Australian Rules-Brisbane deny Fremantle in Grand Final thriller to win third straight AFL premiership

The Brisbane Lions clawed their way to a third successive Australian Football League premiership on Saturday, overcoming the Fremantle Dockers by seven points in a Grand Final ‌thriller before a crowd of 100,023 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Key forwards Logan Morris and Charlie Cameron combined for six goals to help the Lions to an audacious 14.12 (96) - 12.17 (89) come-from-behind victory and their second three-peat, emulating their 2001-03 dynasty. Brisbane nailed four goals in the final four minutes ‌to overhaul a 17-point deficit, with Morris ensuring the Lions edged ahead in the final 60 seconds, kicking truly after taking a ‌strong contested mark to give his side the lead and subsequently icing the game with a snap from 40 metres.

"My boys have got a stack of heart and know how to fight to the end... Now we've got three premierships in a row to show for it," Lions coach Chris Fagan said. In the first half, ladder-toppers Fremantle - ⁠contesting their ​first Grand Final since 2013 - were ⁠not overawed by the occasion and forced the back-to-back defending champions into over-possession and risky corridor play, although nothing separated the teams on the scoreboard with 43 apiece.

Command ⁠shifted to the Dockers during the third quarter, but a leg injury to captain Alex Pearce left a void in their back-line, which the Lions capitalised ​on with three straight majors to narrow Fremantle's lead to 10 points at the final break. "I thought we were in a ⁠bit of trouble, I’m not going to lie," Lions on-baller Will Ashcroft said, leading all comers with 31 disposals and three goal assists. "But it’s crazy, the swings of momentum ⁠in ​big games."

Late majors to forwards Michael Frederick and Patrick Voss (three goals) put the Dockers in the box seat, but they will be left to rue a shocking miss from the goal square by Josh Treacy which left the door ajar for a Lions resurgence. Cameron converted ⁠his third to get the ball rolling and a quick follow-up by midfielder Zac Bailey in the dying minutes set the stage for ⁠Morris to steer his side to ⁠their sixth title in the top-flight of Australian Rules football, denying Fremantle their first AFL premiership in the process.

“If there’s one thing I know about this group and this club, we won’t give up, ‌we’ll fight and we’ll ‌be back here again,” Pearce said.