Brisbane Lions snatch last-gasp win to book AFL Grand Final spot against Fremantle

A preliminary final for the ages

In a preliminary final at the MCG, the Brisbane Lions defeated the Hawthorn Hawks 20.11 (131) to 19.8 (122) — a nine-point win — to secure a fourth consecutive AFL Grand Final berth. The match featured nine lead changes, four of them in the closing stages of the final quarter alone. Hawthorn trailed by as much as 27 points in the third quarter, according to afl.com.au, before staging a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback, briefly taking a three-point lead late in the game on the back of a six-goal performance from star Nick Watson.

The controversial call

The result hinged on a contentious holding-the-ball free kick against Hawthorn defender Jarman Impey in the dying seconds. Hugh McCluggage converted the resulting free kick to put Brisbane back in front with 18 seconds remaining. The Lions then won the following centre bounce, and Kai Lohmann — who finished with five goals for the match — added a goal after the siren to seal the win. Former umpire Ray Chamberlain said on air that the decision was correct, while some commentators called it one of the bravest umpiring calls they had seen. After the final siren, some Hawthorn supporters reacted angrily, throwing bottles and cans onto the ground at the departing umpires — behaviour condemned by Hawthorn great Hodge. As reported by afl.com.au, the crowd of 97,835 also witnessed an early flashpoint when Brisbane captain Lachie Neale was flattened in a contest with Hawthorn co-captain Jai Newcombe, an incident that may draw scrutiny from the match review officer.

Grand Final awaits

Brisbane are now chasing a premiership three-peat, which would make them only the third club this century to achieve the feat, after Brisbane itself in 2001–02 and Hawthorn in 2013–15. They will meet Fremantle in the Grand Final at the MCG on Saturday, 26 September, starting at 12:30pm WST — the first time the two clubs have met in a final. Fremantle reached the decider by beating the Sydney Swans on Friday night, led by forwards Jye Amiss and Patrick Voss (four goals each) and midfielder Shai Bolton, who had 21 disposals. The sides last met in round 12 of the regular season, when Fremantle won by 25 points at the Gabba.