Another fascinating battle between two of the top teams in the modern era awaits this weekend, with Geelong and Brisbane set to battle it out to decide who will be the 2025 AFL Premiers. 

The two teams squared off in the Qualifying Final just three weeks ago, with the Cats prevailing by 38 points in a dominant display, snapping a three game losing streak against the Lions. 

Chris Scott deployed a number of intriguing strategies in the match, sending Mark O'Connor to Cam Rayner and Oisin Mullin to Hugh McCluggage, with the battle in the coaches box just as important as anything else. 

Check out the main things to watch in the Grand Final, proudly presented by Deakin University. 

Ladder 

Geelong: 2nd

Brisbane: 3rd

Finals Results

Geelong

• Qualifying Final: Geelong 16.16 (112) def Brisbane 11.8 (74)
• Preliminary Final: Geelong 17.13 (115) def Hawthorn 13.7 (85)

Brisbane

• Qualifying Final: Geelong 16.16 (112) def Brisbane 11.8 (74)
• Semi Final: Brisbane 14.16 (100) def Gold Coast 6.11 (47)
• Preliminary Final: Collingwood 11.5 (71) def by Brisbane 15.10 (100)

Points For 

Geelong: 2652

Brisbane: 2325

Points Against 

Geelong: 1873

Brisbane: 2034

Deakin Performance Stat of the Week 

Winning the Clearance Battle

It was touched on heavily in the build up to the Qualifying Final, but stoppages have been a big area for concern for Geelong in recent years against Brisbane. 

The Cats managed to flip the script in first Final, winning the clearance battle 38-37 which was the first time they had come out on top in the clearances against the Lions since Round 4 in 2022. 

Brisbane found their groove over the past fortnight, beating Gold Coast around stoppages (+18) in the Semi Final and Collingwood (+9) in their Preliminary Final. 

Recent Geelong v Brisbane Clearance Stats

One of the big points of difference in all three of Brisbane's Finals has been Hugh McCluggage. 

In the Qualifying Final, Oisin Mullin did a superb job in a negating role keeping McCluggage to 14 disposals and three goals. Since then the Lions star has had 33 and disposals and 10 clearances against Gold Coast, and 37 disposals and 10 clearances against Collingwood. 

There will be plenty of intriguing battles right across the ground, but it all starts in the middle and will go a long way to deciding who will be the 2025 Premiers. 

Controlling the Lions ball movement

Another very interesting trend to come from the 2025 Finals Series and the season in general has been Brisbane's ball movement, often looking to control the play and accumulate large numbers of uncontested marks. 

Geelong were able to take this away from the Lions in the Qualifying Final, taking 10 more marks for the game and similarly to the clearance battle, it was the first time the Cats had beaten Brisbane in this statistic for quite some time. 

But the following two Finals painted a very different story, with Brisbane able to control the play and get the game on their term, taking 29 more marks than Gold Coast and 36 more marks than Collingwood. 

Harris Andrews was a big factor in Brisbane's last two Finals with his ability to control the ball across half back, making Shannon Neale's role even more important on Saturday afternoon. 

Stopping Will Ashcroft's forward run

While there will rightfully be plenty of attention on the likes of Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley, Will Ashcroft is another big game player that has the potential to break games wide open. 

The Cats were able to limit his impact in the Qualifying Final, keeping Ashcroft to 60% disposal efficiency and just five score involvements, both well down on his season average.

The last two weeks also showed how damaging he can be, collecting a game high 11 score involvements against Gold Coast in the Semi Final and nine score involvements against Collingwood. 

Taking out last year's Norm Smith Medal, Ashcroft has proven that he can get it done on the biggest stage of all, something Geelong will need to nullify on Saturday. 

AFL's Leading Disposal Winners