{"id":906526,"date":"2026-09-26T19:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T19:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/906526\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T19:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T19:02:14","slug":"afl-grand-final-2026-wharfie-time-backfires-on-fremantle-brisbane-lions-players-comments-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/906526\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL Grand Final 2026: Wharfie Time backfires on Fremantle, Brisbane Lions players comments, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brisbane players spoke about what they\u2019d do when the Wharfie Time bells rang<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The night before, as revealed by the Herald Sun\u2019s Jon Ralph<\/a>, Lions players were told in their team meeting: \u201cWhen you hear that, go and win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly what transpired late in the fourth quarter of Saturday\u2019s mesmerising decider<\/a>. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Watch full and mini replays of the 2026 AFL Grand Final with Fox Footy commentary, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

Fagan reflects on epic grand final win | 18:43<\/p>\n

With four minutes remaining in the Grand Final, Fremantle led by 17 points. <\/p>\n

Patrick Voss had just saluted with his set shot from almost point-blank range and gone on a wild celebratory rampage. <\/p>\n

And then, after initially holding off on hitting \u2018go\u2019, AC\/DC\u2019s \u2018Hells Bells\u2019 tolled around the MCG. <\/p>\n

Elated Fremantle supporters went manic in reaction. <\/p>\n

Neale reflects on emotional farewell | 00:59<\/p>\n

But little did they and the Dockers players know it at the time; instead of spurring the club to its maiden premiership, \u2018Wharfie Time\u2019 galvanised the lethal Lions. <\/p>\n

Brisbane won the next four centre bounces, and kicked the game\u2019s last four goals to utterly devastate Fremantle. <\/p>\n

Many will speculate over the timing of the Wharfie call, but according to several Lions players, the reaction would\u2019ve been the same regardless of when it came. <\/p>\n

Brisbane Lions complete the three-peat! | 00:28<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about Wharfie Time, and making that our energy,\u201d Lions champion Josh Dunkley said post-game on Channel Seven. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I felt like when we all looked around at centre bounce, and Wharfie Time came on, we all looked at each other and connected. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we grew a leg and got it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Departing Brisbane dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale provided some detail on the club discussions leading into the game. <\/p>\n

Lachie Neale speaks about Brisbane’s preparation for Wharfie Time.Source: Channel 7<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spoke about it (Wharfie Time) quite early in the week. Obviously, they\u2019ve used it a couple of times, and we knew that it\u2019d been accepted for today if the game was close and they kicked a goal,\u201d Neale said on Seven. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe spoke about using that as fuel for us to put the foot down and go. If you see the footage, Josh Dunkley is in the middle, and he\u2019s getting the arms up for our boys \u2014 so, great leadership. <\/p>\n

‘Doesn’t get much worse than that’ | 00:59<\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant \u2018go time\u2019 for us as well, so I\u2019m sure Freo were trying to get a lift, but we spoke about making sure it gives us a lift as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dual All-Australian Dayne Zorko added: \u201cOnce they played Wharfie Time \u2014 it wasn\u2019t really a focus for us during the week, but we wanted to use it against them. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like we clicked into another gear; it was absolutely insane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dayne Zorko speaks about Wharfie Time galvanising Brisbane.Source: Channel 7<\/p>\n

As many have since pointed out, it\u2019d be a shock to see \u2018Wharfie Time\u2019 come out again following Saturday\u2019s events. <\/p>\n

MORE GRAND FINAL COVERAGE:<\/p>\n

MATCH REPORT: Best GF ever as Lions in rarest air after staggering \u2018Wharfie Time\u2019 disaster<\/a><\/p>\n

LIONS PLAYER RATINGS: Star in \u2018Dusty territory\u2019 after insane 8-min blitz; skipper\u2019s big twist<\/a><\/p>\n

DOCKERS PLAYER RATINGS: Why we thought Norm Smith was wrong; unlikely \u2018impassable\u2019 force stuns<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018WORST CALL EVER\u2019: How Wharfie Time doomed Freo as \u2018extraordinary torture\u2019 laid bare<\/a><\/p>\n

NORM SMITH STUNNER: Shock winner named as Freo star makes rare AFL history<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brisbane players spoke about what they\u2019d do when the Wharfie Time bells rang. The night before, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-906526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906526","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=906526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}