AFL Grand Final 2024: Brisbane Lions romp to 60-point victory over Sydney Swans
Brisbane has surged to its first AFL premiership in 21 years, shattering records on the way to a 60-point triumph over a Sydney side which was left to lament another Grand Final flop.
Chris Fagan thought this Grand Final would be a clash of “equal dogs”, but it could not have looked any less like one.
From the depths of last year’s heartbreak and a floundering start to the season, Brisbane’s crescendo rose to a perfect high with a 60-point mauling of Sydney to deliver its finest flag of the AFL era.
It was game-over barely into the third term in a horribly familiar scene for the Swans and their faithful, as a seven-goal blitz sent the Lions into party mode.
RECAP THE DECIDER IN OUR BLOG BELOW
Joe Daniher was in the thick of the slaughter, and snapped home the final goal to finish with 2.4 what would be the most fitting of farewells should he decide his time as a footballer is up.
He fell over a ball on Brisbane’s goal line in the second term; inexplicably went down like a tree in the forest as he tried to collect a handball uncontested and snap from 20m out; and yet was still among the most influential players on the ground with brilliant follow-up work in the ruck against Brodie Grundy.
Along with inclusion Darcy Fort, Grundy was curtailed, and Lachie Neale and Will Ashcroft outworked and outclassed Sydney’s midfield stars.
Neale’s performance was a marvel. He smashed his opponents on the inside with his precise, often diving, handballs, but found acres of space on the wings and behind the ball to lead the charge early.
The Lions were wasteful in front of goal but were clearly first to settle into the game with cleaner ball use further up the field, and much of their calm could be credited to Ashcroft in only his 31st game.
His first 11 disposals came at 100 per cent efficiency, and he quashed any Sydney resistance midway through the third when he answered an Isaac Heeney goal with his own single-grab take and snap finish from a boundary throw-in.
Fagan pulled off a masterstroke by sending Callum Ah Chee (four goals) to Nick Blakey, and is now the oldest premiership coach in VFL-AFL history at 63.
SWANS’ DEJA VU
Fagan’s counterpart John Longmire might be left grappling with his future at the Swans after a fourth consecutive grand final defeat, and their third complete humiliation in a decade.
It did not decide the game, but Logan McDonald was clearly underdone and was subbed out with a single disposal to his name at halftime.
The Swans butchered the ball going inside 50 in the first half, but it’s Longmire who will need to answer why Neale was allowed roam unchecked in general play.
ERIC’S HIPS DON’T LIE
If it hadn’t sunk in yet for Brisbane fans that this was their day, the realisation surely washed over after the Lions’ most maligned player produced the crowning moment of the second term – with a Jason Akermanis-inspired goal celebration to boot.
Eric Hipwood found himself in an awkward position at the end of a chain of handballs in Brisbane’s forward pocket, and lost his footing as he baulked around Dane Rampe.
The enigmatic key forward had turned the wrong way, and found himself cornered on his non-preferred side against the boundary.
The most unlikely result followed – Hipwood opened up his left hip slightly and attempted a drop punt off his left towards goal – and it sailed straight through.
HUGH PULLS THE TRIGGER
Brisbane was 11 points down in the opening term and in desperate need of a settler after easy misses by Cameron and Daniher.
Hugh McCluggage found the footy at halfback, looked both ways, and then went straight up the corridor with a perfectly weighted pass to Ryan Lester, who had pushed goalside of Justin McInerney.
Lester hit Ah Chee on the lead, and Daniher waved furiously to point out an open Lohmann only 20m out from goal – the passage brought in the small forward, and settled the Lions’ nerves.
SCOREBOARD
SWANS 3.1, 4.3, 5.4, 9.6 (60)
LIONS 4.3, 11.7, 16.11, 18.12 (120)
BEST Swans: Rowbottom, Fox, Warner, Melican. Lions: Neale, Ashcroft, Ah Chee, Starcevich, McCluggage, Daniher, Zorko, Berry.
GOALS Swans: Parker 3, Hayward, Papley, Rowbottom, Fox, Heeney, Warner. Lions: Ah Chee 4, Lohmann 4, Morris 2, Daniher 2, McCluggage, Cameron, Berry, Hipwood, Ashcroft, Rayner.
UMPIRES Fleer, Foot, Meredith, Stevic
INJURIES Swans: McDonald (ankle). Lions: nil.
CROWD 100,013 at the MCG
ED BOURKE’S BEST
3 Lachie Neale (BL)
One of the best games of his career, with perfect balance inside and outside the contest. What a champion player.
2 Will Ashcroft (BL)
Showed composure beyond his years, ran relentlessly, and kicked a brilliant stoppage goal to crush Sydney in the third quarter.
1 Callum Ah Chee (BL)
Played with killer instinct and was a force in the air and on the ground to cap off a phenomenal individual finals series.
Originally published as AFL Grand Final 2024: Brisbane Lions romp to 60-point victory over Sydney Swans
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