AFL grand final LIVE: All the latest updates and scores as Geelong take on Brisbane at the MCG

There’s a superstition that whichever captain lets go of the premiership cup last during the grand final parade will lead his team to victory – and yesterday, that man was Brisbane’s Lachie Neale.

Last year, Sydney’s Dane Rampe let go first. In 2023, Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore held on a bit longer than Lions co-captain Harris Andrews.

‘It’s haunted me all off-season, to be honest,’ Andrews said as the 2024 season started.

‘Collingwood made a big deal about holding the cup, being the last one to let go at the grand final parade. It was a little awkward up on the stage because we’re sort of both standing there and I’m not really sure what’s happening.’

Marles is a hardcore Cats fan and he didn’t hold back at the grand final breakfast, where he’s filling in for Albo while the PM is overseas.

‘With the confidence of knowing that the actual prime minister right now is on the other side of the planet – and I very much hope that he is asleep and not watching – I hereby declare that the federal government is giving its full and official support to the Geelong Football Club today,’ he told the crowd.

‘There are those who have said to me that really, in matters such as this it’s more appropriate that the federal government remains impartial. But bugger that, this is a moment for partisan tribalism because Geelong represents everything that is right and good in this world, and Brisbane… well, Brisbane is just Brisbane.’

9:35am: Under-18s AFL Future Stars curtain-raiser match 
1:30pm: Opening act: Baker Boy, Emma Donovan and Kee’ahn
1:33pm: Toyota HiLux Lap of Legends
1:37pm: Mike Brady performs Up There Cazaly
1:43pm: Pre-Game show featuring Snoop Dogg with Tash Sultana and Baker Boy
2:09pm: Ball delivery
2:11pm: Umpire entry
2:13pm: Geelong Cats entry
2:16pm: Brisbane Lions entry
2:24pm: Delivery of the 2025 AFL Premiership Cup by Jack Riewoldt
2:25pm: Welcome to Country performed by Uncle Colin Hunter Jnr 
2:26pm: National anthem by Vera Blue
2:28pm: Coin toss 
2:30pm: Grand final starts

Think you’re keen for the first bounce? How about these ticketholders, who were jam-packed into a snaking queue outside the G long before the rest of the country woke up this morning.

Dual premiership player Corey McKernan isn’t happy with the AFL reportedly allowing goal songs in the decider, such as Lions gun Charlie Cameron’s famous Take Me Home, Country Roads, replying with a simple ‘Why’ when the news broke.

The move has divided fans online, with some saying the game is becoming too American, or the songs are being played to manufacture atmosphere on a day when thousands of fans, especially in the corporate boxes, won’t be supporting either team.

Others have no issue with it, like one who wrote, ‘Because people like fun, Corey.’

Thanks for joining Daily Mail’s coverage of the 2025 AFL grand final. The biggest day of the footy year is finally here we’ve got you covered with all the latest updates, scores and photos as the Geelong Cats take on the Brisbane Lions at the MCG.