Brisbane Lions won their third straight AFL premiership, beating Fremantle Dockers by 7 points in the 2026 Grand Final at the MCG in Melbourne on Saturday, 26 September, after overturning a 17-point final-quarter deficit.
Brisbane finished 14.12 (96) to Fremantle's 12.17 (89) in front of a crowd of 100,023. It is the Lions' third straight flag, making them only the third club this century to complete a three-peat.
Fremantle led by 17 points late in the final term before Brisbane kicked the last four goals of the match to snatch the game away.
Goals to Charlie Cameron and Zac Bailey narrowed the margin in the closing minutes. Logan Morris then put the Lions in front with about a minute left on the clock, before kicking the sealer.
Fremantle's "Wharfie Time" bell was rung during the fightback, but it could not stop Brisbane this time.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said afterwards: "That's probably the most amazing three- or four-minute comeback I've ever seen."
"This group has become this team that seems to need to get themselves into a dire situation, before they can actually produce their best," he said.
Fremantle captain Alex Pearce suffered an achilles injury just after half-time and did not return to the field for the rest of the match.
Despite the loss, Fremantle's Shai Bolton won the Norm Smith Medal as the best player in the Grand Final. He is the first player from a losing team to win the medal in 21 years, since Chris Judd won it playing for West Coast in the 2005 Grand Final.
Bolton polled 10 votes from the selection panel. Brisbane's Dayne Zorko and Will Ashcroft tied for second with six votes each.
Bolton, a two-time premiership player with Richmond, finished with 26 disposals, the most of any Fremantle player on the ground. It was his first Grand Final for the Dockers.
He also had 10 contested possessions, nine score involvements, nine inside-50s, seven marks and five tackles.
He joins Nathan Buckley (Collingwood, 2002), Gary Ablett Sr (Geelong, 1989) and Maurice Rioli (Richmond, 1982) as Norm Smith medallists to have played in a losing Grand Final team.
Ashcroft had 12 disposals and four clearances in the final quarter as Brisbane surged home.
Asked about the club's run of success, Ashcroft told AFL.com.au: "Like that Bron [LeBron James] thing when he went to the Heat, just saying he's going to win eight or nine championships, something like that. We'll just keep daring to dream."