Brisbane Lions are premiers for the third year running. They trailed Fremantle by 10 points at three-quarter time at the MCG, kicked 5.4 to 2.5 in the final quarter and won 14.12 (96) to 12.17 (89) in front of 100,023, the biggest crowd of 2026. It is Brisbane’s third straight flag after 2024 and 2025, matching the club’s own run of 2001, 2002 and 2003, and its sixth premiership from eight grand finals. Fremantle is now two grand finals for two losses, 2013 and 2026.
It was also the first of those six Brisbane premierships won from behind at the last change: in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2024 and 2025 Brisbane led at three-quarter time. The 10-point deficit is the biggest overturned at three-quarter time in a grand final since 1984, when Essendon came from 23 down against Hawthorn. Across every grand final in our dataset, only five comebacks from the last change were bigger. And Fremantle lost with more scoring shots, 29 to 26: 12.17 against 14.12.
Nobody rated 90. Dayne Zorko’s 77.5 was the best game of the grand final, which makes it the lowest round-high of 2026’s 30 weeks, in a week of one game rather than nine. Among the 25 grand finals we can rate (2003 on, the 2010 replay included), only Byron Pickett’s 73.7 in 2004 and Dustin Martin’s 74.2 in 2020 topped a grand final with less.
A quick refresher: KICK Rating is our open, reproducible player rating — one score out of 100 for every player in every game, computed from the public box score, formula published, code public. A game score of 70 means a quality senior contribution. 85+ puts a player in All-Australian territory. A perfect 100 is the ceiling — once-a-season form. The full methodology is on the site, including where v1 falls short.
Grand Final — 26 Sep 2026
Brisbane led by a point at quarter time, 3.5 (23) to 3.4 (22), and the sides went to the main break level at 6.7 (43) apiece. Fremantle won the third quarter 4.5 to 3.1 to lead 10.12 (72) to 9.8 (62) at the last change. Brisbane then kicked 5.4 (34) to 2.5 (17). Both grand finalists came the long way: each lost its qualifying final — Brisbane to Sydney by 53, Fremantle to Hawthorn by 32 — and won a semi final and a preliminary final to get here.
Zorko’s 77.5 came in his 321st game, on 28 disposals, nine marks, nine rebound-50s and seven tackles at 90% game time — the most marks and rebound-50s on the ground. It is his second-best game of 2026, 0.2 behind his Opening Round 77.8, and his first top-five appearance of the year. Will Ashcroft had the most disposals on the ground with 31, plus nine clearances, and rated 74.5. His career best is still last year’s grand final, 101.4.
For Fremantle, Hayden Young rated 76.3 on 22 disposals, two goals and nine tackles — his best game of 2026 for the second week in a row, passing the 74.7 he posted in the preliminary final. Luke Jackson had 47 hit-outs, one short of his career high of 48, and rated 73.8; that is his seventh top-five appearance of 2026. Shai Bolton rated 70.7 on 26 disposals, seven marks and a game-high nine inside-50s. Caleb Serong won 13 clearances and 17 contested possessions, both the most on the ground.
Josh Dunkley laid 12 tackles, the most of the game, and Kai Lohmann laid ten and kicked two goals. Logan Morris and Charlie Cameron kicked three goals each for Brisbane, and Patrick Voss kicked 3.2 for Fremantle.
- 78
Dayne Zorko 28 disposals · 7 tackles · 9 marks
- 76
Hayden Young 22 disposals · 2 goals · 9 tackles · 4 clearances
- 75
Will Ashcroft 31 disposals · 2 tackles · 9 clearances · 2 marks
- 74
Luke Jackson 15 disposals · 4 tackles · 4 clearances · 2 marks
- 71
Shai Bolton 26 disposals · 5 tackles · 2 clearances · 7 marks
The final season tally — 30 weeks
That is the 2026 season: Opening Round, 24 home-and-away rounds and five weeks of finals. Every tally below is now final.
The grand final added nothing to the 100 Club, so it closes at 38 games from 23 players, 28 in wins and ten in defeats. Ten of the 30 weeks went without a century, and five of them were the five finals weeks: no player rated 100 in any 2026 final. Matt Rowell’s raw 136.6 against Greater Western Sydney in Round 22 stands as the best game of the year.
The 100 Club (perfect KICK 100 games, 2026 season)
Bars show raw KICK Game Score, which is not capped. Every game here displays as a perfect 100 because the display score is capped at 100. The dashed line marks raw 100: bars reaching it cleared 100 outright, the shortest rounded up to it.
- R22
- R10
- R19
- R12
- R20
- R2
- R8
- R5
- R24
- R16
- R14
- R23
- R15
- R10
- R23
- R7
- R21
- R6
- R24
- R22
- R24
- R3
- R16
- R22
- R24
- R24
- R22
- R1
- R11
- R10
- R17
- R24
- R8
- R23
- R22
- R15
- R21
- R16
Most top-five appearances across the 30 weeks
Bailey Smith finishes on top with 9, then Max Gawn on 8, and Marcus Bontempelli and Luke Jackson on 7 — Jackson drew level with his grand final. Then Lachie Neale and Izak Rankine on 6, Will Ashcroft and Nick Daicos on 5, and Errol Gulden, Tristan Xerri and Harry Sheezel on 4. Ashcroft added one this week, and Hayden Young made the five for the second week running.
Most 90+ KICK games
Bailey Smith finishes on 8, Izak Rankine second on 6, then Max Gawn, Nick Daicos and Lachie Neale on 5, and Marcus Bontempelli, Tristan Xerri, Harry Sheezel, Matt Rowell and Max Hall on 4. There was no 90+ game in the grand final.
Top season averages, three games minimum
| # | Player | Team | Season avg | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailey Smith | Geelong | 24 | |
| 2 | Max Gawn | Melbourne | 24 | |
| 3 | Nick Daicos | Collingwood | 23 | |
| 4 | Isaac Heeney | Sydney | 20 | |
| 5 | Harry Sheezel | North Melbourne | 21 | |
| 6 | Errol Gulden | Sydney | 13 | |
| 7 | Marcus Bontempelli | Western Bulldogs | 24 |
Bailey Smith finishes the season on top at 80.82 over 24 games, 0.24 ahead of Max Gawn, with Nick Daicos third on 78.62. The table did not move this week: none of these seven players’ clubs was in the grand final. The best averages at the two grand finalists were Luke Jackson’s 72.14 over 27 games, up from 72.07, and Will Ashcroft’s 71.09 over 27.
Where this is going
That is the 2026 season. The live leaderboard now holds each player’s rating as the season finished, and every one of the 2026 round-ups is linked in the jump bar above.
As always: formula here, failures published too, code open-source, no paywall. The current shipped version is v1.1; v1.2-1.4 were held after sweeps (results are on the methodology page). If you think the rating is wrong — especially if you think forwards are undervalued, which they measurably are — tell us, or check Positional KICK for the within-position view.
Thanks for reading along this season.