Brisbane’s four-goal finish breaks Fremantle hearts and seals a three-peat

Brisbane won Saturday’s September 26 final 14.12 (96) to Fremantle’s 12.17 (89). In Australian rules scoring, that notation records goals and behinds before the total points. The final score is firm; the available match accounts do not establish who kicked each of Brisbane’s four closing goals or their precise order. The scale of the reversal needs no invented play-by-play. Fremantle was in front when time became scarce, and Brisbane found enough scoring in the remaining minutes to win.⁠3⁠8

One AFL match-report headline said Fremantle had won its first flag. It conflicts with the account beneath it, another AFL match headline and the recorded result: Brisbane won. It is a consequential error in a headline, not an unresolved result. Fremantle came agonisingly close, but it did not take the premiership.⁠22⁠3⁠25

The Lions’ current run covers the 2024, 2025 and 2026 premierships. They beat Geelong in last year’s Grand Final and Fremantle in this one. Three consecutive titles match Brisbane’s earlier streak from 2001 through 2003, although this is a different side in a different era. Chris Fagan has coached all three titles in the new run. That continuity makes Sunday’s question about his future more than a routine post-season inquiry: the person who led Brisbane through the three-peat has not said whether he will coach it in 2027.⁠38⁠32⁠13

Fagan said Brisbane had looked unlikely to win for much of Saturday’s match and described its decisive burst as the best five minutes he had seen in a Grand Final. The assessment fits what the late scoreline records, but it also gives Fremantle its due. This was not a title that felt inevitable while the contest was being played. Brisbane’s finish was extraordinary precisely because the Dockers had brought the club so close to its first premiership.⁠1⁠50

On Sunday, September 27, thousands of supporters gathered at Brunswick Street Oval in Melbourne for the Lions’ Victorian celebration. As Fagan came on stage, fans chanted “one more year.” Their wish is understandable: a coach who has just delivered three flags in succession offers a powerful argument for keeping the arrangement intact. But a crowd’s request is not a decision, and some supporters told ABC News Australia they would accept his choice if he left.⁠15⁠1

After his tenth season coaching Brisbane, Fagan has not announced whether he will return. No verified contract term or date for a decision settles the question for him. His words acknowledge something the celebration cannot answer: winning repeatedly does not make the work costless. Brisbane can savour Saturday without pretending that a fourth consecutive flag, or the coach who would pursue it, is already secured.⁠13⁠19

Levi Ashcroft was reported absent from the post-win gathering. A teammate suggested the young player might have become excited during the previous night’s celebrations, but that is not a confirmed reason for his absence. It is a small detail beside the result, yet a useful reminder not to turn a suggestion into an explanation. The established picture is simpler: Brisbane celebrated a completed three-peat in Melbourne, while Fremantle was left to reckon with just how late its chance slipped away.⁠12⁠1