→
Where do you start?
asserted
you → start → ?
How do you confront the challenge of making sense of the 2026 AFL grand final?
asserted
you → confront → final
Perhaps one's reaction to this game, this nonsensical overdose of a game, can stand as some sort of Rorschach test.
asserted
reaction → stand → test
When you look at these pictures, do you see the Brisbane Lions and their titanic force of will, the outrageous talent and nerve, an accomplishment to match any seen in the modern AFL era?
asserted
you → look → era
Or do you see Fremantle, inconsolable and bewildered, an unfathomably cruel loss, among the most heartbreaking inflicted upon a single club in the game's history?
Which of these narratives are you most drawn to?
asserted
you → see → narratives
What emotion is drawn out of you most acutely?
asserted
emotion → draw → you
Because you definitely felt something.
asserted
you → feel → something
Nobody who witnessed this grand final, no matter their allegiances or knowledge of the sport, could claim to have felt nothing.
uncertain
who → witness → nothing
Crucially you can not have one without the other.
asserted
you → have → other
The overwhelming weight of Brisbane's accomplishment needs to fall somewhere, and it just so happened to drop squarely on the soul of the Fremantle Dockers.
asserted
it → need → Dockers
We can speak safely about the Dockers here, because you can be sure not one of their long-suffering fans will take the step of entering into this or any other media about this grand final for as long as they live.
asserted
they → speak → final
There have been close grand finals before, heartbreaking defeats, joy snatched away just it was poised to erupt.
asserted
it → snatch → ?
As Patrick Voss set off in celebration of his goal, as the bells tolled to signify what must surely be the last ever Wharfie Time and as tears erupted at last from the tortured purple throngs, nobody could possibly have been so heartless as to deny them now.
uncertain
nobody → set → them
The next five minutes will go down in football folklore, dissected to the millisecond, but in the immediate aftermath feel like a blur of sound and colour.
asserted
minutes → go → sound
Charlie Cameron teed up Country Roads, Zac Bailey squeezed one out of nowhere, Logan Morris took the biggest mark and kicked the biggest goal of his life.
asserted
Morris → tee → life
With a ferocity perhaps even he didn't know he was capable of, but with the grace nobody has ever doubted.
asserted
nobody → know → grace
He willed that team off the canvas, Ashcroft.
asserted
He → will → canvas
He didn't win the medal this time, but make no mistake.
asserted
He → win → mistake
There wasn't time for Fremantle to process what was happening to them.
asserted
what → be → them
Suddenly, and without warning, they were bystanders in what was meant to be their own story.
asserted
what → mean → warning
It was gone.
asserted
It → go → ?
Then it was gone.
asserted
it → go → ?
Justin Longmuir wept in the coaches' box before the final siren had even sounded.
asserted
siren → weep → box
By now, he was as helpless as the many hundreds of thousands of Dockers around the country who wept with him.
asserted
who → weep → him
They obliterated the Lions in the clearances, owned the airways and the territory.
asserted
They → obliterate → airways
The in-house review of the game will be made more galling by the fact the Dockers did so much right.
asserted
Dockers → make → much
To the great relief of Fremantle fans and neutrals alike, it was clear within 15 minutes of the first bounce that the grand final lights weren't likely to blind the Dockers.
asserted
lights → blind → Dockers
Fremantle leant on its barometers early.
asserted
Fremantle → lean → barometers
The Dockers, on an unfamiliar stage, belonged.
asserted
Dockers → belong → stage
And with that minor business out of the way, a truly great grand final was allowed to unfurl.
asserted
final → allow → way
Played in a shoebox, compressed at times within an inch of its life, the brief moments of game-breaking skill elevated the contest.
asserted
moments → play → contest
Morris's invisible but very real handball to Kai Lohmann, Murphy Reid making up for an error with the cleanest hands imaginable, Conor McKenna seeing an angle few others could.
uncertain
others → make → angle
The first little sign of concern for Freo came in the third quarter, after a period of dominance that produced more behinds than goals.
asserted
that → come → goals
Windows of opportunity are rare in grand finals such as this, and when Charlie Cameron kicked the Lions in front it felt like the Dockers had missed a big one.
asserted
Dockers → kick → one
But even then, Fremantle had an answer.
asserted
Fremantle → have → answer
Hayden Young, outstanding on the day, kicked two sensational goals to turn the tide again.
asserted
Young → kick → tide
The Lions were throwing punches, the Dockers were wearing them and sending them back.
asserted
Dockers → throw → them
The Dockers were winning the arm wrestle in the last.
asserted
Dockers → win → last
Treacy's miss from the goalsquare was set right by Voss's true set shot minutes later.
asserted
miss → set → shot
For all intents and purposes, they had at last put the Lions away.
asserted
they → put → Lions
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
