Ranking the 10 best AFL semi-finals of this century

This may have been Hawthorn’s best win since the ’91 flag as they travelled to footy park to take on a heavily favoured Port Adelaide outfit looking to respond to their defeat to the eventual premier Lions.

The match ebbed and flowed for majority of the first three quarters before the Power broke away to a three kick deficit with three goals in as many minutes.

While it seemed Hawthorn would peter out to an honourable loss from this stage, they refused to do so, kicking the first two of the last through Nathan Thompson, cutting the margin to four.

Both sides went goal for goal, with Port Adelaide continuing to respond to Hawthorn’s jabs until a late goal to John Barker gave him his second for the quarter and gave the Hawks an astonishing three-point lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Hawthorn won all the critical contests in the dying stages before the siren sounded on a stunning victory and a preliminary final berth against Essendon.

After years of bottom four finishes and wooden spoons, the Brisbane Lions had finally found themselves up the top of the AFL tree once again, finishing top four in 2019 under new coach Chris Fagan.

Having been smashed by the eventual premier Tigers in the qualifying final the week before, they were tasked with winning a heavily favoured semi-final against GWS, who were putting together a success story of their own under Leon Cameron.

It was brilliant battle of momentum and lead changes throughout the match, with the Giants holding the lead for majority of play after kicking the first four goals. The Lions looked to be suffering stage fright until flicking a switch and booting five quick goals to steal the lead back before quarter time. Superstar Charlie Cameron was heroic for the Lions, suffering a gruesome injury to his right arm in the opening 90 seconds before kicking two pivotal goals, including a 55m bomb in the third.

Inaccuracy plagued Brisbane for the second half as the Giants kicked away once again and looked to be overpowering the Lions at the Gabba. They kept fighting, however, and in a fourth quarter war of attrition, the match was evenly split and up for grabs for either side.

Brisbane stole the lead early in the fourth, before Josh Kelly bit back.

An unlikely hero in Allen Christensen then capitalised with a clutch set shot from the boundary to give the Lions a three-point lead at the 24 minute mark.

Three minutes of intensity then led to Brent Daniels finding out the back of a contest and running into a check-side finish to steal the lead back with 2:35 remaining.

A late intercept mark to Phil Davis quelled Brisbane’s hopes as the Giants shut out the game and won a famous semi-final.

Oh what drama! This one’s still fresh but will absolutely hold up as one of the best games of 2024, when Ken’s men stopped Sam’s brash young Hawkers dead in their tracks.

Hawthorn was favoured comfortably to eliminate the second-placed Power on their home deck, coach Ken Hinkley and the boys responding to an embarrassing 84-point trouncing at the hands of the Cats. And the ringleader of ‘Hok-ball’ Jack Ginnivan certainly fuelled the finals fire heading into the match, making his confidence of a win known to the social media world.

The two sides played out a war of attrition for the ages at the Adelaide Oval, Port Adelaide setting the tone out of the blocks with the first three majors, all hard fought. Hawthorn took their time but responded in quick succession, capitalising on some fortunate, though controversial umpiring calls.

The Power kept responding to Hawthorn’s challenges, rookie Nick Watson kicking three big-time goals, including the first of the last from a textbook crumb to tie the match.

Youngsters Mitch Georgiades, Jase Burgoyne and Jason Horne-Francis each stood up with the crowning goals of their short careers thus far as the Power burst the lead out to three kicks.

Hawks skipper James Sicily was thrown forward to change the game, and did he ever.

The defender found space at a stoppage inside 50 and snapped truly, before narrowly missing another chance minutes later.

Jack Ginnivan kicked a clutch snap to cut the margin under a kick, before Georgiades again stepped up with a ship-steadying major in time-on.

Like Sicily moments before, Finn Maginness found the footy on the spread inside 50 and cut back to four points at the 30-minute mark.

At the 34-minute mark, Sicily charged at a hacked kick inside 50 and took an inspired grab on the run for a chance to win it…. His kick agonisingly hit the post.

The final siren at the 36-minute mark marked arguably Port Adelaide’s most iconic win under Ken Hinkley, an achievement soured somewhat by a post-match sledge hurled at Jack Ginnivan and the Hawthorn mob, sparking a media tirade in the aftermath.

This match is remembered for two dramatic moments; Jack Anthony’s match-winning set shot, and a heartbroken Adelaide local agonising over an alleged robbery against his beloved Crows, delivering the famous “right in front of me” quote.

What many don’t remember from this match was the start, which saw Adelaide blitz the Magpies to a five goal quarter time lead which they maintained heading into the half.

Collingwood responded with a third quarter from the top shelf, kicking seven in a row to establish a double-digit lead for themselves, forcing the Crows to respond.

Three heroic fourth quarter goals to Kurt Tippett, including a 55m set shot from the boundary to take the lead was exactly the response they needed as the Crows looked to be stealing victory in the dying stages of the match, preceding the ultimate finish.

A Nick Maxwell clearance inside 50 led to Ben Rutten holding free kick to Jack Anthony, who went back with a chance to win the game with a set shot.

He kicked truly, sending the ball back to the middle with a five-point Collingwood lead and roughly 10 seconds remaining. The Magpies held out the final seconds for a dramatic victory, and a shot at a Grand Final berth against Geelong.

Semi-final weekend in 2024 was one to remember; kicked off by Friday night’s dramatic Ken Hinkley triumph before immediately being eclipsed by the biggest finals comeback this century.

The way this game played out was incomprehensible, Brisbane producing a below average first-half spectacle while the Giants capitalised down the other end, though not to the margins they should have.

44 points was the margin as we entered time-on on the third quarter, before a scintillating patch led by young gun Will Ashcroft saw Brisbane boot five goals from just 18 kicks, clawing the margin back under two goals in nine minutes of action.

Queue Coleman Medal-winner Jesse Hogan with two huge contested clunks to set up two ship-steadying goals ahead of three-quarter-time. But we were in for a riveting final term at ENGIE Stadium.

Champion forward Toby Greene took the margin back out beyond five goals early in the fourth, but a wasteful GWS outfit couldn’t extend it further, and Brisbane were surging.

Eric Hipwood, Charlie Cameron, Dayne Zorko and Jaspa Fletcher all got on the end of some chaotic Brisbane ball movement, channelling Chris Fagan’s ‘dancing on ice’ mantra of the 2024 September campaign.

The Lions charged back into the game but still trailed by seven points 27 minutes into the final term, before Joe Daniher unleashed the greatest three-minute stretch of his career thus far.

A set-shot from 50 hemmed on the boundary line was arced perfectly by the big forward, swinging back with the breeze and sailing through to cut the margin to one point.

30 minutes in, standing one-out with the best defender in the competition, Sam Taylor, Daniher beat his man to the footy and clunked an inspired contested mark, before cooly slotting the set-shot to give the Lions the lead.

35 minutes in, the siren sounded on the second largest finals comeback in VFL/AFL history, surpassing all but Geelong’s 47-point fight back in 1931.

Brisbane were victims again two years later in an even more dramatic semi final at home against the Bulldogs.

Having choked a top four spot in the final round of the home & away season, the Bulldogs were always the dark horse contender for a premiership, but had to beat Brisbane in hostile territory to give themselves a shot.

From the opening bounce, the Dogs made it clear they were in for the fight, with two early goals to Tom Liberatore, soon matched by some explosive Charlie Cameron brilliance, who got the Lions rolling with three first quarter majors himself.

From here, both teams wrestled with small leads each before Brisbane broke to a three goal deficit late in the third, answered crucially by a long Jason Johannisen goal heading into the fourth.

The final term was an all-time display of clutch finals footy. Jack Macrae added to his 39 disposals with a set shot major to cut the margin to four. Young star Bailey Smith then assisted a Josh Schache goal to give the Bulldogs the lead, before kicking one himself to expand it.

Brisbane responded through an unlikely hero in Tom Fullarton and as we hit time on.

With just over two minutes remaining, the match was tied, Bontempelli was forced out of the match injured, but the Bulldogs were heading inside 50.

With ice in his veins, Bailey Smith stepped up again, gathered the footy and nailed a left foot drop punt from 40 out on the boundary to give the Dogs a stunning lead.

But the drama did not stop there as Brisbane surged the footy inside 50 where it found the hands of Zac Bailey running into an open goal to square it up once again with 74 seconds remaining.

Unbelievably, the Bulldogs gave themselves one final chance with yet another inside 50. once again it was Bailey Smith who crashed a forward 50 contest, leading to a solitary point to give them the lead. The Dogs held on for the final 50 seconds and secured their best win since 2016.

While there may be recency bias attached to this pick, it’s hard to beat a two-point victory in front of more than 96,000 at the MCG to give Carlton their preliminary final berth since 2000.

Last Friday night’s match had all the intensity, turnovers, clutch moments, individual performances and drama one could hope for out of a semi-final.

Mid-way through the first, it was all Melbourne, dominating around the ground and establishing a 21-2 lead after a Christian Petracca shot from the boundary.

Carlton hybrid big man Tom De Koning was the one who stepped up to get Carlton back into the game with their first two goals of the match before the Blues found their groove.

Three quick second quarter goals put them in a strong position as Melbourne’s inaccuracy began plaguing them.

The third quarter lifted the drama of the match beyond belief as both sides ping-ponged the footy back to each other and kept the match at even money.

A superb five minute patch from Kysaiah Pickett saw him set up Bailey Fritsch with a lightning pick-up and handball for a run-in major, before mesmerising a forward 50 pack and dribbling through a goal to give the Dees the lead heading into the last.

The crowd then witnessed the most memorable final quarter of the season so far, as Carlton pegged the lead back after some Sam Walsh brilliance, giving him his second goal to go with 34 crucial touches in a clear best-on-ground performance. Matt Owies put the Blues in front and it was Melbourne’s turn to respond.

They did just that through Pickett and Fritsch again who stole the lead right back in a dominant patch for Melbourne giving them a nine-point lead. This lead should have expanded if not for five critical behinds, including two posters and an unfortunate max Gawn touch on the line from what looked like a Clayton Oliver miracle.

Jesse Motlop kept the Blues in it with a clutch snap before the most nervous five minutes of the season unfolded in front of a raucous MCG crowd.

A pivotal Jack Viney turnover found the hands of Jacob Weitering, who laced out young Ollie Hollands in the middle of the ‘G before finding Sam Docherty on his own.

Docherty beat his man, ran, and sent the ball inside 50 where Carlton’s finals hero, Blake Acres snatched the deciding clunk and goal which sent the stadium into delirium.

Less than a minute remained for Carlton to hold on, as the ball found Demons hands for one last surge, the siren sounded and generated a deafening roar from the Carlton faithful in their best win since 1999.

This was one of the greatest finishes in sporting history, let alone the best semi-final this century. Led by the heroics of one man, this Sydney vs Geelong classic preceded a historic Sydney run which ended with the Swans holding up the premiership cup two weeks later with their first flag since 1933.

It was a scrappy, low-scoring affair at the start of the final quarter with the Swans managing just 3.12 on the scoreboard and trailing by a seemingly insurmountable four-goal margin at the SCG.

Already one of Sydney’s best on the night, Nick Davis kicked off the comeback with a boundary line snap which suddenly opened the door, and began a miracle patch of individual brilliance.

A Ryan O’Keefe torpedo inside 50 found Davis’ chest one again before he went back and slotted another. Margin: nine points.

11 minutes later, Davis finds the footy inside fifty and launches a snap from 45 out on the run with multiple Cats on his tail, cutting the margin to three as the footy world watched on in awe.

Nearly 30 minutes into the last, Sydney have the ball locked inside 50 with just about every player on the field surrounding a forward stoppage in the closing seconds.

Like a freight train, Davis crashed the stoppage and somehow managed to get boot to ball in a kick that sailed through the big sticks and left commentator Anthony Hudson in disbelief. “I see it, but I don’t believe it” he exclaimed as jaws dropped around the nation. Sydney lead by three points as the ball went back the middle.

The ball was bounced, the siren sounded, and Sydney celebrated one of the greatest finals wins before trotting on to a Grand Final victory in perhaps the greatest finals run in AFL history.