The 2026 AFL Grand Final combatants have taken contrasting approaches to building the playing lists they hope will salute come Saturday.
Fremantle, hunting the maiden premiership that has eluded them since their AFL inception in 1995, have a balance of elite National Draft recruits, reborn commodities that were previously discarded, and targeted trades that filled obvious list needs.
The Lions, looking for the crowning premiership of a what would be a remarkable second three-peat of the modern era, built a culture that attracts talent and a culture that more often than not retains it, while being the code's most obvious beneficiaries of draft loopholes that have since been closed.
Both clubs can pat their scouting departments on the back. Savvy drafting that fills needs and brings character to their environments is a feature of both builds. Both clubs have also demonstrated an ability to lure big fish to their respective outposts, and have been unashamed in parting with draft capital to make those moves happen.
Hayden Young, Caleb Serong, Andrew Brayshaw and Murphy Reid were first-round draft picks who have more than lived up to the billing.
Luke Jackson, Shai Bolton and Jordan Clark are critically important pieces of Justin Longmuir's side. All boast at least one All-Australian jacket from their time in purple, and all were acquired via the trade period.
The Demons sent premiership player Jackson, along with Picks 44 (via GWS) and 67 in the 2022 National Draft to the Dockers in exchange for two first- and one second-round picks, spread across the 2022 and 2023 National Drafts.
It was an aggressive ploy that, one year removed from the acquisition of Clark - one of very, very few players the Cats have lost despite wanting to keep - and one that has the club primed for continued assaults on that elusive cup, even if they leave the MCG empty-handed on Saturday.
The Dockers are also characterised by cultural lynchpins who have stayed the course. Alex Pearce, the lone member of the side who was still on the list for their last minor premiership in 2015, is joined down back by fellow longest-serving Docker, Luke Ryan.
Sam Switkowski lines up for his final game on Saturday as the Docker with the equal-third-longest tenure behind the two aforementioned backs.
Some of the Dockers to have taken the long way around to feature on Saturday include Patrick Voss and Isaiah Dudley. Voss was infamously let go by the hapless list management department at the Bombers. Dudley worked for his place one summer, after impressing with Central Districts in the SANFL.
Both will hope their primary respective traits, being Voss' combative demeanour and Dudley's wicked goal sense, can inspire their side to victory against Fagan's dynastic Lions.
Those dynastic Brisbane Lions are reaping the rewards of one of the competition's most impressive journeys.
Chris Fagan boldly took the reins of a club mired in irrelevance, and has continuously displayed an unflinching loyalty at the selection table to those who have stayed the course.
Fagan's watchful, grandfatherly eye has seen a raft of his players transform from misfits of the competition to stars.
Nowhere is his loyalty more evident than in the backline that will take to the field on Saturday.
Darcy Gardiner, Harris Andrews, Ryan Lester and Dayne Zorko have a combined 56 seasons in Brisbane colours under their belt.
Andrews is the Lions' academy's greatest success story. A truly generational defender, Andrews learned his craft at the local juggernaut that is the Aspley Hornets. Zorko cleaned up best and fairest awards in sides that were almost an affront to the game itself, before emerging as arguably the competition's most damaging back-half user, and his side's on-field architect.
The Lions have struck an enviable balance on draft night, between prioritising talent in their own backyard, and backing their culture and system to keep interstate draftees in their colours - something they infamously had a problem with, before Fagan (see the "Go-Home Five").
The likes of Victorians Cameron Rayner, Hugh McCluggage and Jarrod Berry were organically drafted from their native state early in Fagan's tenure - or in the case of the latter two, just before it - and have never really looked back, such is the heralded environment built and maintained by Fagan and his off-siders.
Years later, the club proved that it was no coincidence, with Kai Lohmann and Darcy Wilmot prised out of their Victorian haunts, welcomed into the fold, and turned into match-winners.
The league was rather quick to take note of what Fagan was building, and votes of confidence during trade and free agency were quickly afforded them. Lachie Neale, Charlie Cameron, Josh Dunkley and the now-retired Joe Daniher were all critical gets for the club.
They were deals the Lions were not afraid to make, with the real story of their list build waiting in the wings.
Their academy, and the stock of former greats, were both humming.
Whilst firmly inside the window, the Lions added top-six picks Will and Levi Ashcroft (father-sons) and Daniel Annable (an academy prospect who won't feature on Saturday), and other highly sought-after premiership commodities Jaspa Fletcher (father-son and academy) and Sam Marshall, and to a lesser extent, Ty Gallop.
The Lions and their environment have continued to top up while in the window, through the savvy SSP acquisition of the returning-from-Ireland Conor McKenna, and recent recruitment of Sam Draper and Oscar Allen, via free agency.
Will Fremantle's slow burn pay its first real dividends, or will Brisbane's raft of riches again see them summit the competition?
Fremantle Dockers
Draft
National Draft
Alex Pearce - Pick 37 (2013)
Luke Ryan - Pick 66 (2016)
Andrew Brayshaw - Pick 2 (2017)
Sam Switkowski - Pick 73 (2017)
Hayden Young - Pick 7 (2019)
Caleb Serong - Pick 8 (2019)
Michael Frederick - Pick 61 (2019)
Heath Chapman - Pick 14 (2020)
Jye Amiss - Pick 8 (2021)
Neil Erasmus - Pick 10 (2021)
Matthew Johnson - Pick 21 (2021)
Corey Wagner - Pick 57 (2022)
Murphy Reid - Pick 17 (2024)
Rookie Draft
Josh Treacy - Pick 7 (2020)
Karl Worner - Pick 8 (2021)
Trade
Jordan Clark - Geelong (2021)
Luke Jackson - Melbourne (2022)
Shai Bolton - Richmond (2024)
Judd McVee - Melbourne (2025)
Free Agency
Oscar McDonald - (2023, delisted free agent)
Other
Patrick Voss - Supplementary Selection Period signing (2023)
Isaiah Dudley - Supplementary Selection Period signing (2024)
Mason Cox - Supplementary Selection Period signing (2025)
Brisbane Lions
Draft
National Draft
Ryan Lester - Pick 28 (2010)
Darcy Gardiner - Pick 22 (2013)
Harris Andrews - Pick 61* (2014)
Eric Hipwood - Pick 14* (2015)
Hugh McCluggage - Pick 3 (2016)
Jarrod Berry - Pick 17 (2016)
Cameron Rayner - Pick 1 (2017)
Zac Bailey - Pick 15 (2017)
Darcy Wilmot - Pick 16 (2021)
Kai Lohmann - Pick 20 (2021)
Will Ashcroft - Pick 2** (2022)
Jaspa Fletcher - Pick 12** (2022)
Logan Morris - Pick 31 (2023)
Levi Ashcroft - Pick 5** (2024)
Ty Gallop - Pick 42* (2024)
Trade
Dayne Zorko - Gold Coast (2011)
Charlie Cameron - Adelaide (2017)
Lachie Neale - Fremantle (2018)
Darcy Fort - Geelong (2021)
Josh Dunkley - Western Bulldogs (2022)
Free Agency
Sam Draper - Essendon (Unrestricted, 2025)
Oscar Allen - West Coast (Restricted, 2025)
Other
Conor McKenna - Supplementary Selection Period signing (2023)
* - Academy Selection
** - Father-Son Selection
