Brisbane Lions punched their ticket to the 2026 AFL Grand Final after a 131-122 win over Hawthorn Hawks at the MCG, marked by nine lead changes and a Hawks comeback from 20 points down.
The dying moments of the AFL preliminary final between Hawthorn and Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday night were decided by a controversial holding-the-ball free kick against Hawthorn defender Jarman Impey. With Hawthorn having fought back from 28 points down to take the lead late in the final quarter, Impey was tackled by Brisbane’s Hugh McCluggage inside 50 with less than a minute remaining.
The umpire ruled that Impey had not made a sufficient attempt to dispose of the ball, awarding Brisbane a free kick approximately 30 metres from goal. McCluggage converted the set shot with just 18 seconds remaining, putting the Lions back in front, before Kai Lohmann kicked another goal after the siren to seal a nine-point Brisbane victory, 20.11 (131) to 19.8 (122).
The decision caused enormous frustration among Hawthorn supporters, although former umpire Ray Chamberlain and other commentators subsequently said the free kick was consistent with the holding-the-ball rule because Impey had an arm free and did not make an adequate attempt to release the ball.
Standouts included Nick Watson’s six goals for Hawthorn and Lohmann’s five for Brisbane, keeping the Lions’ three-peat dreams alive against Fremantle.
Hawthorn cult hero Dermott Brereton has told Hawks fans the umpires got the Jarman Impey free kick correct — but that is just the start of the storm brewing.
Hawthorn players and coach Sam Mitchell held heir tongues from directly criticising the whistleblowers, but they still communicated what they really thought after the game following a famous preliminary final that will go down in history.
In a rollercoaster contest, Hawthorn coughed up the lead when Hugh McCluggage kicked a goal with 18 seconds on the clock on the back of a hotly debated free kick.