Grand Final Day: Glory, Heartbreak and One Hell of a Curtain Call
- Gary Brigden
- Aug 7
- 14 min read
And with that the 2026 AFL London season is done. A fantastic finals day featuring four clubs across the five competitions, saw two tight contests that had you guessing the winners until the end, one close but always in control game, one blowout and one massive shock. One streak continued and one streak was ended.
Game 1 saw the London Swans take on the Wandsworth Demons and it was the Swans who came out comfortable winners, in a game temporarily halted due to a horrible injury to Demons Damian Holland - all at AFL London wish Damian the very best and quickest of recoveries.
The Swans were out of the blocks like a shot, and Ash Sly slotted the first goal in the opening minutes after good work by Callum Jepp and another followed shortly after through Zach Hancock and in a flash the Swans were 13-zip up. James Noske, shock, pulled one back for the Demons before a two goal salvo towards the end of the quarter, first through Connor Everett after a neat pass from Darcy Johnston, and it was Johnston who notched the fourth following good work by Jepp, saw the Swans take a 4.2.26 to 1.1.7 lead into what turned into an extended break.
Swans started brightly in the second quarter pinning the Demons back for much of the opening five minutes but only had a minor score to show for their efforts, before the Dees through Pat Hurley and Noske slowly got into the quarter. Rowhen McBride notched a minor for the Demons before the Swans stretched their lead with just over six minutes remaining in the quarter, Zach Hancock picked out Nic Dazeley who in turn found Josh Olver in the forward pocket and Olver converted with his left foot. The quarter turned scrappy with both sides kicking possession away but it was the Swans who struck late on with a flowing move involving Jepp, the fast hands of Johnston, Ian Ash and ended with Sam van der Kley scoring on the siren.
The Swans took a 6.4.40 to 1.2.8 lead into the big break.
The sides swapped behind early in the third quarter and it wasn't until midway through that the Swans stretched their lead. Winning the ball of the ruck, Ian Ash found Johnston and his launched ball over the head of the Dees defender found Jepp who after a fumble converted to put the Swans onto 47 points. Almost immediately they broke the 50 mark Declan Hicks won the ball up and found Olver who in turn found Tyson Wyett, Wyett despite looking up a blind alley picked up Prav Malaw who converted from two/three inches and the Swans were away and free.
The Demons responded positively and after a great mark by Hugh Cooper, his ball into the 50 was well taken on the stretch by Hurley who converted to give the Demons some hope. That was pretty quickly extinguished. Nic Dazeley was nudged under the ball and from the set shot, threw in a move to leave a Demon grasping thin air, before firing between the sticks. Scoring was completed in the quarter by Best and Fairest Dom Bowes who converted despite falling backwards under the challenge, and the Swans led 10.5.65 to 2.3.15 going into the final period.
If anyone thought the Swans would sit on the porch with a beer and cigar they were wrong and they continued to push home their advantage. Two minutes into the quarter and Johnston found Malaw who popped home number eleven for the Swans, and Johnston slapped one over from the left hand touchline.
As if to bookend things, Sly who opened the goalscoring, notched the last goal of the game and the Swans had done it, winning 13.8.86 to 2.5.17.
Game 2 pitted the runaway Minor Premiers in the Women's Conference the North London Lions against the only team that had beaten them in the regular season, the South East London Giants and it was the Giants who once again had the hex on the Lions as they recorded a stunning win.
Whenever I have seen the Lions play this season their game has been based on lots of short hand-passes and quick movement - on the odd occasions they have been forced into kicking long they haven't looked as effective, and that was clearly in the Giants game plan as they put the Lions under severe pressure when they had the ball and were all over their opponents like a cheap suit - add into that the fact that whenever the hugely influential Lucy Banks was on the ball, Suzy Taylor appeared limpet like into the challenge
The Giants opened brightly and had the Lions on the back foot in the opening minutes and were rewarded with a minor from skipper Alex Stephens, and after an arm-wrestle in the middle of the park, with both mids slamming into tackles, it was Abby D'Cruz who swooped on a loose ball, glided passed a couple to notch another minor point for the Giants.
Midway through the half and a sharp challenge by Yui Quintal stopped the Lions progress after a long ball forward. And the Giants defence continued to work tirelessly to shut anything down and somehow held firm going into the end of the quarter and on the stroke of quarter time the Giants notched another minor score. Quarter time came with the Giants 0.3.3 to 0.0.0 ahead.
The Lions hit the front two minutes into the second quarter, Lucy Newell took a mark 30 yards from goal, something was said and Newell was marched forward for a simple finish and the pre-match favourites led. Could they now break free of the Giants shackles. Final Best and Fairest Abby D'Cruz repeated her party trick from the Preliminary Final, briefly attacking her own goal before the "wrong way" shout surfaced once again.
D'Cruz picked up another minor point to narrow the gap. The midfield battle was intensifying with neither side unable to break away from the pressure, and the next score saw a minor from Dayna Richman drag the Giants back to within a point, and we hit the big break with the Lions 1.0.6 to 0.5.5 ahead.
The third quarter saw the Lions dominating possession but mainly in their own third as the Giant defence was able to keep them pinned back, bar the occasional long ball forward, and it was Ellie Hyner who levelled things up after a thumping ball forward by Lexi Spokes.
Steph Daws looked to have nudged the Lions back ahead after a long ball over the top by Zali Brunner took a wicked bounce to cause problems for the Giants defender, but her challenge was deemed dangerous and the minor point chalked off. The Giants hit the front in some style with 90 seconds remaining in the quarter. Winning a ruck, the ball dropped to Hyner who converted a superb effort from a tight angle to send the Giants into the third quarter break 1.6.12 to 1.0.6 ahead.
Early in the fourth quarter and a wicked bounce denied D'Cruz a goal, but a minor point and a "goal and a bit lead" in a low scoring game could be vital, and shortly after a wobbly D'Cruz effort stretched the lead to eight points.
After the opening minors, it was the Lions who set up camp in the Giants 50, but despite peppering the goal and goal square they had little in the way of points to show for their efforts. The Lions looked to have given themselves a chance with just over three minutes remaining, Ellie Alcock found Brunner who in turn found Daws, she passed inside and it look for all the world as if a goal would come, but Quintal came from nowhere to make the challenge and the chance went.
The win was sealed with just over a minute remaining Hyner chased a ball over the top, and found captain Alex Stephens and fittingly it was the skipper with a sweet left-footed strike to seal a historic win for the Giants ladies by 2.8.20 to 1.0.6,
Game 3 was another Swans v Demons clash in the Men's Conference and if you looked up the term "overwhelming favourites" there would have been a picture of the Swans. Averaging 103 points per game regular season whilst conceding just under 30 per game. However, this would be no pushover, the only team to get close to them were the Demons, and for three quarters of the Preliminary Final they were well in the contest.
It was though the Swans who prevailed the unbeaten minor Prems who recorded a controlled win, despite the best efforts of the Demons, who once again stopped the Swans from being their free flowing best.
With both sides able to put big numbers on the scoreboard it was a strangely subdued tight first quarter, Daniel McCallum notched the first point of the final with a minor in the opening minutes, but the Swans responded through minors by Micahel Batten, his long range effort being run behind and a couple of narrowly off target strikes by Olly Brown and Josh Kemp. Reed Jepson took a stunning one hand mark under pressure, but inexplicably - for a man with 30 plus goals to his name this season - opted to pass and the chance went begging. The Dees ended with quarter with another minor of their own, through a long range Nick Mayne effort and we went into the first break with the Swans 0.3.3 to 0.2.2 ahead.
Kemp pushed another effort wide right early in the second quarter, and Jepson uncharacteristically pushed another wide left, Blake Goodwin added another and when Fergus Lappin saw a wobbly effort cross for a minor the Swans had a five point lead, but you started to wonder if maybe it wasn't going to be their day. Would those missed chances come back to hurt them.
Well it's the Swans, so no it wouldn't, and five minutes before the big break they struck the opening goal. Batten launched a set shot goalwards but it swung left where Jepson, who else, marked and converted from a yard and the Swans had breathing space. The Demons thought they had a way back into the contest with a minute remaining in the quarter.
Swans Matthew Caddeo was pinged for a late hit on Nick Barker, but the Demons effort fade at the last and was through for a minor and it was a costly miss as the Swans went down the other end and after Jepson had marked, his hooked effort found Harry Pitts and he had the freedom of the goal square to give the Swans some breathing space and we went into the big break with the Swans 2.7.19 to 0.3.3 ahead.
The third quarter saw the Swans tighten their fingers on the noose, and despite there best efforts the game started to drift away from a gallant Demons side. The Demons pushed to get back in the game and for a long period in the third quarter it was the unsung Swans backline who were to show what they were made of, and have weather a large Demon storm, they struck twice in the dying minutes of the quarter.
Once again it was the Batten/Jepson combination that was to do for the Demons. Batten's long ball saw Jepson hold off the attentions of Ed Smith to convert on the run and stretch the Swans lead. On the stroke of three quarter time a hoiked ball up in the air was marked by Goodwin and his strike took the Swans to a 4.8.32 to 0.3.3 lead.
Given the average points conceded by the Swans this season it looked an uphill battle for the Demons to get back into the game, but to their credit they gave it their best shot, but the Swans were just to good on the day. Goodwin picked out Jepson early in the quarter to effectively seal the win for the Swans, and a long range effort from England star Fabe Barrett increased the lead by a point, before the Dees managed to hit the big points.
Ben McAuliffe bombed home a long one from wide right for the Demons first goal of the game with 13 minutes remaining, The Dees then went the length of the pitch with great interplay only for Maynes effort to drop short and Hugh Nakamura saw his hooked effort behind for a minor. Mayne then picked out Trent Dutton who took a superb mark and all of a sudden the lead was cut to 22 points, then Kale Hoggins notched another minor. A scrambled behind reduced the arrears further but time was running out for the Dees, and the Swans finished with a couple of minors to end the game. One a bundled effort pushed behind by the Demons and with a minute or two remaining Batten ended the scoring. The Swans running out 5.11.41 to 2.6.18 winners.
The penultimate game of the season saw the Womens Premiership clash between the Demons and the London Swans. The Dees were looking to end a run of four consecutive finals defeat whilst the Swans were in their first final and it turned out to be another thriller - although for three quarters you wouldn't have thought so.
The Swans had a glorious chance in the opening minute, winning the ruck the ball dropped Niamh Leahy and her well struck effort slid just wide of the left hand post for a minor score. Five minutes in and the Dees hit the front, and as it turned out they were never behind again. India Johnson won the ruck, Brigitte Morgan weaved passed a couple and found Adele Arnup, and she did what she does and fired straight between the uprights for the first goal of the game. The departing Swans legend Chelsea Fisher swooped on a clearance but despite a good connection the bounce saw the ball strike a post for another minor score.
In a fiercely contested first quarter the sides were slamming into tackles with the Dees having the better of things territorially as the quarter progressed and they increased their lead five minutes before the break. A ball up was well contested and as it dropped to Lolita Viska she hooked home a sweet effort to stretch the lead. The sides then shared minor points in the dying minutes of the quarter with Maggie Minchin scoring for the Swans and Arnup sliding one wide left for the Demons. Quarter time came with the Dees 2.1.13 to 0.3.3 ahead.
The Dees stretched their lead five minutes into the quarter, Jen Frost came through a crowd to claim a mark and from her shot, Arnup challenged in the air and the ball dropped to Viska who fired home from a tight angle. Both sides were struggling to maintain possession although for the most part the ball was down in the Swans defensive third. Liz Gordon swooped on a loose ball to fire home for a minor and shortly after Nat Meehan soccered behind for another Demons minor. Lauren Kerr then smuggled a ball out to Arnup but this time the normally deadly accurate Arnup fired wide. Despite much more possession in the Swans defensive area, the Demons were under enormous pressure whenever they got the ball and there was no further scoring. Half time came with the Dees firmly in control at 3.4.22 to 0.3.3 but knowing the Swans had the fire power to trouble them.
Saskia Taylor-Doyle scored an early minor capitalising on some scrappy Demons play and after a spell without a point, it was Taylor-Doyle who notched another minor and we went into the final quarter with the Swans 3.4.22 to 0.5.5 ahead.
We hit the final quarter and a Swans comeback started to happen, Charley Daniels pacing became more frantic, and the Swans started to put points on the board and were camped in the Demons half for long periods. The Swans struck seven minutes into the quarter, Maggie Minchin marked and although her shot was off target, a tremendous mark at the back post by Kat Dellar saw her convert and bring the Swans into the contest. Leahy nicked another minor from the top of the square as the Swans continued to press.
The Demons stretched further ahead with five minutes to go with Maebh Beresford taking advantage of a half clearance to put them 16 points ahead. The Swans got another goal with Hannah Moss bundling one over the line, but despite the pressure that was as good as it got and the Demons ended their drought with a 4.4.28 to 2.6.18 win. Another brilliant final.
Best and Fairest for the second year in a row was the incredible Saffy Lewis-Collymore. If ever a player is made for a sport Lewis-Collymore is it, quick, elusive, great hands, great kick and strong in the tackle - just an exceptional player in a strong team - and more worryingly for everyone else only in her second season.
The 2026 season ended with a thrilling game in the Mens Premiership which saw the Demons fight back from eight points down going into the final quarter to seal a fourth successive title courtesy of a sealing last gasp goal.
Three minutes in and the Dees opened the scoring, Toby Lawlers long set shot dropped short but was bundled over the line for a minor and four minutes later, after a spell of aerial contests, the Dees took the lead. James Lynne won the ruck, Mairtin Gustavo Lopez Ogormain picked up the loose ball and Brayden Irving was tripped and from the set shot he fired the Demons further ahead.
The Lions responded instantly Mark Dennigan launched the ball forward where Ben Morris marked and scored. Daniel Beddison scored a minor for the Lions to level things up and then Lions then took the lead when a scramble saw a high tackle by Angus Robertson on Billy Clark saw Clark score from a tight angle. The Dees were level with three minutes remaining in the quarter, Sam Barton ball forward was collected by Jordan Hayter who skipped past a couple of tackles to score. Blake Grewar then nudged the Demons ahead with a minor, after his effort slid by the right hand post. Quarter time saw the Demons 2.2.14 to 2.1.13 ahead.
Isaac Conway notched an early minor to increase the Dees lead and Brayden Helyar responded for the Lions to get us back to a one point game. The Demons then struck a couple of minors in quick succession, firstly going coast to coast in two kicks, Robertson launching forward and Irving firing in from distance for a point, then Blake Grewar hooking an effort just wide on the turn. Fraser Allen then launched one just wide for the Lions and again it was a one point game. Chris Williams fired a minor from wide as the sides continued to trade single points. With two minutes remaining the Dees fired the first goal of the half, and it was a sweet set shot from Irving that gave the Dees the biggest lead of the game at half time, 3.8.26 to 2.6.18
The Lions were right back in the contest five minutes into the third quarter, Allen launched one forward, Judah Edmunds took a stunning mark and a true strike pulled the Lions to within two points, and two minutes later a Beddison minor made it a one point contest, and it was a repeat performance with ten gone in the quarter and the scores were level again.
What the game lacked in points it more than made up for in intensity and tension, and it was the Lions who struck next, Edmunds found Lachie Trevorton, his long ball was gathered by Clark who raced home unopposed to score, and we had a 14 point swing in the score. Edmunds was becoming more and more influential and from a spell of pressure Rhys Lee found Daniel Leggett put the Lions seven points up.
Clark quickly found Edmunds and his strike just cleared the line and the Lions were in dreamland, and a great mark from Edmunds and from distance he hit another minor. At this point the Lions were roaring, but with just under two minutes to go in the quarter the Demons gave themselves hope. Sam Wolfenden found Conway and his ball into the 50 was superbly taken by Grewar and duly converted to bring us back to an eight point game, and we went into the final quarter with the Lions 5.10.40 to 4.8.32 ahead.
The sides swapped minor points early in the fourth quarter, through a couple of balls forced through for the Lions and Hayter and Irving for the Demons.
Trevorton crashed one over with sixteen minutes to go to take the Lions back out to a 14 point lead. The Dees had one touched over with thirteen to go, and it was back to 13 points, and with ten to go, after some deliberation between the umpires, Zach Rollason popped on through straight the middle to bring the Dees back to seven points. Irving pushed one just wide with nine to go and it was back to a one goal game.
The Dees were now putting the Lions under an extraordinary amount of pressure and when Joel Comito slotted a minor it was back to five points, and with six to go, Conway found Irving and he slotted from distance to complete a turnaround for the Dees who took a one point lead into the final five minutes. Comito saw one touched behind and the Dees led by two with minutes remaining.
With two to go, Josh Richmond almost picked out Legg at the top of the 50 but the mark was just unable to be taken. The Dees introduced Tom Davison late on, a late call up from the Mens Socials - with no Mens Premiership experience - but included as a ROW and to ensure numbers met, and in a dream scenario it was Davison who fed Sam Barton who sealed the win. And that's why the Demons four-peated, they never give in, even when seemingly out of it.
For the record the score was 7.14.56 to 6.12.48 to the Demons.
A wonderful game, thank you to both sides for the entertainment to bring down the curtain on a fantastic season.
Great report Gary! Legend.