Fremantle will play either Hawthorn or Brisbane in the 2026 AFL Grand Final after storming from behind to beat Sydney in a thrilling preliminary final at the SCG.
Trailing by 27 points late in the third quarter, the Dockers booted the last six goals of the game to record a famous 12.11 (83) to 10.11 (71) win and advance to the final game of the season for just the second time in club history.
Here are three things we learned from the game:
Frightening Fremantle just needed one finals win to help rediscover their mojo
With 60 seconds to play in the third quarter of Friday evening's preliminary final at the SCG, it appeared Fremantle were 35 minutes or so away from heading home the loser. Down by 27 points, the Dockers were showcasing the same stodgy ball movement that had led to that shock defeat on their home deck against the Hawks two weeks earlier. They were playing nervous, appeared unsure and uncertain, and looked anything but a team that had dominated the home-and-away season with 19 wins and just four losses.
But then up stepped Hayden Young.
After the three-quarter time siren had sounded, Young delivered an arrow from 50m out on the boundary to cut six points off the deficit and keep Fremantle's hope of a Grand Final berth alive. Two minutes into the final term it was livewire Shai Bolton's turn to execute in front of the sticks. Another difficult 40-60 chance converted and the Dockers were sensing their moment.
Hayden Young produces something special AFTER the three-quarter time siren 🔔#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/mWOhyX8KaO
— AFL (@AFL) September 18, 2026
The frantic yet decisive few minutes either side of the final change were a sign of things to come down the stretch as Fremantle outworked and overpowered the Swans, kicking five final term goals and holding the home side to a solitary point in a lopsided last frame.
Without the assistance of Wharfie Time, the Dockers dominated the ball, contested possession, and territory -- a total contrast to what they'd dished up in the two hours prior. And in just eight days this club has gone from staring down the barrel of an embarrassing straight sets exit to sitting on the cusp of its first premiership.
Fremantle's pressure-releasing semifinal win over the Cats last weekend did far more than simply book a place in the last four, it provided belief to this playing group that it can perform and outplay the competition's best sides in September. Prior to the finals breakthrough against the Cats, this team had lost two straight finals at Optus Stadium; a third in succession would have been confidence shattering and likely led to questions over the future of Justin Longmuir.
The Dockers don't win this preliminary final without last week's gutsy triumph. It was the performance it needed to shake them out of their post-season funk. And while that may not have been on display for the bulk of the night against the Swans, it very much came to the fore late. That alone should have this club brimming with confidence ahead of next weekend's Grand Final.
Maybe Sydney did run out of emotional tickets ... but they shouldn't have lost any fans
With the Swans having just dumped five best 23 players in the aftermath of one of the biggest off-field scandals in recent memory, almost nobody was willing to give this club a chance of knocking off Brisbane in a qualifying final. The 53-point win will go down as one of the most unexpected in finals history, but the question on everyone's mind was whether Sydney could back it up in two weeks' time.
The answer to that question appeared to be an overwhelming 'yes' as Dean Cox's side brought the same level of intensity, effort, and dare to its preliminary final date with Fremantle. Just as they'd done against the Lions, Sydney had the minor premier rattled early and looked on course to be heading towards a third Grand Final in five years.
The lopsided final quarter will tell the story that the Swans ran out of emotional petrol tickets, but perhaps it was more the gulf in class at the SCG, which only prevailed late. Losing three best 10 players, plus captain Callum Mills to an ACL last week, was always going to leave a seismic hole that would prove incredibly difficult to fill, particularly in a final against the season's most dominant team.
Either way, these undermanned, perpetually written off Swans only enhanced their reputation this finals series. To be odds-on favourites to suffer a straight sets finals exit and yet fall agonisingly short of playing in another Grand Final shows the culture of this club and the spirit of this playing club, even if not everyone has embodied it in recent times.
There are many unknowns with Sydney, its list, and what 2027 might bring, but its fans should stick by them. Those that have represented the Bloods in finals have done so with class and deserve to be supported in the future.
Errol Gulden can win the Brownlow Medal in 2027
Errol Gulden won't win Monday evening's Brownlow Medal. That honour is almost certainly going to fall on Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos. But if there's a player that's catapulted themselves into such discussion for the 2027 award, it has to be the young Swan.
Gulden put on a clinic at the SCG on Friday evening with game-highs in disposals (36), kicks (25), metres gained (770), tackles (8), as well as five clearances and seven inside 50s. It was the second dominant final in succession for Gulden, who also starred in the win over Brisbane a fortnight ago.
But it hasn't just been Gulden's September form. There was no hotter player in the competition during the month leading into finals, with Gulden averaging videogame-like numbers through the final five rounds of the home-and-away season. ESPN's Brownlow Medal predictor awarded him 13.5 of a possible 15 Brownlow Medal votes in that time, while others believe he had five successive best on ground performances. Given his efforts across the two finals, you can certainly make the argument he's been the best player on the ground in Sydney's last seven games. That's an extraordinary feat.
Daicos will start favourite for the Brownlow Medal just about every year he laces them up, but he'll certainly have some stiff competition if Gulden carries this sort of form into 2027.
