Fremantle Fans watch on at the Esplanade Park in Perth, Australia, on Sept. 26, 2026. Janelle St Pierre/Getty Images
Clashes between footy fans have prompted dozens of arrests after fights between unruly supporters broke out during and after a nail-biting AFL grand final.
Melbourne’s MCG hosted a capacity crowd of 100,023 for the history-making game with fans from across the country descending on the Victorian capital.
By Sunday, many interstate visitors were slowly making their way home after Lions supporters celebrated a historic victory and Dockers fans came to terms with the crushing reality their team’s premiership dream was ripped away.
More than 40,000 fans descended on the streets of Fremantle on Saturday to watch the game, with clean-up efforts well under way on Sunday afternoon.
WA police said they were called to several public order incidents during and following the match, including fights and disorderly behaviour resulting in 26 arrests and 45 charges.
A group of people allegedly assaulted two police officers during the arrest of a 25-year-old man on Saturday afternoon.
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A female police officer received a laceration to her head while the male officer received an injury to his knee, WA police said in a statement on Sunday.
Cheerier scenes played out for Brisbane Lions fans, who flooded the inner-Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy clad in maroon, blue and gold, keeping the celebrations going from late Saturday night well into Sunday afternoon.
Victorian police said they were pleased with fans’ behaviour during and immediately after the match and no arrests were made.
However, nine people were evicted from the grounds over their behaviour and one penalty notice was issued, police said.
In Queensland, police noted no game-related incidents.
But some fans making their way home from Melbourne were met with frustration on Sunday as multiple flights were delayed or cancelled.
Anticipating a peak travel period coinciding with the AFL finals, airlines added extra flights into and out of the city in the lead-up to Saturday’s game.
Melbourne Airport welcomed 243,000 passengers on Thursday and Friday, with 52 extra return flights from Perth during the week compared to the same week a year earlier.
Saturday’s bad weather and crew issues on some Virgin flights caused flow-on effects for Sunday’s services, a Melbourne Airport spokesperson told AAP.
Virgin cancelled one Perth-bound flight and four other services were cancelled across the network.
Live flight data showed hour-long delays for flights leaving Melbourne for Brisbane.
By Samantha Lock
