Brisbane Lions seal AFL three-peat with stunning late Grand Final comeback
Brisbane Lions kicked four goals in the final four minutes to beat Fremantle 14.12 (96) to 12.17 (89) and complete a historic third straight AFL premiership at the MCG.
Brisbane Lions have completed a historic AFL three-peat, kicking four goals in the final four minutes to snatch a 14.12 (96) to 12.17 (89) Grand Final victory over Fremantle at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
The defending champions looked beaten when the Dockers hit the button on their “Wharfie Time” celebrations: Patrick Voss’s goal put Fremantle 17 points up with less than five minutes to play. Instead, Brisbane unleashed what observers called the most remarkable Grand Final comeback in history, even after losing their own momentum when captain Alex Pearce’s third-quarter Achilles injury failed to derail the Dockers.
Charlie Cameron and Zac Bailey struck within a minute of each other to slash the deficit, before Logan Morris took a contested mark in the final minute and kicked the go-ahead goal, then sealed it with a snap from 40 metres. Morris and Cameron combined for six goals for Brisbane.
Fremantle, contesting their first Grand Final since 2013 and chasing a maiden premiership, led 10.12 (72) to 9.8 (62) at three-quarter-time after scores were level at 43-43 at the long break. Fremantle’s Shai Bolton won the Norm Smith Medal — only the fifth player to win it in a losing side, and the first since Chris Judd in 2005.
It is Brisbane’s second three-peat after their 2001-03 dynasty, and their sixth VFL/AFL premiership, sealed before a crowd of 100,023. They are only the second side in 42 years to win a Grand Final trailing at three-quarter-time.
Sources
More on this topic: all Sport stories
