2024 AFL Grand Final
| 2024 AFL Grand Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Date | 28 September 2024, 2:30 pm | |||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Umpires | Matt Stevic, Simon Meredith, Craig Fleer, Nick Foot | |||
| Ceremonies | ||||
| Pre-match entertainment | Katy Perry | |||
| National anthem | Cody Simpson | |||
| Broadcast in Australia | ||||
| Network | Seven Network | |||
| ||||
The 2024 AFL Grand Final is an upcoming Australian rules football match to be contested between the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, 28 September 2024.[1][2] It will be the 129th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL), staged to determine the premiers of the 2024 AFL season.
Background
Sydney came into the 2024 season after a six-point 2023 elimination final loss to Carlton. They finished the season on top of the ladder in 2024 with a 17–6 win–loss record to claim the minor premiership for the tenth time.[3] They defeated Greater Western Sydney by six points in the first qualifying final to progress to a preliminary final in which they defeated Port Adelaide by 36 points. Sydney's last grand final appearance was the 2022 AFL Grand Final, which they lost to Geelong by 81 points.
Brisbane came into the 2024 season after a grand final loss to Collingwood by four points in 2023. They qualified for the finals with a 14–8–1 win–loss–draw record, finishing fifth on the ladder. They beat Carlton by 28 points in the first elimination final to advance to the semi-finals, in which they came back from a 44-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat Greater Western Sydney by five points. In their preliminary final, they came back from a 25-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat Geelong by 10 points to advance to the grand final.
Sydney is aiming to win its sixth premiership, and its first since 2012. Brisbane is aiming to win its fourth premiership, and its first since winning three in a row in 2001, 2002 and 2003.[4] This will be the first grand final meeting between Sydney and Brisbane, though South Melbourne (who relocated to Sydney in 1982) and Fitzroy (who merged their AFL operations with Brisbane in 1996 to become the Brisbane Lions) did meet in the 1899 VFL Grand Final, which saw the latter prevail by one point. It will be the first grand final since 2006 in which both teams competing are from outside of Victoria, and the first ever between two teams from states traditionally dominated by rugby league.
In the 2024 home-and-away season, the two sides met once, in which Brisbane 11.13 (79) defeated Sydney 11.11 (77) during Round 19 at the Gabba. Sydney is installed as the favourite among bookmakers, with odds of $1.73 for the win against Brisbane's $2.10.[5]
Entertainment
At approximately 1:40pm, US pop star Katy Perry will perform on-stage as the Telstra pre-game entertainment. A surprise Australian artist was teased to join Perry on stage. The pre-game entertainment was supported by multi-ARIA Award winner Christine Anu with her daughter Zipporah Corser-Anu, and Grand Final legend Mike Brady performing "Up There Cazaly". The national anthem was performed by Australian singer, actor and athlete Cody Simpson.
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 9:35 am | AFL Grand Final curtain-raiser: AFL Futures Match |
| 12:38 pm | AFL Grand Final Sprint |
| 1:30 pm | AFL Grand Final motorcade |
| 1:33 pm | Mike Brady performs "Up There Cazaly" |
| 1:40 pm | Katy Perry performs |
| 2:13 pm | Teams enter the ground |
| 2:24 pm | Delivery of the premiership cup by Josh J. Kennedy |
| 2:25 pm | Welcome to Country—Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Colin Hunter Jr. |
| 2:26 pm | The Australian National Anthem performed by Cody Simpson |
| 2:30 pm | Game starts |
| Half time | Half-time entertainment: |
All times are in Australian Eastern Standard Time (GMT +10)
Medal and Cup presenters
The AFL selected 2018 Premiership player and former West Coast Eagles forward Josh J. Kennedy as the 2024 Premiership Cup Ambassador who will deliver the cup to the nominated club premiership cup ambassadors at the beginning of the official ceremony. As their respective premiership cup ambassadors, Brisbane chose Leigh Matthews, who coached the club to its three-peat from 2001 to 2003, and was Brisbane's nominated cup ambassador in the team's losing grand final the year previous. Sydney chose former club captain and 200-game player with the Swans, Stuart Maxfield as their ambassador. Four-time Premiership coach David Parkin will present the Jock McHale Medal to the winning coach, either Chris Fagan or John Longmire. The first ever Ron Barassi Medal, presented to the winning captain will be presented by Geelong 1963 premiership captain Fred Wooller.
Three-time Geelong premiership player and 2007 winner Steve Johnson will present the Norm Smith Medal to the player ajudged best on ground.
Teams
      Sydney
|
   Brisbane
|
Umpires
The umpiring panel, comprising four field umpires, four boundary umpires, two goal umpires and an emergency in each position, was announced on Wednesday, 25 September. Appointed to an unprecedented twelfth grand final, Matt Stevic extended his tenure as VFL/AFL record holder for most grand finals umpired. This will be Stevic's eleventh consecutive Grand Final. Nick Foot was appointed to his debut Grand Final after a standout season. Simon Meredith received his ninth appointment and Craig Fleer was appointed to his second decider after his debut in 2020. Andrew Stephens was selected as the emergency for the second consecutive season.
| Position | Umpire 1 | Umpire 2 | Umpire 3 | Umpire 4 | Emergency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field | 2. Nick Foot (1) | 9. Matt Stevic (12) | 21. Simon Meredith (9) | 26. Craig Fleer (2) | 12. Andrew Stephens | |
| Boundary | Matthew Tomkins (6) | Matthew Konetschka (6) | Michael Barlow (3) | Daniel Field-Read (1) | Damien Main | |
| Goal | Matthew Dervan (3) | Sam Walsh (2) | Steven Piperno |
Numbers in brackets represent the number of grand finals umpired, including 2024.
Scoreboard
| Grand Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 28 September (2:30 pm) | Sydney | v | Brisbane | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |
| Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
Norm Smith Medal: Television broadcast: Seven Network National anthem: Cody Simpson | ||||
Media coverage
Television
Seven's coverage, simulcast on streaming service 7+, will begin at 9 am AEST with the Grand Final Brunch hosted by Rebecca Maddern, followed by the Grand Final Countdown from 10:30 am with Luke Darcy. Pre-match coverage began from 12 pm with Hamish McLachlan and Bruce McAvaney hosting. This was the final match before the new AFL television broadcast deal begins, allowing all matches on the network to be streamed via 7+.
Fox Footy's coverage, simulcast on Kayo Sports, begins at 9 am with the annual North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast from the Plenary Hall at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Fox Footy will televise its own Grand Final Day coverage with their own talent, including the annual Fox Footy Longest Kick hosted by Jason Dunstall, Andrew Gaze and Ben Dixon. Due to Seven's exclusive rights to the live broadcast, Fox Footy's coverage will go dormant during the game; showing a full replay of Seven's match coverage broadcast at 6 pm.
Radio
| Station | Region | Callers | Special Comments | Boundary Riders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triple M | National | Mark Howard, Luke Darcy | Jason Dunstall, Nathan Brown, Ash Chua (statistician) | Michael Roberts |
| ABC Radio | National | |||
| AFL Nation | National | |||
| NIRS | National | |||
| 3AW | Melbourne, VIC | Anthony Hudson, Tim Lane | Matthew Lloyd, Jimmy Bartel | Jacqui Reed |
| SEN | Melbourne, VIC | |||
| K Rock | Geelong, VIC | Tom King, Ben Casanelia | Mark Neeld, Troy Selwood | Jason Doherty |
| FiveAA | Adelaide, SA | |||
| 6PR | Perth, WA | Adam Papalia, Karl Langdon | Brad Hardie, Mark Stone |
References
- ^ "When is the AFL Finals 2024? Dates, schedule, matches for post-season | Sporting News Australia". www.sportingnews.com. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "AFL Grandfinal 2024". www.carltoncentral.com.au. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "AFL Season Ladder". AFL. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "Brisbane Lions 2001–2003". AFL Queensland. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "AFL Grand Final: Fixture, teams, news, tips, odds - everything you need to know for the final game". ESPN. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
- ^ "2024 Toyota AFL Grand Final Umpires Announced". afl.com.au. 24 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.