POST GRAND FINAL 4 THOUGHTS - 28.09.2026

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Mark Duffield (0:59)

We'd love to get your thoughts, questions, and reactions. 487 736 736 is the text line. 1312 55 is the Barra and Doday open line. Barra and Doday, because the little things are everything. Let's move on to four thoughts on sport to get us rolling this morning. So thought one is on Shay Bolton's Norm Smith medal. It was a controversial one. More proof, as if we need it, that best player lists are highly subjective. I certainly had Bolton in Freemantle's best three or four, but I did have three probably ahead of him, and a fourth just as good.

Just my view, nothing more. I thought Hayden Young, Caleb Sarong, Luke Jackson was super, and I thought Heath Chapman was terrific. But Bolton's ability to get into space and shift the ball a long way quickly was pivotal.

Probably would just have liked him to use the ball a little bit better a couple of times when he was in a position to score.

Thought two is on that Josh Tracy miss. So Tracy, as always, seemed to be a fast learner. This was a very hard lesson. He got caught in the moment, I think. He just needed to pop the ball through, not drive it into the third tier of the grandstand. I'm confident he'll learn.

I'm a massive fan of the way Josh Tracy plays. He didn't have a dominant final series, but his ability to crash packs and get to contest after contest was still there even when he wasn't dominating. I'm expecting the big kahuna to be back bigger and better next year, but this will be a bitter pill to swallow. Fight three is on Josh Dunkley. Now, people rave about Will Ashcroft, and yes, he is a gifted player, but Dunkley's big-bodied selflessness is the key to Brisbane's midfield brilliance. He blocks, he tackles. He tackled 12 times on Saturday. He laid a couple of critical smothers late in the game. He pressures, and he makes the opposition gun he gets sent to earn every possession. I'll make a prediction here. If Dunkley goes down injured, the Premiership run comes to an end for Brisbane. He is irreplaceable. And finally, fourth thought on Lockie Neal and that Tribunal hearing.

It is a poor reflection on the AFL Tribunal and the AFL that we all knew the outcome of the week of hearings when Neal was initially cited and the process started. Whether it took one or two hearings, he was getting off, and we're so desensitised to it now, we just shrugged our shoulders and said, oh well, Fremantle are going to have to beat Brisbane with Neal. So to the AFL, if you're going to have a rule, enforce it, and don't make up terms like compelling and exceptional circumstances to exonerate a bloke who has already hit three blokes previously. The only difference was he got fined, not suspended. That bloke knew the rule and the consequences when he stepped onto the field for his preliminary final. If you aren't prepared to enforce the rule when it's not convenient, then don't have it, and we can just go back to the bad old days when blokes were getting winded by gut punches around stoppages all the time, and a terrible example was being set for all football at the very top level. Remember, that is why the bloody rule was brought in in the first place. Give us your thoughts and questions. 487 736 736 is the text line. 1312 55 is the Barra and O'Day open line. Barra and O'Day because the little things are everything. After the break, we'll be talking grand final with Scotty Watters, Made in WA for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SENWA.