Was Pies-Lions epic the grandest final of the century?

Gillon McLachlan cannot recall a better grand final or experience of a day at the footy than the 2023 finale, his last as AFL chief executive.

“That was as good a game of football, as good a day of live sport, as I’ve been to in my life,” McLachlan said on Sunday, the CEO including KISS’s show in his assessment.

Charlie Cameron attempts a spectacular mark over a pack.Credit: Paul Rovere

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd rated Saturday’s game the best grand final he had witnessed, a grading shared by Port Adelaide 300-gamer Kane Cornes, often a hard marker, when they discussed the grand final on Sunday.

It was evident at half-time that the Collingwood v Brisbane Lions grand final was a classic, following a first half that was replete with spectacular skill and dare, as the Pies and Lions took risks and executed either stunning solo efforts or fluent ball movement that penetrated the modern defensive grids.

Consider those highlights: Zac Bailey’s goals near the boundary, the second of which would be a rival for goal of the year if the award was still open. Charlie Cameron, subdued for much of the match, electrified the second term with his speed and finish.

For Collingwood, Bobby Hill took a hanger, then nailed a clever snap on his left foot. Jordan De Goey and Jack Crisp nailed long shots after the siren at the end of each quarter, the latter set up by Nick Daicos’ chess player’s field of vision and precise skill execution.

In a game of two distinctly different halves, it became much harder to score in the second. But if there were fewer pyrotechnics after half-time, the game was still gripping, requiring special efforts to score, such as when Collingwood’s super veteran Steele Sidebottom delivered the goal that would separate the teams from 55 metres following an ill-timed 50-metre penalty from Jarrod Berry.

Cameron’s effort to fleetingly regain the lead for the Lions with less than six minutes left, too, was special and would be folkloric had the Lions prevailed.

It’s also worth reprising the goal that regained the lead for the Magpies in that dramatic final six minutes, as a measure of what players managed in the furnace of finals and 29 degrees.

After Collingwood was warned for violating the six-six-six formation, Daicos grabbed the footy that fell from the centre square ruck contest, handballing immediately to his only peer afield in spatial awareness terms, Scott Pendlebury, who kicked across his body.

The footy fell high at centre half-forward, where the younger Daicos leapt and grabbed the high ball and handpassed from a height, virtually in one motion, to De Goey, who finished from just inside 50 metres, almost off one step.

Charlie Cameron of the Lions celebrates after scoring a goal.Credit: Eddie Jim

Each of these skills were accomplished under severe pressure. “It had a bit of everything,” said Tim Lane, who called the game on 3AW and has worked at dozens of grand finals. He felt that criticism of the preliminary final umpiring served the grand final well, since more free kicks (especially for high tackles) in the first half opened it up.

So, we saw a special game. But was 2023’s finale the best of the 21st century, as Lloyd and Cornes have asserted?

From my vantage in the press box, the grand final is clearly on the podium since the year 2000 (and probably earlier given there were few great grannies in the 1990s) and, on some levels, eclipsed even the storied 1989 epic.

Saturday’s game was superior to those West Coast-Sydney cliffhangers of 2005-2006 (“Leo Barry, you star” as Ten’s Stephen Quartermain called the final seconds of 2005) because there were many more highlights. It would rank ahead of the Collingwood-St Kilda draw and 2009’s epic – decided by Matthew Scarlett’s toe poke – between the hapless Saints and happy Cats.

The West Coast triumph of 2018 has claims, resolved by a stunning passage of play that ended with Dom Sheed’s nerveless finish from the boundary line. But – and Eagles fans might not agree – Saturday contained more twists and showcased more outright skill.

That leaves the 2012 classic, which was notable for the massive momentum shifts that saw Hawthorn surge, then Sydney, then Hawthorn and then finally the Swans flew home, on the back of a Nick Malceski sealer over his head. 2012’s grand final was a genuine four-act drama that the Hawks also blew due to their profligacy.

Jordan De Goey kicks a goal after the quarter-time siren.Credit: Paul Rovere

The Bulldogs’ incredible flag of 2016 is worthy of consideration – a superb game. The Doggies were a bigger story than Saturday’s, given the dimensions of the drought and the miraculous nature of their surge from seventh. But the game blew out late.

Recency bias is inevitable in such discussions.

It is difficult to split 2012 and 2023 for quality. The former had sharper momentum shifts, the latter had 10 lead changes and probably has the edge on individual brilliance.

If you consider the subplots and the leitmotifs of these grand finals, then 2016 would be hard to match – it also containing the jaw-dropping moment when Luke Beveridge handed his medal to grounded skipper Bob Murphy, triggering tears across the continent.

This grand final, though, had a rival in the post-game presentation – Craig McRae’s revelation that he had become the father of a baby girl, Maggie, at 7.45am that morning.

The Collingwood players had learnt this fact in the pre-game meeting. McRae had referred to the playing list as his 44 sons when he added that he now had another offspring. Initially, he called Maggie another son before correcting himself.

The players – about to play for the premiership – erupted with a joyous cheer.

Another subplot was, of course, the late-game umpiring controversy over that advantage call.

Granted, this game won’t necessarily be remembered so fondly by those with Lion hearts. But as combination of game and underlying drama, the 2023 grand final has not been bettered this century.

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.