Fremantle will play Brisbane in the 2026 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, September 26, with the first bounce scheduled for 2.30pm AEST.
Brisbane's Lachie Neale, a dual Brownlow medallist, has been cleared to play after the AFL Appeal Board overturned a one-match suspension handed to him for a strike on Hawthorn's Jack Ginnivan.
The strike occurred during last week's preliminary final between Brisbane and Hawthorn, the match Brisbane won to book its place in the Grand Final. Ginnivan and Hawthorn will not be part of Saturday's match, having been eliminated by Brisbane at that stage of the finals series.
The AFL Tribunal heard the case this week and upheld the one-match penalty on Tuesday, a finding that would have ruled Neale out of Saturday's Grand Final.
The AFL Appeal Board reversed that finding on Thursday night. In its ruling, the board pointed specifically to Neale's record of 320 senior games without a prior suspension.
Neale was fined $10,000 in place of serving the suspension, a penalty that cleared him to line up for Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday.
The Grand Final will be the first time Fremantle and Brisbane have met in a final of any kind.
Fremantle are chasing their first premiership since the club joined the AFL in 1995, a wait of more than three decades for the Dockers. Brisbane are aiming for a third consecutive premiership, with Neale's inclusion meaning the Lions will take the field at full strength for the decider.
The case took most of the week to resolve. The Tribunal upheld Neale's one-match suspension on Tuesday, before the Appeal Board overturned it on Thursday night, two days out from the Grand Final at the MCG.
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir was asked afterwards about the timing of the ruling that cleared Neale to play for Brisbane in the Grand Final.
"I'm a bit cynical with these things," Longmuir said. "Sometimes I feel like that's the outcome that gets reached a little bit later than what I thought it would get reached."
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan offered a different reaction to the overturned suspension, saying Neale's availability for the Grand Final was "good for footy".
Brisbane have named an unchanged team for the Grand Final, with Neale retaining his place in the starting side that will take on Fremantle at the MCG in Melbourne on Saturday.
Fremantle have also named an unchanged team for the Grand Final, keeping faith with the same line-up that beat Sydney in last week's preliminary final to reach Saturday's decider at the MCG.
Both teams will run out at the MCG on Saturday, September 26, for the AFL's Grand Final, with the first bounce scheduled for 2.30pm AEST.