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Fremantle activated Wharfie Time for the first time at the MCG after Patrick Voss put the Dockers 17 points up with four minutes 18 seconds left, but Brisbane Lions stormed back to win the 2026 AFL grand final by seven points.
Fremantle's Wharfie Time backfired in the 2026 AFL grand final as the Brisbane Lions came from 17 points down to win by seven points at the final siren.
At 5:05pm on Saturday, September 26, Dockers forward Patrick Voss kicked a goal to put Fremantle 17 points up and took off around the boundary to celebrate. There were four minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the match. After taking a 10-point lead into three-quarter-time, Voss' goal had opened up the biggest margin of the desperately tight contest. It was his third goal and it looked to have sealed the match.
The Dockers were on the cusp of winning their first premiership, having entered the competition in 1995. Only one team this century had led at the final break of the grand final and lost. Fremantle officials decided the moment had arrived to unleash Wharfie Time on the MCG for the first time. It was the third time in the 2026 season they had pushed the button, and just the 11th time it had been given a run.
The Dockers had never used Wharfie Time when holding a bigger lead, but such calls were not made on a whim. The criteria before any activation, developed by the executive in consultation with all parts of the club including the football department, had been met. By Saturday, after 10 previous implementations for five wins, a draw and four losses, the guidelines surrounding what would prompt the activation of Wharfie Time were refined.
It could only be activated within the final five minutes of the match, which was not the case until this season, and at a crucial juncture with the scores close. The club had engaged with the football department and players to gain their imprimatur throughout. At Optus Stadium, the decision could be made whether the Dockers were in front or behind on the scoreboard.
Wharfie Time Activation Rules For Grand Final
But for the first time, because it was a grand final and needed AFL approval to become part of the day, Wharfie Time could only be activated after a Dockers goal. They had lobbied the AFL hard all week for the right to deploy it. Everyone was on board and the process sprang to life.
A message from the Dockers' hierarchy went to a club official who had arranged at half-time to be near the AFL official responsible for getting the message to Lumen8 Media, the company responsible for activations at AFL venues. The exact person who said go remains clouded in secrecy, but CEO Simon Garlick, who played 189 games including the 1996 grand final with Sydney, supported the call.
The ground grumbled to life as bells rang, Dockers supporters went nuts and purple lights ran around the MCG perimeter. On Fox Footy, Hawks legend Jason Dunstall immediately recognised the danger. He said: There is time on the clock. In the middle, Brisbane Lions champion Josh Dunkley began waving his arms around in an attempt to rally the troops, who were ready to meet the moment.
The Brisbane Lions were not ready to give up. In the final team meeting on Friday, assistant coach Dale Morris had shown a picture of the crowd erupting at Optus Stadium and played the Wharfie Time audio. The players agreed that if they heard that sound it would be the signal to charge back at the opposition. Kai Lohmann compared their approach to throwing down a reverse Uno card.
Zac Bailey sparked the fightback with a goal, and the Lions continued to push forward. The Brisbane Lions staged a stunning comeback, and in the end they came out on top by seven points at the final siren. To most Victorian football fans, the experience was new, but for Dockers loyalists it had been anything but a victory lap.
Simon Garlick Explains Wharfie Time Strategy
Garlick explained on SEN WA on Tuesday that the initiative was to essentially lift the crowd in a critical moment late in the game. An abridged version had sprung to life for the first time against the Lions on August 6, 2023 when a Michael Frederick goal had dragged the Dockers within two points with 1:09 left on the clock.
The bells, which signal the start of AC/DC classic Hells Bells, had rung around Optus Stadium and the phrase Wharfie Time had appeared with graphics of a boat crashing through purple waves. TV commentators did not mention it and, although the crowd roared, it did not lift Fremantle over the line. The Lions hung on to win by three points. The first four deployments of Wharfie Time had hardly created an expectation it could turn a game the Dockers way.
Pushing the button when the Dockers were trailing had only led to one draw, against Collingwood in 2024, and three losses. But it had created exactly what the Dockers wanted, a fan experience like no other.
Shrouded in mystery as to when and how it was implemented, fans attending Optus Stadium reacted with fervour every time the bells tolled, once in 2023, twice in 2024, and five times in 2025 before it became embedded in the national consciousness this season as the Dockers attracted more than 50,000 fans to home games 10 times in a row. The first time casual observers from eastern states noticed Wharfie Time was when it sprung to life during a Thursday night match against Hawthorn in round nine when Frederick kicked a goal to put the Dockers within four points with four minutes, eight seconds remaining.
Wharfie Time Success Against Hawthorn
The Dockers kicked a goal 19 seconds later as they ran away to win by 15 points. It was the first, and the only time, the activation of Wharfie Time when the Dockers were trailing had ended with Fremantle in front at the final siren. Suddenly the football world recognised its potential power. Hawthorn was asked how they would respond if they faced Wharfie Time in the qualifying final.
Word leaked out that it had been mentioned in their preparation. Dockers fans and the media were calling for it to be activated more often than it had been, such was the atmosphere it created.
brisbanetimes 
theage:The inside story of ‘Wharfie Time’ – the moment that spurred the Lions to a flag 
smh:The inside story of ‘Wharfie Time’ – the moment that spurred the Lions to a flagThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Wharfie Time Fremantle Dockers Brisbane Lions Patrick Voss Simon Garlick Dale Morris Josh Dunkley Zac Bailey AFL Grand Final 2026
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