Geelong and Brisbane might not have the fiercest of rivalries. Even across four finals in the past six seasons, any friction has been built on a begrudging respect. But a dream matchup in the 2025 AFL grand final could change the tone – and go a long way to deciding which club can stake the first claim to being the greatest of recent times.
This year’s decider will be the first time the Cats and Lions have met in a VFL/AFL grand final. The long route to crossing paths in the most important game of the year includes the 98 seasons before Fitzoy merged with Brisbane in 1996. It is a mouth-watering showdown that has been coming, as the Cats and Lions have become perennial contenders as much as powerhouse clubs. It is a clash between a pair of competition heavyweights that should be well worth the wait.
Geelong have set the modern-day standard for sustained success. They have won four premierships and have another now within reach, twice been runners-up, and played in all but two finals series in 19 seasons. If any side should be suffering from finals fatigue, it is the Cats and their fans. But a third flag in coach Chris Scott’s 15-year tenure would be no less than they deserve.
Brisbane gave Geelong a head start in their period of dominance. They are catching up fast after reaching the finals in seven straight seasons. The next steps were taken gradually until the Lions finally broke through for a premiership last year. This will be their third consecutive grand final as they aim to become the first team since Richmond in 2019-20 to go back-to-back. Only two other sides have managed that feat this century, when Hawthorn bettered it with a three-peat in 2013-15 and Brisbane also won three in a row in 2001-03.
The ruthless Lions and Hawks sides of their three-peat eras left their mark as football dynasties. The Tigers also have a claim to such high praise after three premierships in four seasons, although they failed to even make the finals in the years either side of their brief time at the top. Whether the current Brisbane or Geelong sides will one day be considered among the same illustrious company will begin to be decided on Saturday at the MCG, as each aim to become the first club to win two flags in this decade.
Brisbane have had to overcome the tyranny of distance in what was once a football outpost. A few years before coach Chris Fagan joined the club in 2016, the Lions lost a quintet of young guns and were forced to re-evaluate their entire culture. The promising players were labelled “The Go-Home Five” but their legacy, 12 years later, is helping turn the Lions into a destination club.
The Lions followed a similar path to the Cats and sought out players that would have to move to an unfamiliar city no matter where they were drafted to. They can now also turn to more homegrown talent. That is as much by the design of their location, and the growth of the northern academies that give greater opportunities for budding talents to develop outside the football heartlands.
Brisbane had seven players either bred in their academy or arriving as father-son selections in their preliminary final side that thumped Collingwood. The highly-touted Levi Ashcroft joined his brother, last year’s Norm Smith medallist Will, at the club ahead of this season. Sam Marshall and Ty Gallop rose to the top of the academy ranks last year.
Co-captain and academy graduate Harris Andrews, as well as Dayne Zorko, Charlie Cameron, and another son-of-a-gun, Jaspa Fletcher, are other Queenslanders set to line up in the grand final. Bruce Reville will hope to hold his spot after starting the past two finals as the substitute. With grassroots participation booming in the south-east of the state, the Lions are set up for a long stay near the top. Free agents Oscar Allen and Sam Draper are on their way next year and will only bolster a Brisbane outfit that had eight players aged 22 or under in the side that beat the ageing Magpies.
Geelong make the most of having their own football factory on their doorstep. As many as 14 players on their list have spent time playing in the region before joining the club. That includes captain Patrick Dangerfield, who was tempted back from Adelaide, and creative forward Gryan Miers who represents the benefit of being able to spend additional time scouting the players under the club’s nose. The lure of playing out a football career away from the hustle and bustle of a capital city helps the Cats rebuild on the run. It has also attracted glamour signings Jeremy Cameron and Bailey Smith, who continue to show that while they might avoid the bright lights when it suits them, they also know how to perform on the biggest stages.
The battled-hardened Brisbane of the start of this century, as well as the “unsociable” Hawthorn side of last decade, fell away soon after their three-peat eras and took time to climb back into contention. The modern-day Lions, as well as the standard-bearing Cats, have already been in contention for several years – but their best might still be to come.
