AFL finals teams and tips: Lions bring back gun for high-stakes final

Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News · collected 2026-09-04
Read the original at Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News ↗

Summary

The article reports on the teams and players selected for the upcoming Australian Football League (AFL) finals matches. The Brisbane Lions have made several changes to their team, including bringing back star player Lincoln McCluggage from injury. The Lions' final 22-man team is listed in detail, with 17 players included and five others named as emergency reserves. The article also lists the teams for other competing clubs, such as Fremantle, Hawthorn, Geelong, Carlton, Sydney, Adelaide, and Western Bulldogs.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
1
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
0%
0 of 1 hedged
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher trust
97.1
red-flag proxy, not a credibility rating
Outlets on this story
8
Sports
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-09-05 · how these are computed

AI analysis (generated at analysis time, not now)

Story summary

There are three articles provided

Article 1

The article discusses the match between Geelong and Carlton. The headline is "Carlton's season ends in heartbreak as they fall to Geelong". The article states that Geelong won the game by a margin of 21 points, with their forward line performing well. It also mentions that Carlton's young players showed promise but struggled against Geelong's experienced team.

Article 2

The second article appears to be a list of teams' squads for the upcoming match. The teams mentioned are Fremantle, Hawthorn, Geelong, and others. The article lists each team's starting 22 players, including their backups and emergencies (EMG). It also includes any changes or updates from previous weeks.

Article 3

The third article is a standard AFL coverage update, informing readers to keep up-to-date with the latest news and analysis from around the league.

Written for “AFL Finals Update 2026” on 2026-09-05, grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 4206 · logged 2026-09-05

Story

📰 AFL Finals Update 2026
Sports · 8 article(s) covering the same event. This is the one the site leads with.

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 28 📰 publisher trust 97
“Article A discusses an AFL Finals game between Hawks and another team (implied but not specified) while Article B discusses the teams and lineups for a different AFL Finals match, presumably the one mentioned in Article A”
Just In
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 2% hedged 2 of 107 📰 publisher trust 96
“Both articles mention the Hawthorn vs Fremantle game and the outcome of a 32-point win for Hawthorn.”
Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 97
“Article A refers to a sports match between Bulldogs and Broncos, while Article B provides team rosters for an AFL finals game, but does not mention Bulldogs or Broncos.”
Just In
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 2% hedged 2 of 81 📰 publisher trust 96
“Article A reports on an AFL elimination final between Geelong and Carlton, while Article B appears to be team selections and analysis for a different game or set of games.”
Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 20% hedged 5 of 25 📰 publisher trust 97
“The articles are about different sports leagues (AFL vs AFLW), teams, and events, with no overlap or mention of a shared incident”
Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 97
“Article A is about Australian Football League (AFL) finals teams and tips, while Article B is about National Rugby League (NRL) Minor Premiership winner predictions”
Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 97
“Article A reports on a specific AFL finals team and tip, while Article B discusses the possibility of re-imagining the 2027 fixture”
Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 2 of 60 📰 publisher trust 97
“Article A describes a game between Dockers and Hawks, while Article B lists teams and players for another game between Lions and Dockers”
Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 8% hedged 4 of 53 📰 publisher trust 97
“Article A discusses the Geelong Cats winning a final against Hawthorn, while Article B lists teams and player changes for the AFL finals involving Fremantle and Hawthorn.”
Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 2 of 71 📰 publisher trust 97
“Article A describes an AFL elimination final between Geelong and Carlton, while Article B lists teams for a different game, possibly the finals series but not specifically mentioning Geelong vs. Carlton.”

Publisher

Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News · 85 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
SignalValueWeight
Correction rate 0.000 0.4
Uncertainty density 0.057 0.25
Assertive mismatch rate 0.000 0.35
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

No reporter is named on this article.

Topics

A.Cerra H.Dean O.Florent P.Cripps W.Derksen

Subjects

EMG PERSON · 3× J.Clark PERSON · 3× B.Walker PERSON · 2× C.Scerri PERSON · 2× H.Chapman PERSON · 2× J.Amiss PERSON · 2× J.Dalton PERSON · 2× J.Ginnivan PERSON · 2× M.Reid PERSON · 2× S.Switkowski PERSON · 2×

Narrative

IN: H.Chapman, S.Switkowski, J.Amiss, B.Walker, M.Reid OUT: B.Cox (injured), J.McVee (omitted), T.Murray (omitted), B.Banfield (omitted), C.Scerri (omitted) HAWTHORN B: J.Sicily, T.Barrass, B.Hardwick HB: J.Weddle, B.Macdonald, J.Battle C: J.Impey, W.Day, M.D’Ambrosio HF: D.Moore, M.Chol, C.Macdonald F: N.Watson, M.Lewis, J.Gunston R: L.Meek, J.Newcombe, C.Mackenzie I/C: K.Amon, H.Morrison, J.Ward, J.Ginnivan, M.Beattie EMG: M.Ramsden, N.Mraz, J.Dalton IN: J.Ginnivan OUT: J.Dalton (omitted) GEELONG B: Z.Guthrie, C.O’Sullivan, J.Henry HB: T.Stewart, T.Bruhn, L.Humphries C: O.Dempsey, B.Smith, M.O’Connor HF: G.Miers, J.Cameron, B.Close F: P.Dangerfield, S.Neale, J.Polkinghorne R: M.Edwards, T.Atkins, O.Mullin I/C: M.Holmes, M.Blicavs, S.Mannagh, O.Wiltshire, O.Henry EMG: J.Martin, J.Clark, S.De Koning IN: M.Holmes, M.Blicavs, O.Wiltshire OUT: S.De Koning (omitted), J.Martin (omitted), J.Clark (omitted) CARLTON B: L.Cowan, J.Weitering, O.Hollands HB: O.Florent, H.Dean, W.Derksen C: B.Acres, P.Cripps, A.Cerra HF: B.Ainsworth, M.McGovern, B.Kemp F: C.Lord, H.McKay, T.Byrne R: M.Pittonet, S.Walsh, J.Smith I/C: B.Wilson, G.Hewett, L.Young, F.Evans, M.Cottrell EMG: J.Boyd, J.Ison, L.Reidy IN: W.Derksen OUT: N.Haynes (injured) SYDNEY B: C. Mills, T. McCartin, D. Rampe HB: S. Wicks, H. Kyle, J. Hamling C: M. Roberts, E. Gulden, J. Serong HF: J. Jordon, J. Lloyd, B. Campbell F: T. Papley, C. Curnow, B. Cootee R: B. Grundy, J. Rowbottom, C. Cleary I/C: H. Cunningham, A. Sheldrick, H. McLean, T. Hanily, J. Dattoli EMG: W. Green, J. Amartey, L. Melican IN: H. McLean OUT: W. Green (omitted) BRISBANE LIONS B: N. Answerth, H. Andrews, R. Lester HB: D. Wilmot, D. Gardiner, D. Zorko C: J. Berry, W. Ashcroft, Z. Bailey HF: C. Cameron, L. Morris, O. Allen F: E. Hipwood, C. Rayner, K. Lohmann R: D. Fort, J. Dunkley, L. Neale I/C: S. Draper, J. Fletcher, H. McCluggage, L. Ashcroft, C. McKenna EMG: L. McCarthy, T. Gallop, B. Reville IN: H. McCluggage OUT: T. Gallop (omitted) ADELAIDE B: J. Worrell, J. Borlase, M. Michalanney HB: W. Milera, M. Keane, R. Laird C: B. Cook, J. Dawson, D. Curtin HF: B. Keays, R. Thilthorpe, J. Rachele F: D. Fogarty, T. Walker, C. Ah Chee R: L. McAndrew, I. Rankine, A. Neal-Bullen I/C: I. Cumming, J. Soligo, S. Berry, L. Nankervis, H. Hall-Kahan EMG: B. Dowling, R. O’Brien, N. Murray IN: C. Ah Chee OUT: Z. Taylor (injured) WESTERN BULLDOGS B: M. Sellwood, B. Khamis, B. Williams HB: L. Bramble, J. O’Donnell, B. Dale C: R. Sanders, J. Freijah, C. Hynes HF: C. Weightman, R. Lobb, A. Jones F: J. Dolan, A. Naughton, R. West R: T. English, M. Bontempelli, E. Richards I/C: C. Budarick, S. Davidson, R. Gardner, L. Kennedy, W. Lewis EMG: L. Cleary, J. Croft, L. McNeil IN: W. Lewis OUT: M. Kennedy (concussion) Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-05
🔮 IN: H.Chapman, S.Switkowski, J.Amiss, B.Walker, M.Reid OUT: B.Cox (injured), J.McVee (omitted), T.Murray (omitted), B.Banfield (omitted), C.Scerri (omitted) HAWTHORN B: J.Sicily, T.Barrass, B.Hardwick HB: J.Weddle, B.Macdonald, J.Battle C: J.Impey, W.Day, M.D’Ambrosio HF: D.Moore, M.Chol, C.Macdonald F: N.Watson, M.Lewis, J.Gunston R: L.Meek, J.Newcombe, C.Mackenzie I/C: K.Amon, H.Morrison, J.Ward, J.Ginnivan, M.Beattie EMG: M.Ramsden, N.Mraz, J.Dalton IN: J.Ginnivan OUT: J.Dalton (omitted) GEELONG B: Z.Guthrie, C.O’Sullivan, J.Henry HB: T.Stewart, T.Bruhn, L.Humphries C: O.Dempsey, B.Smith, M.O’Connor HF: G.Miers, J.Cameron, B.Close F: P.Dangerfield, S.Neale, J.Polkinghorne R: M.Edwards, T.Atkins, O.Mullin I/C: M.Holmes, M.Blicavs, S.Mannagh, O.Wiltshire, O.Henry EMG: J.Martin, J.Clark, S.De Koning IN: M.Holmes, M.Blicavs, O.Wiltshire OUT: S.De Koning (omitted), J.Martin (omitted), J.Clark (omitted) CARLTON B: L.Cowan, J.Weitering, O.Hollands HB: O.Florent, H.Dean, W.Derksen C: B.Acres, P.Cripps, A.Cerra HF: B.Ainsworth, M.McGovern, B.Kemp F: C.Lord, H.McKay, T.Byrne R: M.Pittonet, S.Walsh, J.Smith I/C: B.Wilson, G.Hewett, L.Young, F.Evans, M.Cottrell EMG: J.Boyd, J.Ison, L.Reidy IN: W.Derksen OUT: N.Haynes (injured) SYDNEY B: C. Mills, T. McCartin, D. Rampe HB: S. Wicks, H. Kyle, J. Hamling C: M. Roberts, E. Gulden, J. Serong HF: J. Jordon, J. Lloyd, B. Campbell F: T. Papley, C. Curnow, B. Cootee R: B. Grundy, J. Rowbottom, C. Cleary I/C: H. Cunningham, A. Sheldrick, H. McLean, T. Hanily, J. Dattoli EMG: W. Green, J. Amartey, L. Melican IN: H. McLean OUT: W. Green (omitted) BRISBANE LIONS B: N. Answerth, H. Andrews, R. Lester HB: D. Wilmot, D. Gardiner, D. Zorko C: J. Berry, W. Ashcroft, Z. Bailey HF: C. Cameron, L. Morris, O. Allen F: E. Hipwood, C. Rayner, K. Lohmann R: D. Fort, J. Dunkley, L. Neale I/C: S. Draper, J. Fletcher, H. McCluggage, L. Ashcroft, C. McKenna EMG: L. McCarthy, T. Gallop, B. Reville IN: H. McCluggage OUT: T. Gallop (omitted) ADELAIDE B: J. Worrell, J. Borlase, M. Michalanney HB: W. Milera, M. Keane, R. Laird C: B. Cook, J. Dawson, D. Curtin HF: B. Keays, R. Thilthorpe, J. Rachele F: D. Fogarty, T. Walker, C. Ah Chee R: L. McAndrew, I. Rankine, A. Neal-Bullen I/C: I. Cumming, J. Soligo, S. Berry, L. Nankervis, H. Hall-Kahan EMG: B. Dowling, R. O’Brien, N. Murray IN: C. Ah Chee OUT: Z. Taylor (injured) WESTERN BULLDOGS B: M. Sellwood, B. Khamis, B. Williams HB: L. Bramble, J. O’Donnell, B. Dale C: R. Sanders, J. Freijah, C. Hynes HF: C. Weightman, R. Lobb, A. Jones F: J. Dolan, A. Naughton, R. West R: T. English, M. Bontempelli, E. Richards I/C: C. Budarick, S. Davidson, R. Gardner, L. Kennedy, W. Lewis EMG: L. Cleary, J. Croft, L. McNeil IN: W. Lewis OUT: M. Kennedy (concussion) Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country.
2026-09-05 · Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
AFL finals teams and tips: Lions bring back gun for high-stakes final · assertive framing

Claims (1 extracted, 0 hedged)

IN: H.Chapman, S.Switkowski, J.Amiss, B.Walker, M.Reid OUT: B.Cox (injured), J.McVee (omitted), T.Murray (omitted), B.Banfield (omitted), C.Scerri (omitted) HAWTHORN B: J.Sicily, T.Barrass, B.Hardwick HB: J.Weddle, B.Macdonald, J.Battle C: J.Impey, W.Day, M.D’Ambrosio HF: D.Moore, M.Chol, C.Macdonald F: N.Watson, M.Lewis, J.Gunston R: L.Meek, J.Newcombe, C.Mackenzie I/C: K.Amon, H.Morrison, J.Ward, J.Ginnivan, M.Beattie EMG: M.Ramsden, N.Mraz, J.Dalton IN: J.Ginnivan OUT: J.Dalton (omitted) GEELONG B: Z.Guthrie, C.O’Sullivan, J.Henry HB: T.Stewart, T.Bruhn, L.Humphries C: O.Dempsey, B.Smith, M.O’Connor HF: G.Miers, J.Cameron, B.Close F: P.Dangerfield, S.Neale, J.Polkinghorne R: M.Edwards, T.Atkins, O.Mullin I/C: M.Holmes, M.Blicavs, S.Mannagh, O.Wiltshire, O.Henry EMG: J.Martin, J.Clark, S.De Koning IN: M.Holmes, M.Blicavs, O.Wiltshire OUT: S.De Koning (omitted), J.Martin (omitted), J.Clark (omitted) CARLTON B: L.Cowan, J.Weitering, O.Hollands HB: O.Florent, H.Dean, W.Derksen C: B.Acres, P.Cripps, A.Cerra HF: B.Ainsworth, M.McGovern, B.Kemp F: C.Lord, H.McKay, T.Byrne R: M.Pittonet, S.Walsh, J.Smith I/C: B.Wilson, G.Hewett, L.Young, F.Evans, M.Cottrell EMG: J.Boyd, J.Ison, L.Reidy IN: W.Derksen OUT: N.Haynes (injured) SYDNEY B: C. Mills, T. McCartin, D. Rampe HB: S. Wicks, H. Kyle, J. Hamling C: M. Roberts, E. Gulden, J. Serong HF: J. Jordon, J. Lloyd, B. Campbell F: T. Papley, C. Curnow, B. Cootee R: B. Grundy, J. Rowbottom, C. Cleary I/C: H. Cunningham, A. Sheldrick, H. McLean, T. Hanily, J. Dattoli EMG: W. Green, J. Amartey, L. Melican IN: H. McLean OUT: W. Green (omitted) BRISBANE LIONS B: N. Answerth, H. Andrews, R. Lester HB: D. Wilmot, D. Gardiner, D. Zorko C: J. Berry, W. Ashcroft, Z. Bailey HF: C. Cameron, L. Morris, O. Allen F: E. Hipwood, C. Rayner, K. Lohmann R: D. Fort, J. Dunkley, L. Neale I/C: S. Draper, J. Fletcher, H. McCluggage, L. Ashcroft, C. McKenna EMG: L. McCarthy, T. Gallop, B. Reville IN: H. McCluggage OUT: T. Gallop (omitted) ADELAIDE B: J. Worrell, J. Borlase, M. Michalanney HB: W. Milera, M. Keane, R. Laird C: B. Cook, J. Dawson, D. Curtin HF: B. Keays, R. Thilthorpe, J. Rachele F: D. Fogarty, T. Walker, C. Ah Chee R: L. McAndrew, I. Rankine, A. Neal-Bullen I/C: I. Cumming, J. Soligo, S. Berry, L. Nankervis, H. Hall-Kahan EMG: B. Dowling, R. O’Brien, N. Murray IN: C. Ah Chee OUT: Z. Taylor (injured) WESTERN BULLDOGS B: M. Sellwood, B. Khamis, B. Williams HB: L. Bramble, J. O’Donnell, B. Dale C: R. Sanders, J. Freijah, C. Hynes HF: C. Weightman, R. Lobb, A. Jones F: J. Dolan, A. Naughton, R. West R: T. English, M. Bontempelli, E. Richards I/C: C. Budarick, S. Davidson, R. Gardner, L. Kennedy, W. Lewis EMG: L. Cleary, J. Croft, L. McNeil IN: W. Lewis OUT: M. Kennedy (concussion) Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. asserted
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