The fans of 16 AFL clubs, at some stage on Saturday, will surely feel a sense of envy during the Geelong-Brisbane Grand Final.<\/p>\n
But by the end of November, jealousy will almost certainly turn to frustration.<\/p>\n
For both the Cats and Lions seem destined to add more talent and firepower to their respective lists this off-season and, therefore, extend their premiership windows.<\/p>\n
Watch the best build-up to the 2025 AFL Grand Final, with expert analysis and full Grand Final day coverage, on Fox Footy via Kayo | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a hard prospect for many to fathom, considering Geelong and Brisbane have arguably been the two best and most reliable teams of 2025. Not only that, Saturday\u2019s Grand Final will decide the greatest club of the past 25 years, as both the Cats and Lions have won a league-high four premierships each since 2000.<\/p>\n And yet both are about to get better.<\/p>\n \u2018IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE\u2019: REBUILDING FROM ROCK-BOTTOM<\/p>\n Although the prospect of the two clubs being perennial contenders would\u2019ve been hard to imagine for their respective fanbases at different stages over the past two decades.<\/p>\n Between 1998 and 2003, the Cats only made the finals once \u2013 and they were knocked out in the first week by eighth-placed Hawthorn.<\/p>\n Now, as triple premiership forward Cameron Mooney, they\u2019re \u201cone of the biggest destination clubs in the AFL\u201d, after bringing in the likes of Patrick Dangerfield, Jeremy Cameron and Bailey Smith.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just shows where the club is at,\u201d triple premiership forward Cameron Mooney told foxfooty.com.au. \u201cI came down to the club in 2000 and no one wanted to go to Geelong. We were the laughing stock down the road from Melbourne, the old \u2018Handbaggers\u2019.<\/p>\n Dejected Geelong players leave the ground after a 2002 loss to Brisbane. Picture: David GeraghtySource: News Limited<\/p>\n \u201cI say this all the time, it is the greatest place to bring up a young family. You\u2019re just out of the Melbourne hub, but you still get that Melbourne feel. Geelong is a beautiful place, if you want to live coastal or farmland, it\u2019s 20 minutes away from the club. A traffic jam will cost you six or seven minutes, nor an hour and six or seven minutes, as it does in Melbourne.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Cats struggled during that 1998-2003 period, the Lions thrived, culminating in three straight flags between 2001 and 2003.<\/p>\n But after losing the 2004 Grand Final, the Lions endured a lengthy period of misery, missing finals in 13 of the next 14 seasons. In every season between 2014 and 2018, the Lions finished in the bottom four.<\/p>\n In the space of one month in 2013, the core of two consecutive Lions draft hauls had essentially been wiped out.<\/p>\n A homesick Lions quintet of Billy Longer (St Kilda), Jared Polec (Port Adelaide), Sam Docherty (Carlton), Elliot Yeo (West Coast) and Patrick Karnezis (Collingwood) all returned to their home states in the last two days of the trade period. The group would quickly become known as \u2018The Go-Home Five\u2019. <\/p>\n But with patience, some defining off-field calls and a shrewd list strategy that\u2019s paid big dividends, the Lions are a successful team \u2013 and players want to come to them, years after recruiting the likes of Charlie Cameron, Lachie Neale and Josh Dunkley.<\/p>\n Michael Voss and Jonathan Brown of the Lions. Picture: Morne de Klerk\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible to imagine (considering the club\u2019s state in the 2010s),\u201d triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown told foxfooty.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cCredit to a lot of people. Obviously, \u2018Fages\u2019 (Chris Fagan) has done an amazing job and Justin Leppitsch before that when he started playing the youngsters. Greg Swann showed amazing leadership for the club, Andrew Wellington the chairman and Danny Daly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pillars of your club in terms of your off-field leadership need to be really strong and really good characters. It\u2019s a good lesson for all clubs. That is why the Lions have been able to be successful \u2013 and it\u2019s translated onto the field. It doesn\u2019t work the other way round.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018LOOK OUT\u2019: THE TRADE AND DRAFT TARGETS<\/p>\n Both Geelong and Brisbane are set to be significant players during the AFL exchange period.<\/p>\n The Cats, who mightn\u2019t play veteran No.1 ruck Rhys Stanley on Saturday, are determined to acquire highly-rated contracted Saints ruck <\/a>Rowan Marshall<\/a>, who\u2019s weighing up his future amid St Kilda\u2019s free agency play for Rowan Marshall.<\/p>\n They\u2019re also being tipped to land Hawthorn best and fairest winner <\/a>James Worpel<\/a>, while contracted dual Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow<\/a> is keen to join the Cats<\/a> \u2013 albeit a Carlton-Geelong trade will be hard to strike.<\/p>\n And in 12 months\u2019 time, they\u2019re expected to be in the race to sign Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters when his deal expires.<\/p>\n Mooney is keen to see Marshall land at the Cats \u2013 \u201cif they get Rowan Marshall, look out\u201d \u2013 but warned against going all-in for Curnow.<\/p>\n Suns refuse to confirm Curnow chat | 01:03<\/p>\n \u201cI hope they wouldn\u2019t lose Shannon Neale to get Charlie Curnow, that would be my only thing. We\u2019ve seen in finals three tall forwards don\u2019t work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cCharlie obviously has family and business things down that way. But who would know.\u201c<\/p>\n Brisbane, meanwhile, is set to sign two star free agents: Essendon ruck <\/a>Sam Draper<\/a> and West Coast forward <\/a>Oscar Allen<\/a>. The Lions had also been strongly linked to Bombers best and fairest winner <\/a>Jordan Ridley<\/a> before he declared he wanted to honour his contact and remain at the club<\/a>.<\/p>\n But arguably the biggest Brisbane inclusion will come via November\u2019s draft, with the club to undoubtedly match an inevitable top-five bid on its top academy prospect <\/a>Daniel Annable<\/a> \u2013 a clean, courageous, strong-bodied and well-balanced on-baller who has excellent stoppage craft and strong transition work ethic.<\/p>\n So highly rated and touted is Annable, who averaged 21.3 disposals, 4.9 inside 50s and 4.3 clearances from eight Lions VFL games this year, that there\u2019s a school of thought if he was on Brisbane\u2019s AFL list this year, he\u2019d be a regular member of the reigning premiers\u2019 line-up.<\/p>\n The Lions could lose Brandon Starcevich and Callum Ah Chee to free agency, but their ins would outweigh those outs clearly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important for the growth of the game, you need these local stars to come through and help promote your game,\u201d Brown said. \u201cLike (Michael) Voss and (Jason) Akermanis especially back in the day, they were the local products, it\u2019s vitally important those guys keep coming through.<\/p>\n \u201cThose academies are really important and strong, plus the Lions have had the benefit of father-sons in recent years. But that goes in swings and roundabouts, every club is the same.<\/p>\n Daniel Annable is set to join Brisbane. Picture: Josh Chadwick (AFL Photos\/via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cThey know their academy is a really important part of their development for the list and the club. They put a lot of resources into it and develop that young talent to try and get access to them in the draft. You can understand why clubs are blowing up about it and the AFL potentially will limit it, but it\u2019s very important to grow the draft pool Australia-wide.\u201d<\/p>\n IS THIS ALL FAIR?<\/p>\n As this year\u2019s Grand Finalists prepare to get better over the next few months, the likes of Carlton, North Melbourne and Carlton \u2013 whose most recent premierships were 1995, 1999 and 2000, respectively \u2013 are bracing to lose key players during the AFL exchange period before a draft pool considered shallower compared to recent years.<\/p>\n While all three clubs have featured in finals across the past two-and-a-half decades, their flag droughts remain. And it\u2019s fair to suggest few pundits will be predicting any of them to make the top eight in 2026.<\/p>\n Speaking on Fox Footy\u2019s AFL 360 on Tuesday night, league chief executive Andrew Dillon said he was \u201cnot concerned\u201d by the chasm between the best and worst teams, but suggested it was \u201csomething that we\u2019re acutely aware of\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did have that top nine, bottom nine \u2013 very different from the two seasons before,\u201d Dillon told AFL 360.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we did see this year, though, was Adelaide go from 15th to minor premiers. We had the Gold Coast make the finals for the first time ever. We had Freo for only the second time in about 10 years. So we are seeing clubs move up and down the ladder.<\/p>\n \u201cI think some of those clubs that were outside the top nine \u2013 the Swans lots of injuries, the Bombers you haven\u2019t seen an injury list like that for a while. But what we are keeping an eye on is those clubs that are down the bottom and are staying down the bottom. That\u2019s something that\u2019s taking up a bit of our attention at the moment.<\/p>\n Dillon admits Brownlow ‘progress’ needed | 02:09<\/p>\n \u201cFans want to have hope and you want to go into a season having hope and you prefer to be going in every weekend with a bit of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n Dillon was then shown the potential inclusions for both the Lions and Cats and asked if the league\u2019s equalisation measures were having the desired effect.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what we are seeing is that there are clubs that are incredibly well run and they\u2019ve got programs that players want to go to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got the three measures for equalisation: The access to talent \u2013 whether it\u2019s free agency, trade or draft \u2013 the salary cap and then we\u2019ve also got the soft cap. The clubs that can work at the best and make the best decisions, they\u2019re the ones that are defying gravity \u2013 like the way the Lions have for the last few years and also like the Cats.<\/p>\n \u201cChris Scott\u2019s record is incredible in his time there.\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s the key, as both Brown and Dillon pointed out.<\/p>\n Swann, Fagan and Daly were the stable hands the Lions needed at their lowest ebb. The Cats, since 2000, have had just two senior coaches \u2013 Scott and Mark \u2018Bomber\u2019 Thompson \u2013 while having a stable football department administration.<\/p>\n Great clubs attract great players \u2013 and that trend will only continue across the next two months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fans of 16 AFL clubs, at some stage on Saturday, will surely feel a sense of envy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1146,12259,109673,63,689,42255,3423,109679,109683,37351,109098,49774,109677,3244,12923,109664,109668,14385,3429,48824,109676,106613,109681,109667,18008,13778,81333,6306,100114,109670,109674,2105,2485,11288,6278,43,109671,109097,109665,5088,109669,12141,30404,19052,12098,25875,109675,647,3257,44,677,15836,39209,109678,60469,6082,109680,701,109672,19071,7889,14272,30907,109663,1124,1122,15628,108454,109662,109682,41,39,42,40,11236,1133,109666,13154,660,19054,23510],"class_list":["post-167147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-adam-simpson","tag-andrew-dillon","tag-andrew-wellington","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-bailey-smith","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-billy-longer","tag-business-things","tag-cameron-mooney","tag-champions-coaches","tag-charlie-cameron","tag-charlie-curnow-cats","tag-chris-fagan","tag-chris-scott","tag-clubs-move","tag-coups-loom","tag-damien-hardwick","tag-daniel-annable","tag-danny-daly","tag-david-geraghty","tag-day-coverage","tag-draft-hauls","tag-draft-pool","tag-elliot-yeo","tag-equalisation-measures","tag-exchange-period","tag-expert-analysis","tag-fairest-winner","tag-flag-droughts","tag-football-department-administration","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-grand-final","tag-greg-swann","tag-headlines","tag-home-states","tag-horse-simmo","tag-inevitable-top-five","tag-injury-list","tag-jared-polec","tag-jeremy-cameron","tag-john-longmire","tag-jonathan-brown","tag-josh-dunkley","tag-lachie-neale","tag-league-chief-executive","tag-melbourne","tag-michael-voss","tag-news","tag-oceania","tag-oscar-allen","tag-patrick-dangerfield","tag-patrick-karnezis","tag-perennial-contenders","tag-port-adelaide","tag-premiership-windows","tag-queensland","tag-regular-member","tag-rhys-stanley","tag-salary-cap","tag-sam-docherty","tag-senior-coaches","tag-shrewd-list-strategy","tag-south-australia","tag-st-kilda","tag-stoppage-craft","tag-suns-refuse","tag-the-trade","tag-top-academy-prospect","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-trade-news","tag-trade-period","tag-traffic-jam","tag-triple-premiership","tag-victoria","tag-young-talent","tag-zak-butters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}