AFL Finals Week 3 Results, Highlights & Expert Analysis

Fremantle survive Geelong by 14 and Brisbane blow Adelaide away by 53. Both semi-final results, how our tips went, and the preliminary finals draw.

AFL 2026: Finals Week 3 in Focus

Both home sides held, which is not what the week before suggested. Fremantle and Brisbane had each been beaten in a qualifying final, Fremantle by 32 and Brisbane by 53, and both arrived with a fortnight of questions attached. Both answered them, one narrowly and one emphatically.

That sets the preliminary finals: Sydney host Fremantle at the SCG and Hawthorn host Brisbane at the MCG. Catch up on our Finals Week 3 preview.

Fremantle 18.12 (120) def Geelong 16.10 (106)

Friday 11 September, Optus Stadium. A 14-point win in a game that swung both ways. Geelong got on top for a period and Fremantle weathered it, which was the specific question hanging over them after Hawthorn shut them down a fortnight earlier.

Luke Jackson was the difference with 25 disposals, 35 hitouts and two goals, a ruck performance that gave Fremantle first use through the middle when the game was there to be lost. The night was not without controversy: an Ollie Dempsey goal for Geelong was not awarded, a decision that occupied a fair amount of the post-match conversation.

Our preview leaned on Perth. We pointed out that the two had met three times there and Fremantle had won twice, and that the Optus Stadium record was the strongest case for the home side. That held. We also wrote that these two do not play close games, with none of the previous six decided by a goal or less, and a 14-point final margin is on the tighter end of that pattern rather than a break from it.

Our tip: Fremantle to win by 1-12. Winner correct, margin just outside.

For the complete statistical head-to-head, see our full Fremantle vs Geelong head-to-head record.

Brisbane def Adelaide by 53 points

Saturday 12 September, the Gabba. No contest. Brisbane, who had been beaten by 53 by Sydney a fortnight earlier, handed out exactly the same margin and are into a fourth consecutive preliminary final.

Adelaide’s season ends a week after their first finals win in nine years. The schedule was always the problem: a second final in seven days, interstate, against a side that had the week off and a point to make.

This was the call we were most confident in and it was the right one. The Gabba record was decisive: Brisbane had won all three previous meetings there and the only blowout in the fixture was their 52-point home win earlier in the season. A 53-point margin is that pattern repeating almost exactly.

Our tip: Brisbane to win by 13+. Won.

For the complete statistical head-to-head, see our full Brisbane vs Adelaide head-to-head record.

How our tips went

Match	Our tip	Result	Outcome
Fremantle v Geelong	Fremantle by 1-12	Fremantle by 14	Winner correct, margin just outside
Brisbane v Adelaide	Brisbane by 13+	Brisbane by 53	Won

 

Two winners from two, one margin band correct and one missed by two points. The venue records did the work in both games, which is the thing worth carrying into the preliminary finals.

The bracket after week three

Club	Where they are
Sydney	Home preliminary final at the SCG, earned by beating Brisbane in the qualifying final.
Hawthorn	Home preliminary final at the MCG, earned by beating Fremantle in the qualifying final.
Fremantle	Travel to Sydney.
Brisbane	Travel to the MCG.
Geelong	Eliminated.
Adelaide	Eliminated.

 

Preliminary finals

Match	When (AEST)	Venue
Sydney v Fremantle	Friday 18 September, 7:40pm	SCG
Hawthorn v Brisbane	Saturday 19 September, 5:15pm	MCG

 

Sydney against Fremantle is the fifth finals meeting between the clubs and the record stands at two wins each. The winners meet in the Grand Final at the MCG.

Finals Week 3 talking points

Both qualifying-final losers won, which is the point of the double chance. Fremantle and Brisbane were beaten a fortnight ago by a combined 85 points and both are still alive. Finishing in the top four bought them a second life and both used it.

Brisbane handed out the exact margin they received. Beaten by 53 by Sydney, they beat Adelaide by 53. A fourth straight preliminary final for a club that has now made September a habit.

The elimination-final winners both went out in straight sets. Geelong and Adelaide each won in week one and lost in week two. The reward for surviving an elimination final is a road trip against a rested, wounded top-four side, and this year neither could take it.

Venue decided both games. Fremantle at Optus and Brisbane at the Gabba were the two strongest home-ground arguments in the bracket and both came in. That is worth remembering with Sydney at the SCG and Hawthorn at the MCG this week.

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