It’ll be redemption for one, more utter heartbreak for the other as Sydney faces Brisbane in the 2024 AFL Grand Final.
For the first time in almost 30 years, the premiership decider pits the last two AFL runners-up against each other, desperate to make amends for past mistakes. And in the first Grand Final without a Victorian club for 18 years, someone will finally break through for the flag that’s been a long time coming.
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GRAND FINAL GUIDE: Everything you need to know about Sydney vs Brisbane
ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE: When Katy Perry will perform and drama behind song choices
ULTIMATE GAME PREVIEW: Each team’s strengths, weaknesses and key players
LONGEST KICK: Why iconic pre-Grand Final tradition won’t go ahead in 2024
CRYSTAL BALL: Experts tip the premier, margin, Norm Smith and first goalkicker
WHEN DOES THE GRAND FINAL START? And what happens if it’s a draw?
GRAND FINAL SPRINT: Two injury-prone stars enter race to find AFL’s fastest man
10.45AM — ‘DON’T WANT IT LEAKING IN GF WEEK’: DANIHER’S $1M CALL IS ‘REAL’
Triple premiership Tiger Jack Riewoldt says he’d be surprised if Joe Daniher retired if the Lions claimed the 2024 flag.
A bombshell report on Friday night sent shockwaves through the footy industry, with 7 News Melbourne reporting Daniher take stock of his professional career after the Lions’ Grand Final against the Sydney Swans.
Herald Sun reported Jon Ralph on Saturday morning declared the Daniher story was “real” and “not media speculation”, adding: “If Brisbane was to win this premiership, he’d be much more likely to call it quits.”
The Lions told Ralph that Daniher was indeed “considering the shape of his life after football with his family”, but stressed he was contracted until the end of 2025 and remained hopeful he’d play on.
“He’s due $1 million … but he’s never been defined by football, he’s certainly never been defined by money,” Ralph said.
Speaking on Fox Footy on Saturday, Riewoldt said the fact Daniher was mulling his future wasn’t surprising in terms of his reclusive nature. But the three-time premiership player suggested a Lions flag might only entice Daniher to play on.
“It doesn’t surprise me in terms of hearing what Joe Daniher’s character is about. He lives in Byron Bay and in the shadows a little bit and stays away (from the limelight). But you just wouldn’t want it leaking Grand Final week,” Riewoldt said.
“If the Lions win today and you get a taste of success, there is no way you’re retiring once you’ve gone to the top of the mountain because you just get this taste of what it’s like.
“The Lions aren’t going to be falling off the cliff any time soon, they’ve got a superstar team in all aspects of what they’re about. Once you win one, your mind goes straight to winning two.”
6AM – SWANS V LIONS PREVIEW
At the Swans (finished 1st, won QF vs GWS, won PF vs Port Adelaide), it’s about turning a minor premiership into a flag, as the last three teams to finish on top of the ladder did.
But it’s also about avoiding a growing Grand Final hoodoo. John Longmire became a premiership coach in his second season of 2012, but has lost all three Grand Finals since; two of them seeing his Swans be utterly uncompetitive.
The ghosts of 2022’s capitulation against Geelong will be fresh in the memory, with over half of Sydney’s 2024 Grand Final side playing in that loss. They cannot allow themselves to be haunted.
For the Lions (finished 5th, won EF vs Carlton, won SF vs GWS, won PF vs Geelong), it’s a unique tale of living up to expectations – but doing it the hard way.
Chris Fagan’s Brisbane has been the dominant team of this decade but does not have the premiership to prove it. Despite winning so many home and away games, this is only their second Grand Final appearance in this era of success.
The brutally narrow 2023 loss to Collingwood was not the reason for 2024’s slow start – a rash of ACL ruptures deserves more credit – but it didn’t exactly help, either. Still Fagan spearheaded a second-half surge (and was named Coach of the Year for it), recovering what looked like a lost campaign.
‘The whole squad should get medals’ | 00:34
Going undersold amid the Lions’ run to a second consecutive Grand Final is the fact they’re trying to become the second team this century to win the flag from outside the top four.
The last, 2016’s Western Bulldogs, also finished their fairytale run by beating a Sydney side that finished on top of the ladder.
This is the first time these clubs have met in an AFL Grand Final, though in previous guises, they met in the 1899 VFL Grand Final – when Fitzroy beat South Melbourne by a point.
Sydney is seeking its sixth V/AFL premiership, and third since relocating to New South Wales, joining the 2005 and 2012 triumphs.
Brisbane is seeking its fourth V/AFL premiership since the merger of the Bears and Fitzroy, adding to their 2001, 2002 and 2003 crowns.
The 2024 AFL Grand Final gets underway at 2:30pm AEST from the MCG.
GRAND FINAL TEAMS
Sydney Swans
B: D.Rampe – C, T.McCartin, N.Blakey
HB: J.Lloyd, H.Cunningham, L.Melican
C: J.Jordan, Ch. Warner, O.Florent
HF: L.Parker, L.McDonald, E.Gulden
F: T.Papley, J.Amartey, W.Hayward
FOLL: B.Grundy, I.Heeney, J.Rowbottom
I/C: M.Roberts, B.Campbell, J.McInerney, H.McLean, R.Fox
EMG: A.Francis, P.Ladhams, C.Cleary
No changes
Coach: John Longmire
Brisbane Lions
B: D.Zorko, H.Andrews, C.McKenna
HB: D.Wilmot, J.Payne, R.Lester
C: J.Fletcher, W.Ashcroft, H.McCluggage
HF: C.Rayner, J.Daniher, J.Berry
F: C.Cameron, E.Hipwood, Z.Bailey
FOLL: D. Fort, J.Dunkley, L.Neale – C
I/C: K.Lohmann, C.Ah Chee, L.Morris, B.Starcevich, N.Answerth
EMG: H.Sharp, H.Smith, D.Joyce
IN: D.Fort – OUT: O.McInerney (shoulder)
Coach: Chris Fagan
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