AFL grand final 2024: Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions go head-to-head in bid for flag redemption at MCG
The last Saturday in September has arrived with Brisbane and Sydney to go head-to-head at the MCG.
The stage is set for one team to earn the ultimate redemption, with both sides the losing grand finalists from the past two seasons.
Sydney was embarrassed in an 81-point demolition by Geelong in 2022, while Brisbane suffered heartbreak of a different kind in a four-point thriller against Collingwood last year.
While both teams have roots in Victoria, Sydney to South Melbourne and Brisbane to Fitzroy, neither the Swans nor Lions hold a home-ground advantage at the home of football.
It sets the stage for an epic conclusion to one of the tightest premiership races in AFL history, with minor premiers Sydney the best team in the first half of the year and Brisbane storming home at the back end of the season.
Follow all the action, from pre-game, siren-to-siren and all the post-match wash-up in our live blog below.
Going swimmingly
Former swimmer Cody Simpson delivered an impeccable rendition of the national anthem with a packed MCG on their feet.
The teams sprint to their ends and all we have left is the toss.
JK appears!
West Coast champion Josh Kennedy has delivered the premiership cup!
The Eagles were the last non-Victorian club to lift the cup back in 2018.
Final say on Perry
Global pop sensation Katy Perry delivered a high-energy, vocally-charged performance ahead of the 2024 grand final, electrifying a packed-out Melbourne Cricket Ground.
20 minutes to go
With the entertainment done, it’s down to business.
Both sides are about to enter the arena for the final time with only one to leave as premiers.
The coaches have completed their final addresses, and it’s now or never for these two clubs who have come so close in recent seasons.
Perry’s set over
It’s a 17-minute set in total for Katy Perry, with ‘Firework’ unsurprisingly her closing track.
The early reviews are fairly positive - she had a lot of energy and went through all the hits before capping her set with a large daytime fireworks display!
More Perry
Silver is the colour of the day as Perry then goes into ‘Gorgeous’, ‘California Gurls’ and ‘Teenage Dream’ before her breakthrough hit ‘I Kissed A Girl’ - featuring Tina Arena.
The crowd is... kind of into it? Mildly?
Katy Perry takes to the stage
Katy Perry is underway - and asks the crowd where her Swans and Lions fans are at?
Her first song is ‘Roar’, as she cruises around the MCG playing surface on top of a sleek silver hovercraft. She then rolls into ‘Dark Horse’ as her orange back-up dancers get into their stride.
No late changes
The final teams are in! And there’s no late changes.
Conor McKenna and Braeden Campbell are the subs - a minor surprise for the Swans given Robbie Fox was their starting sub last week.
NO DUSTY
Dustin Martin is a notable absentee from the retring players motorcade!
Even without the rumours of heading to the Suns, he would have been a borderline prospect to be at the MCG given his low public profile... but may well fan the flames of a potential move north.
Entertainment begins
The pre-game entertainment is underway, with Christine Anu performing a lovely rendition of her 1990s hit song ‘My Island Home’.
The motorcade of retiring players then kicks off, with West Coast great Andrew Gaff rocking a linen suit and looking sharp as he waves to the crowd.
Now... amid rumours of a Gold Coast switch... will Dustin Martin be a part of it?
