A preliminary final football match in Melbourne drew a crowd of 97,835 spectators and featured intense drama, high-scoring play (39 goals), and controversial moments that kept fans guessing until the last second. The Brisbane Lions secured their place for next Saturday's grand final against Fremantle with this victory over Hawthorn, despite several disputed calls in the closing minutes of the game, including a contentious free kick awarded to Dayne Zorko and a holding-the-ball penalty on Jarman Impey that ultimately decided the outcome.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Preliminary finals are often billed as the best games of the season.
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finals → bill → season
This one promised the world, and over-delivered.
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one → promise → world
For just under three hours on a balmy Melbourne September evening, a mammoth partisan crowd of 97,835 were treated to a game that had it all.
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that → treat → it
There were heroes on both sides and villains – the latter, at least to those with Hawk eyes, wore florescent green.
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latter → be → green
They saw speccies and goals, plenty of the latter – 39 to be precise.
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They → see → latter
Not since the fabled 1989 decider has both teams scored 120 points or more in a final.
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teams → score → final
Six goals came off the boot of Nick Watson, who must wait at least another 12 months to showcase his wizardry on the game’s grandest stage.
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who → come → stage
No goal was more contentious than the game’s penultimate, which broke Hawthorn hearts around the globe and left their coach Sam Mitchell frustrated and on the verge of tears.
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which → break → tears
Most importantly, football lovers were given a contest, a nerve-jangler with savage momentum swings that left them guessing until the final seconds as to which team would come back to this venue next Saturday to take on minor premiers Fremantle to lift the cup.
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team → give → cup
No wonder Lions coach Chris Fagan said he was “stuffed”.
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he → say → ?
His team is one win away from emulating the three-peat of Leigh Matthews’ Brisbane team of 2001-03.
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team → emulate → 2001
“That was an emotional roller coaster, that game,” Fagan said.
“I mean, talk about entertainment.
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I → say → entertainment
Whatever you paid for your ticket tonight, it was worth it.
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it → pay → ticket
Wherever you sat, it had everything.”
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it → sit → everything
In a game of numerous twists and turns, the most stunning twist played out in a chaotic conclusion, which saw four lead changes in the final 7½ minutes.
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which → play → minutes
Mitch Lewis’s towering pack mark and goal with a tick over three minutes remaining would have immediately entered football folklore had it been the match winner.
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it → remain → folklore
Instead, it sits alongside Brendon Goddard’s equivalent from the drawn 2010 grand final.
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it → sit → final
Tom Barrass and James Sicily both hauled in clutch marks deep in defence that were celebrated as if they were game savers.
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they → haul → defence
That they were not was due to a controversial passage of play, which produced three contentious frees and finished with Hugh McCluggage’s ice-cold conversion in the closing seconds.
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which → produce → seconds
The first what if moment for Hawks fans came with just over a minute left when Lewis was pinged for not showing insufficient intent to keep the ball in play.
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Lewis → come → play
What those in brown and gold saw as a fumble over the boundary was interpreted by Brett Rosebury, officiating in his 586th game, as insufficient intent to keep the ball in play.
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saw → see → play
The second came in the centre square when Dayne Zorko was awarded a free kick for negligible, if any, high contact.
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Zorko → come → contact
His kick deep inside 50 sparked a frantic scramble where Jarman Impey was penalised holding the ball.
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Impey → spark → ball
Though Impey did not have prior opportunity to dispose the ball, he also did not make a genuine attempt to get rid of it.
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he → have → it
A shattered Mitchell was more upset with the two frees that led to the call on Impey.
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that → lead → Impey
“I’m sure the umpires will assess how they performed in that game in key moments,” Mitchell said.
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Mitchell → ’m → moments
Barrass, Sicily and Jack Ginnivan all had words for umpire Hayden Meyer moments after the final siren, while Hawks fans chanted “bullshit, bullshit” in the stands.
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fans → have → stands
Fagan saw it differently.
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Fagan → see → it
“I would expect one of my players to be paid a free kick against if that was what he did,” Fagan said.
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Fagan → expect → what
“I know I don’t know what the whole world thinks, but that’s the way they interpret it.
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they → know → it
You’ve got to be making a genuine attempt to get rid of the ball, and he didn’t.”
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he → get → ball
Mitchell appeared a broken man when he fronted up to his press conference.
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he → appear → conference
It was too much for his warrior midfielder Jai Newcombe, who was consoled by loved ones in the Hawks rooms.
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who → console → rooms
Newcombe had his Stephen Milne moment from the 2010 grand final at the last centre stoppage when he was set to shark the hitout only for the Sherrin to bounce on its end away from him, allowing the Lions to sweep the ball forward.
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Lions → have → ball
“If you want to strive for great things, you will open yourself up for all sorts of emotion – the greatest of joy and the deepest of pain,” Mitchell said after lengthy pause when asked what message he told his players.
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he → want → players
His players were in “mourning”, Mitchell said, and would take a while to progress through the seven stages of grief.
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Mitchell → say → grief
“I’m a long way from acceptance right now, so I’ll sit in anger for a bit longer,” Mitchell said.
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Mitchell → ’m → anger
“I’m sure all the players will too.
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players → ’m → ?
The next few days will be agonising for Mitchell, who must conduct a thorough post-mortem of their harrowing defeat.
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who → conduct → defeat
As Mitchell acknowledged, this game was lost long before the trio of free kicks at the death.
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game → acknowledge → death
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
