became the first premiership coach never to have played a match in the VFL/AFL or (when it was the top Victorian league prior to 1897) VFA.

Umpires

The umpiring panel, comprising four field umpires, four boundary umpires, two goal umpires and an emergency in each position, was announced on Wednesday, 25 September.

''Numbers in brackets represent the number of grand finals umpired, including 2024.''

Scoreboard

Media coverage

Television

Seven's coverage, simulcast on streaming service 7+, began at 9 am AEST with the Grand Final Brunch, hosted by Rebecca Maddern, followed by the Grand Final Countdown from 10:30 am with Luke Darcy. Pre-match coverage began from 12 pm with Hamish McLachlan and Bruce McAvaney hosting. The match was commentated by James Brayshaw, Brian Taylor, Luke Hodge, Matthew Richardson, Abbey Holmes and Dale Thomas. This was the final match before the new AFL television broadcast deal begins, allowing all matches on the network to be streamed via 7+.

Fox Footy's coverage, simulcast on Kayo Sports, began at 9 am with the annual North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast from the Plenary Hall at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Fox Footy televised its own Grand Final Day coverage from the AFL Fan Festival in Yarra Park with their own talent, which, for the first time since 2020, did not include the annual Fox Footy Longest Kick due to a revitalisation project at Birrarung Marr on the banks of the Yarra River. Due to Seven's exclusive rights to the live broadcast, Fox Footy's coverage went dormant during the game, instead showing a full replay of Seven's match coverage broadcast at 6 pm AEST.

Radio

Notes

References

External links

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{{Australian Football League

Grand Final
AFL season
Sydney Swans
Brisbane Lions
AFL Grand Final 2024
VFL/AFL Grand Finals
AFL Grand Final