Brisbane’s gamble on Lachie Neale’s fitness pays off with a team-lifting goal, a brave Jeremy Cameron has a painful day out, and Charlie Cameron’s goals provide a Country Road soundtrack at the MCG.
Here are the quick hits from the Brisbane Lions’ victory over the Geelong Cats in the 2025 AFL grand final.
1. Cats’ tagger Mullin kicks second career goal
Irish AFL convert Oisin Mullin turned defence into attack, kicking only the second goal of his career in the grand final. (AAP: Joel Carrett)
When it’s a tight, tough grand final early on, you know that goals will be at a premium.
But it’s fair to say that no one would have had a goal from Oisin Mullin on their bingo card.
The man from Mayo has made his name as a tagger, shutting down some of the AFL’s most dangerous attackers. But on grand final day, he got involved on the other side of the ball.
The Cats grabbed a turnover, with Brad Close feeding Ollie Dempsey who set Mullin on his way. The Irishman showed a clean pair of heels — and a slightly less clean kick off the boot, which nevertheless went through for a goal.
There was no Tadhg Kennelly-style jig in celebration, just some airplane arms from the Irishman — but considering it was only his second-ever AFL goal, he was entitled to enjoy it.
2. Country Road rings out after Charlie’s magic snap
Charlie Cameron (left) brought the Brisbane part of the MCG to its feet with his brilliant snap from the pocket in the second quarter. (Getty Images: AFL Photos/Michael Willson)
Charlie Cameron has had a quiet season — and finals series — and Brisbane fans would have been hoping the Lions’ dynamo could get back to his best on the big stage.
Their prayers were answered in the second term, when the ball went deep inside 50 for Brisbane, and Cameron popped up to grab the pill.
There was still plenty of work to do, as he wheeled around and went close to the boundary before snapping an absolute beauty from a difficult angle. The ball went through, prompting huge roars from the Lions fans.
The other element introduced for this grand final was some goal songs, and for Cameron’s effort? No surprises, it was Country Road by John Denver echoing around the MCG.
The stadium turned into the Gabba on the Yarra for a while, as Lions fans roared out a chorus or two — in fact, they were still going by the time they bounced the ball for the restart.
3. Cat-astrophe as Cameron in the wars
Jeremy Cameron’s inspirational one-handed tackle on Jaspa Fletcher led directly to a Geelong goal but sent him off the field. (Getty Images: Michael Willson/AFL Photos)
Grand finals are not places for the faint-hearted, and the chances of getting spiflicated in a contest are high. It’s not great if it happens in a contest with your teammate.
Geelong hearts would have been beating a lot faster in the second quarter when Patrick Dangerfield and Jeremy Cameron went for the same ball and collided. It looked a lot worse when Cameron got up grimacing and holding his right arm.
The Geelong spearhead was struggling to make an impact after that, and he looked in strife going off at half-time.
He was back on for the third term, but then came one of the moments of the grand final. Cameron chased down Jaspa Fletcher and delivered a one-handed tackle, grabbing Fletcher by the scruff and bringing him to ground.
The Cats went down the other end and scored a goal, but Cameron was left in agony, clutching his shoulder and arm.
He went off but came back once more after even more treatment. But he was clearly under duress and was unable to turn things around for his team.
4. Lachie Neale gamble pays off for the Lions
[
The Lions put Lachie Neale in at half-time as the sub, but the Brisbane star put aside worries about his fitness to kick a team-lifting goal in the third quarter. (Getty Images: AFL Photos/Adam Trafford)
The Lions were rolling the dice every way you looked. The banged-up side that took care of the Magpies in the prelim was counting the cost, as Jarrod Berry was out, Kai Lohmann was iffy, and Josh Dunkley spent half his week in a moon boot.
But the big gamble was for the team’s co-captain, Lachie Neale. A calf tear in the qualifying final seemed to rule him out, but a monster trial last Saturday gave the hint he was right there. He trained on Tuesday, was named on Thursday, and despite some fans watching through their fingers, he played on Saturday.
His selection as the sub did not inspire confidence, but he came in at half-time in place of Sam Marschall. The Lions star looked proppy in the early stages, and the question of whether it was a bad call to have Neale on was a live one.
But then in a “you couldn’t have scripted this” moment, the Lions forced another turnover, and it was like old times, with Dayne Zorko feeding a handball to Neale, who ran to 50 and unloaded a kick that split the sticks.
As the Lions fans erupted, so did Neale, who stood there and roared as he was surrounded by Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley for a group hug.
Brisbane led by 19 points at the final change, and the Lions were on their way.
5. Rampant Lions win fifth flag of the 21st century
It was celebration time again for the Lions at the MCG as they went back-to-back as premiers. (Getty Images: AFL Photos/Michael Willson)
Regardless of who won this grand final, there was a history of a kind to be made.
The Cats and Lions came into this decider with four premierships each in the 21st century — but after such a late September showdown, only one team could make it five.
In the end, it was Brisbane who got the win, as the Lions kicked — wait for it — nine goals to five in the final quarter, as the Lions fans gathered at the MCG were in heaven. The margin blew out beyond 60 points at one point, before Geelong kicked a few in time-on to make the score slightly less one-sided.
The Lions became the 17th team in 100 years to win back-to-back flags, cementing the team’s reputation and the place of coach Chris Fagan.
For the Cats, this was a devastating loss. Coming in as favourites, they had the early advantage but could not have foreseen the way they were overrun.
For the Lions, it couldn’t get much better than this — except to do it again next year and emulate the early 2000s team that won three in a row.
6. Will Ashcroft takes Norm home — again
There were plenty of names from the Lions who could have had their name on the Norm Smith Medal after such a big win.
Harris Andrews was enormous in the backline, Hugh McCluggage had four goals to go with his 26 disposals, Zac Bailey overcame a wobbly start to kick 3.6, and Charlie Cameron’s four-star — and four-goal — performance could well have seen him called to the podium.
But in the end, it was deja vu for the Lions, as Will Ashcroft took the medal for the second year running.
The Brisbane number eight was everywhere in the later stages of the game, racking up 32 disposals, eight tackles, 10 clearances, a goal, three goal assists and 10 score involvements in all.
The win makes him only the third player to win back-to-back Norm Smiths, and only one away from matching Dustin Martin, who won three in four years for the Tigers.
At just 21 years of age, you certainly wouldn’t put it past him.
