What is the AFL Grand Final?
The match that decides the Australian Football League premiership, played on the last Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The first was contested in 1898 under the VFL, though the term came into general use around 1931, when the Page–McIntyre finals system made a deciding match structural rather than occasional.[1] [2]
| Season | Pool / Format | Host cities |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Brisbane Lions 122–75 Geelong — back-to-back | MCG · Norm Smith Medal: Will Ashcroft |
| 2024 | Brisbane Lions | MCG |
| 2023 | Collingwood | MCG |
| 2022 | Geelong | MCG |
| 2021 | Melbourne | Optus Stadium, Perth (COVID relocation) |
| 2026 | — scheduled | MCG, Saturday 26 September, 2:30pm AEST |
Recent premiers.
How do teams qualify?
The top eight teams on the home-and-away ladder enter a four-week finals series. Under the current McIntyre final-eight system the top four need to win two finals to reach the Grand Final — a qualifying-final win brings a week off and a home preliminary final — while teams seeded fifth to eighth must win three straight, through elimination final, semi-final and preliminary final. There are no wildcards.[1] [3]
Why does it matter?
Because it is the single largest day in Australian sport, played before a capacity MCG crowd on a public holiday in Victoria, with the Norm Smith Medal awarded to the best player on the ground. The AFL has locked the 2:30pm AEST start through 2027, and the MCG holds hosting rights to 2059. Brisbane's 122–75 win over Geelong in 2025 was back-to-back and the club's fifth flag.[2] [4]
References
- AFL — official site. Accessed August 2026.
- AFL — Brisbane Lions seal back-to-back flags in the 2025 Grand Final. Accessed August 2026.
- AFL — finals series format. Accessed August 2026.
- AFL — Grand Final start time locked for the next two years. Accessed August 2026.