Brisbane in box seat for million-dollar McClelland Trophy prize
The sweeping changes to criteria for a lucrative AFL award could ironically cost the club which would have benefited most in recent years.
Brisbane is in the box seat to finally claim the $1m McClelland Trophy prize but will face a challenge from fierce rival Hawthorn in the AFLW finals series.
The Lions hold a four-point lead in the AFL’s revamped club championship award but must advance further than Hawthorn or reach the preliminary finals to be guaranteed a long-awaited trophy.
Despite reaching six consecutive men’s and women’s grand finals since the end of 2022, the Lions have been denied the McClelland Trophy in both years since it was changed to combine both the AFL and AFLW competitions.
With the points system confined to performances in the home and away season, Melbourne won in 2023 and Hawthorn in 2024 despite neither side advancing past the semi-finals in either competition in that year.
Under those rules, Brisbane would have already secured this year’s trophy, but the league announced changes to the award in March to include finals performance for the first time.
Hawthorn received 15 points for making the men’s preliminary final and could gain another 18 for a total score of 33 by winning its first AFLW flag this month.
Brisbane, which never won a men’s minor premiership during the three-peat years, could secure its first ever McClelland trophy by reaching the preliminary finals for an aggregate score of 34 points.
After scraping into the AFLW finals with a tense win over Fremantle, Adelaide could still claim the trophy with a form spike in November, but would need the Lions to make a straight-sets exit.
Half the $1m prize is distributed to the winning club, with the other half of the pot shared among the AFL and AFLW players for an approximate windfall of about $6,700.
Brisbane and Hawthorn have become fierce rivals but cannot meet until at least the preliminary finals after finishing third and fourth.
The Hawks will face undefeated reigning premier North Melbourne on Friday night at Ikon Park, while the Lions will travel to the same venue to meet Melbourne in their qualifying final on Sunday.
The fixture gave the Lions a seven-day break after coach Craig Starcevich criticised the decision to schedule their final home and away game of the season on a Sunday when the floating final round fixture was announced in October.
“We’re playing Sunday, which means we’re very likely to have a short turnaround into the first final, which is mind-blowing to be honest,” Starcevich said after round 11.
“That’s something that irritated me a couple of weeks ago when I saw the last round (fixture) come out. But we just deal with what we get given, and we’ve just won (against Melbourne) off the back of a six-day turnaround.”
The Demons made requests to the AFL to host their first final at Casey Fields, believing they could secure a better home ground advantage against Brisbane.
But the league rejected their approach to schedule three first-week finals at Ikon Park, which is where the Grand Final will be held on November 29 if a Melbourne club wins the hosting rights.
Originally published as Brisbane in box seat for million-dollar McClelland Trophy prize
