AFL grand final 2024
In the lead-up to the AFL season decider, catch up on the best of our coverage from the past week.
Analysis
‘He will have a bit of a point to prove’: This Saturday, the time is right for Brodie Grundy to deliver
The timing was right for Sydney to secure Grundy, and the timing has been right for Grundy, who not only finds himself at a club that wants his style, but faces an opposition that has lost its first-choice ruck.
- by Michael Gleeson
‘The first time I’d seen tatts’: Swans and Royboys of old return to fly the flag
As Sydney and the Brisbane Lions face off in the grand final, South Melbourne and Fitzroy will be out there with them, too.
- by Greg Baum
The 12 players most under the pump in the 2024 AFL grand final
The ghosts of grand finals past will occupy the minds of several Lions and Swans this week desperate for a do-over. Certain players will have more pressure on them than most.
- by Marc McGowan
‘White-line fever’: Once a plumber, Papley is now the Swans’ chief pest
Toby Greene and Willie Rioli know all about the Sydney small forward, who talks a big game and backs it up. His third AFL grand final could yet be his biggest moment.
- by Emma Kemp
Swans skipper Callum Mills ruled out of grand final
The Sydney captain did everything asked of him at Wednesday’s closed training session at the SCG, but the club announced in the afternoon that Mills would not play in the season decider.
- by Vince Rugari and Andrew Wu
Payne relief: The moment that set up Lions’ redemption mission
Few men have endured Jack Payne’s ill-fortune in finals football, but his heartbreak is behind him after a season-altering tackle.
- by Nick Wright
Capper’s call: Wiz can’t bear to see Swans lose another grand final
Warwick Capper’s flamboyant style was a winner in Sydney before an ill-fated but financially lucrative move to Brisbane. But there’s one club closer to his heart for Saturday’s decider.
- by Jon Pierik
Opinion
Premiership pickle: Why all the winning club’s players – not just the 23 – should get a medal
After the grand final, all the winning club’s players should be given a medal as acknowledgement for what great teams are – a collective. A gang. One.
- by Bob Murphy
We love you ’cause you’re Victorian: Why you might have a connection to this year’s grand finalists
This grand final will be the first without a Victorian club for almost 20 years, but there will be plenty of players on the field who come from Victorian schools and junior clubs.
- by Marc McGowan
Grand final teams: Fort’s big chance after McInerney’s blow; Age experts make their tips
Our tipsters give their expert predictions for the grand final and explain their picks. There are no surprises at the selection table with Brisbane back-up ruckman Darcy Fort coming in for Oscar McInerney.
AFL grand final could be the highest rating of all time: Dillon hits back at V’landys
With contestants from Queensland and NSW, and the traditional AFL states all watching, this could be the most-watched grand final ever.
- by Adam Pengilly and Hannah Hammoud
What makes big Joe Daniher tick? The real life of football’s biggest character
Joe Daniher is a brilliant footballer who thrills crowds in big games and then retreats to a quiet life as a father-of-two in a sleepy beachside hamlet.
- by Peter Ryan
‘No one cares about your story’: Dane Rampe on the harshness of grand final day
The AFL’s official slogan for this grand final is: “2 stories. 1 ending.” Try selling that to players who didn’t get the ending they wanted.
- by Vince Rugari
‘A hard pill to swallow’: The 33 players who have been in a grand final – and lost
There will be more than 30 players at the MCG on Saturday who have played in grand final losses – a scenario that is almost without parallel in a heavily equalised competition.
- by Jake Niall
How Fitzroy greats have reconnected with the Brisbane Lions
It was not until he received a call out of the blue in 2019 that former Fitzroy captain Richard Osborne regained a sense of football belonging.
- by Andrew Wu
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/grand-final-preview-20240926-p5kdud.html