Brisbane win a third straight AFL premiership in front of 100,023 at the MCG

MELBOURNE, Australia, 27 September 2026 - Brisbane won the 2026 Toyota AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday 26 September, beating Fremantle 14.12 (96) to 12.17 (89). The AFL reported a crowd of 100,023.

It is Brisbane's third premiership in a row. According to the AFL's match report, the result equals the club's three-peat of 2001 to 2003.

Fremantle led by 17 points after Patrick Voss kicked his third goal with under five minutes to play. Brisbane then kicked the last four goals of the match, one each to Charlie Cameron and Zac Bailey and two to Logan Morris, the second of them in the final seconds, the AFL reported.

Fremantle's Shai Bolton won the Norm Smith Medal, polling 10 votes, with 26 disposals, 10 contested possessions, seven marks and five tackles. The AFL reports that he is the fifth player to win the medal in a losing Grand Final and the first since Chris Judd in 2005. “I'm honoured to get the Norm Smith, but I'm gutted for our boys,” Bolton said.

Kylie Minogue headlined the pre-game entertainment. The AFL said 98,000 people were in the stadium an hour before the match began.

The Grand Final closed what the league describes as a record season: 7,772,015 attendances across the home-and-away season, the highest in VFL/AFL history, and a total season attendance of 8,528,279. AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon called the match “a fitting celebration of our game and a brilliant way to close a record-breaking season.”