Key events
Brisbane also have a milestone man at the MCG with one of the heroes of their grand final triumph last year – Kai Lohmann – reaching 50 games.
Max Holmes was a costly loss to injury for Geelong as Brisbane edged them in last year’s preliminary final. The speedster has bounced back to have a superb season and will be out to make amends in his 100th game.
Lawson Humphries was overlooked in two drafts before being taken by Geelong with the second last pick in 2023. Now he’s a mainstay for a premiership contender, studies anthropology at university, is said to be “mature beyond his years” and teaches AFL teammates about his people and culture.
Jack Snape finds out more about the multi-talented 22-year-old with connections to the Nyul Nyul, Oomiday, Worrora, Jaru and Nimanburu peoples in the Kimberley region in Western Australia.
The first pieces of the 2025 AFL finals puzzle have already been laid out. Collingwood stared down a nervy Adelaide as well as a hostile crowd to clinch a 24-point victory and a ticket to a home preliminary final in a couple of weeks. Jonathan Horn was at Adelaide Oval to catch all the action
To bolster their travelling army, Collingwood chartered four buses at subsidised rates. Anticipation and optimism often ensure a raucous outbound journey. But the win is crucial for the return trip. Those four buses turned around and drove all through the night and are probably lobbing at Southern Cross station as you read this. Collingwood has had four finals in Adelaide and they’ve won them all – a club and a team that relishes being the hunter and the hated.
This pair of AFL heavyweights boast two of the strongest midfields in the competition. That has admittedly been the case for several years, though this season the Cats have been bolstered by the addition of Bailey Smith playing alongside another tireless speedster in Max Holmes.
Smith’s stellar form coming off an ACL injury has been something of a surprise but not nearly as much of a shock as his openness while accepting his first All-Australian blazer, when he revealed that he spent four weeks in a psychiatric ward last year. Jack Snape found it is the sort of honesty that has helped Smith and his new teammates connect on and off the field.
Here are the two lineups as named:
GEELONG
B: Zach Guthrie, Jack Henry, Connor O’Sullivan
HB: Lawson Humphries, Tom Stewart, Oisin Mullin
C: Mark Blicavs, Max Holmes, Oliver Dempsey
HF: Brad Close, Shaun Mannagh, Tyson Stengle
F: Shannon Neale, Jeremy Cameron, Patrick Dangerfield
FOLL: Sam De Koning, Bailey Smith, Tom Atkins
I/C: Mark O’Connor, Gryan Miers, Jack Bowes, Jack Martin
Sub: Jhye Clark
BRISBANE
B: Dayne Zorko, Darcy Gardiner, Ryan Lester
HB: Darcy Wilmot, Harris Andrews, Brandon Starcevich
C: Hugh McCluggage, Lachie Neale, Jarrod Berry
HF: Charlie Cameron, Sam Day, Zac Bailey
F: Cam Rayner, Logan Morris, Callum Ah Chee
FOLL: Darcy Fort, Josh Dunkley, Will Ashcroft
I/C: Kai Lohmann, Jaspa Fletcher, Levi Ashcroft, Ty Gallop
Sub: Sam Marshall
Final teams are in with no late changes. Geelong like to hold their cards close to their chest but made their moves earlier this time with the loss of Rhys Stanley to a hamstring injury, while Brisbane have recalled dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale.
Geelong name Jhye Clark as starting sub and Sam Marshall is Brisbane’s 23rd player.
The Cats will turn to Sam De Koning and Mark Blicavs as their rucks in place of Stanley. Tagger Mark O’Connor returns to take on the Lions’ decorated midfield and Jhye Clark has been backed to play his eighth game of the season as the stakes rise. Mitch Knevitt and Jed Bews make way.
Tough as nails winger Jarrod Berry is back for the Lions alongside Neale after shrugging off a shoulder injury with Bruce Reville and James Tunstill missing out.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the qualifying final between Geelong and Brisbane at the MCG. The AFL heavyweights are well-acquainted at this time of year, with this the fourth final they have played against each other in the past five seasons. It isn’t too hard to see a path where they make it five finals clashes in as many years and meet again in this season’s decider.
The previous three finals were even more important with a spot in the grand final up for grabs. This time the focus will be on taking a huge step toward that same stage again, with the winner tonight to have another weekend off and then host a preliminary final. The loser will face a do-or-die semi-final against Fremantle or Gold Coast, and hope to meet Collingwood a week after that.
The Cats are on a six-match winning streak after easing through the run home against sides that finished in the lower half of the ladder. If health truly is wealth at this time of year then the Cats could hardly be any richer, with only Rhys Stanley and long-term project ruck Toby Conway unavailable this week. But two of their six defeats this year have come against Brisbane, who also beat Geelong in a preliminary final classic last year.
The Lions have had an up and down season with their best being as good as any side has produced while they have also suffered a couple of unusually heavy defeats. Their 16 wins and a draw is a better record than they managed when they finished fifth but went on to win the premiership last year, even as they were handed a horror fixture this season. And ending the home-and-away season with seven wins from nine matches, with the first victory in that streak coming against the Cats, suggests the reigning premiers are primed for another big September.
First bounce will be at 7.40pm in Melbourne / AEST. I’ll drop in the team news shortly. But let us know your thoughts and predictions – shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!
