AFL grand final LIVE: Star’s moment of magic turns the grand final on its head – but there’s a controversial sting in the tail for footy fans

Jeez, they needed that first one from Logan Morris. The Cats were looking to build momentum early in the second term but that turned it around beautifully.

Now Charlie Cameron has pulled off one of his trademark wonder goals, snapping true from an extreme angle on the boundary. Wonderful bit of play there.

However, with the AFL playing goal celebration songs at the grand final for the first time, we’re also treated to Cameron’s famous Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver – and a lot of fans and even some footy legends are unhappy.

They reckon the songs make the game too American and the noise of 100,000 fans at the MCG should be enough to provide the atmosphere. You can read all about it below.

The decider hasn’t been tied at the main break since 1909.

Brisbane kicked four goals to three in the second term, and Patrick Dangerfield has hailed both sides’ defence but wants his teammates to use the ball better and ‘clog up’ the Lions.

First Levi Ashcroft majored for the Lions, then Brad Close hit back for the Cats. All locked up with under two minutes until the main break.

Shannon Neale, take a bow. That was a booming kick, a very difficult shot, and he knew that was a winner as soon as it came off his bootlaces.

Hugh McCluggage had a difficult job to do there but executed it perfectly. Much better kicking from the Lions in this quarter. If they could just fix that discipline problem…

They’ve given away 11 frees to Geelong’s 3, and almost gave a goal to Ollie Dempsey off the back of yet another holding the man call there.

Jack Bowes capitalises after the Lions give away their fifth free kick of the match, this time for holding the man. Brisbane are their own worst enemy at the moment, between the bad discipline and wayward kicking.

We’ll go with Max Holmes, who has 11 disposals, 323 metres gained, three inside 50s. Kai Lohmann has been a big threat for the Lions but Will Ashcroft is making a lot of noise too.

The Lions are behind in a bunch of stats categories – kicks, handballs, disposal efficiency – but they are leading the clearances and hit-outs.

Bailey Smith has been quite, Cam Rayner has given away two frees, and the Lions have made 24 tackles to Geelong’s 13.

They’ve kicked six behinds, with another shot on goal going out on the full. Geelong fans will remember a similar scenario hitting their team in 2008, when they were upset in the grandy by Hawthorn. The Lions are getting into the forward 50 just fine, but Cats pressure and their own mistakes have stopped them getting the maximum benefit.

Oisin Mullin caps of a lightning break down the field after Brisbane could only get a behind out of a period of dominance.

Mullin was all by himself there as the Cats broke them wide open with some slick ball movement.

Kai Lohmann nailed that from 50 out, straight in front, after marking to cap off some great lead-up work down Brisbane’s right wing.

Sam De Koning should’ve been able to kick the first but missed a relatively easy shot after marking strongly.

No matter – Oliver Dempsey nails it from about two metres out as the Cats’ defensive pressure pays off.

They’re winning the clearances 6-2 at the moment, turning two of those into shots on goal.

The Geelong skipper has just emerged from the tunnel and is on the boundary. Don’t fret, Cats fans – apparently he just had to use the toilet.

And as I write that, Darcy Wilmot misses and the Lions are up by two.

Neither team has settled into anything vaguely resembling a rhythm. It’s frantic out there – wild kicks, especially from the Lions, desperate defence… it’s verging on headless chook areas.

Zac Bailey misses a shot on goal and the Lions are up by a point.

Kai Lohmann has been split on the head after copping a nasty knee from a teammate. Doesn’t look concussed at all, but he’s off to be patched up now.

Ryan Lester puts in an awful kick as the Lions try to work it out of their end, where Geelong have set up camp early.

Possession switches over on the wing before Patrick Dangerfield executes a great lead to mark – and his kick is punched through for a behind.

Brisbane won the toss and are kicking to the city end.

Bailey Smith gets involved almost straight away but there’s no clear win at the bounce for either team as Ashcroft gets the first free of the grandy.

He launches it to the goal square but Jack Henry marks and Geelong slam it up the field, but Jeremy Cameron can’t get hold of it.

Uncle Colin Hunter Jr wasn’t exactly cheered when he took centre stage, you could definitely hear boos and jeers just before he got started.

Geelong ran out first, and the Lions have just emerged, with a huge BELIEVE on the back side of their banner.

Who Am I was last up on the playlist, with some backing on electric guitar, and the crowd at the MCG has gone nuts at the end of Snoop’s set.

The reaction has been overwhelmingly the same online, too, with some fans calling it the best pre-game entertainment they’ve seen, and several applauding the AFL for having it all over the NRL when it comes to musical entertainment.

Snoop got through some of his biggest hits, but there were no controversial lyrics, which was a worry when news that he’d been chosen to perform first broke. There was the odd drug reference, such as in Gin and Juice, but it was overall a kid-friendly set.

Got a few bars of Still Dre there with Baker Boy on the didgeridoo before Snoop cuts to Gin and Juice. That would have to be one of the shortest cameos ever for the Aussie rapper, it lasted about five seconds.

Snoop has just got through Sweat, now he’s into Signs. No controversial lyrics yet, and the reaction from fans has been very positive so far…

Beautiful follows as Jess Mauboy joins the hip-hop icon on stage…

Snoop is revving up the crowd on the big screen before entering the ground, telling the Cats and Lions supporters to ‘give me more’ as an American-style marching band plays.

‘I know what makes greatness,’ he tells them in a prerecorded video.

Then he appears in a predominantly white outfit with his name on it and performs with the band marching out to the stage in the centre of the field with him.

He’s into Nuthin’ But A G Thang on a blue and white stage – hello, Geelong fans – before getting into Drop It Like It’s Hot

Lachie Neale is confirmed as Brisbane’s sub, with Jhye Clark filling that role for the Cats.

The annual procession featuring retiring stars and other big names is making its way around the boundary…

The Aussie rapper has kicked off the pre-game musical entertainment with his song Thick Skin, clad all in white with his backup performers in black, so they kind of look like a Collingwood cheer squad.

Bruce McAvaney only does one game of footy a year nowadays, and he’s sorely missed by footy fans.

Many TV viewers have hailed him online, with some petitioning Channel Seven to get him back on the job full-time.

With the rapper getting ready for the game in a campervan just outside the MCG (pictured below), instead of a green room inside the ground, fans have been trying to get pics and videos of the hip-hop legend – and his security guards aren’t happy.

Supporters have reportedly had their phones taken off them by Snoop’s minders, who have deleted footage and images from them.

The Gin & Juice rapper’s campervan is parked next to a makeshift fence on Brunton Avenue, which runs right alongside the G, and he has been popping out for the occasional appearance with VIPs.

Screens will be set up so he can walk into the ground unseen by the public for his pre-game performance, which begins at 1.43pm.

The Lions boss has given fans a sneak peek at what he’ll be saying to the players just before they run out.

He’ll be speaking about Jarrod Berry (pictured below with Fagan), who made the amazing call to stand aside for the grand final after dislocating his shoulder.

Fagan said ‘brotherhood is one of our strong values at the club’ and Berry’s selfless decision goes right to the heart of that.

The Cats skipper (pictured below with Rhys Stanley), fresh from his stunning performance in the prelim against Hawthorn, has arrived, with his teammates also off the bus and the Lions on the way.

Both teams are staying very close to the MCG but the vast majority of them get the bus instead of walking, for security reasons.

There’s a sea of hoops on the way into the MCG…

The rapper is holed up in a big RV just outside the MCG instead of being housed in a green room at the ground, like previous stars who’ve given the pre-game performance at the grandy.

A picture has surfaced showing Snoop’s vehicle parked next to the ground, just behind a makeshift fence.

Snoop performed a set at St Kilda’s famous Hotel Esplanade on Thursday night (pictured below), and put in another set at the Ms Collins nightclub last night.

Channel Seven has just broadcast footage of Smith arriving at the MCG, without his speed dealer sunnies, three and a half hours ahead of the first bounce. Their vision didn’t show any teammates with him and it’s unclear if he rocked up with any fellow Cats.

‘Has he got the time wrong?’ Geelong great Cameron Ling said on Seven’s coverage, with other panel members also scratching their heads over his arrival.

It’s been widely reported that Neale, who is under an injury cloud with a bung thigh muscle, will be the Lions’ starting substitute – but Brisbane footy boss Danny Daly has just been on Melbourne radio saying that the club ‘haven’t made a decision yet’.

The fitness influencer’s romance with the Cats star appears to be over and she didn’t accompany him to the Brownlow Medal – but she put up this image of a cat’s face drawn in the sand on her Instagram just a few minutes ago.

From the looks of her other posts this morning, she’s enjoying the beach with her kids in Queensland instead of making a last-minute dash to see him try to win his first grand final at the MCG.

Cats fanatic Lochie Keats got the below ink when his side smashed Sydney in the 2022 decider after making a bet with a mate over a few beers – and he has promised to get an update on Monday if Patrick Dangerfield leads the side to a win this afternoon.

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.’

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.’

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.