On 22 September 2023, the MCG shook as Collingwood held off Greater Western Sydney by a single point—8.10 (58) to 8.9 (57)—in a preliminary final that felt like two seasons compressed into two hours. Three years later, as Brisbane and Sydney prepare for the 2026 Toyota AFL Grand Final after split preliminary victories, entry queues at the stadium are swelling for open training sessions and members’ events, and the AFL’s digital channels have put the Pies–Giants classic back in heavy rotation.
Why that night still matters
The labour and rule desks matter elsewhere; this story is the play itself: Toby Greene dragging the Giants back from a 27-point third-quarter deficit, Steele Sidebottom’s clutch mark with seconds left, Josh Daicos finding space on the wing while 97,665 fans screamed. Collingwood lost key forward Daniel McStay to a knee injury when the contest was still a shootout; Jack Ginnivan entered as substitute and became part of the folklore. GWS coach Adam Kingsley called it cruel; Magpies supporters called it destiny. Neutral fans called it the best preliminary final they could remember.
The tactical footnote is modern defence: both sides finished with eight goals apiece, a scoreline that would have looked like a 1970s slog but played out as a transition shootout. Collingwood’s intercept circle, then anchored by Darcy Moore, bent but did not break. GWS’s midfield run through Josh Kelly and Tom Green forced the Pies to win a stoppage war in the last six minutes—1 minute and 18 seconds of clock time with the lead at one point, an eternity at the MCG.
2026 finals context
This year’s preliminary final weekend belonged to other colours. Hawthorn and Brisbane fought out a nine-point thriller at the MCG on 19 September—Brisbane 20.11 (131) to Hawthorn 19.8 (122) in front of 97,835—while Sydney hosted Fremantle at the SCG on the Friday night slot. Collingwood’s September ended earlier after a wildcard defeat; the Giants missed the eight. That makes the 2023 replay a cultural bridge for fans who will not see black-and-white or orange in the 2026 decider.
AFL House marketers lean on anniversary footage because it is rights-cleared, emotionally charged and free of spoiler risk. Membership teams at both clubs report upticks in foundation-seat enquiries whenever the match airs on multichannel replays—nostalgia converting to ticket waitlists even when the current list is mid-table.
Queues, crowd management and the ground
Grand final week turns the Olympic Boulevard concourse into a checkpoint maze. MCG management has advised fans attending open training to arrive early, carry clear bags and expect magnetometer delays comparable to preliminary final night. Security contractors hire seasonal staff who may not know that 2023’s near-breach at the wing where Daicos gathered the last possession still features in coaching clinics as a lesson in spacing.
For travellers, Public Transport Victoria will run enhanced rail services for the 26 September decider; hotels in Richmond and East Melbourne are already at compression pricing. Scalpers remain a risk—Scamwatch warnings about fake finals tickets circulated nationally last week—so purchasers should stick to Ticketek and official member allocations.
What players say now
Collingwood leaders from that night have scattered—some retired, some at rival clubs—but the pattern they set persists: high pressure, low margin, trust the system when fatigue hits. GWS has rebuilt twice since, yet Greene’s third-quarter surge remains the template for how the Giants want to play on the MCG’s wide wings. Young defenders in both academies watch the tape to see how Maynard and Quaynor navigated Greene’s crumbs without free kicks.
Brisbane and Sydney will write their own chapter on the last Saturday in September. Until then, the preliminary final that ended on this date in 2023 is the reference point for what “classic” means—one point, two proud lists, and a queue outside Gate 3 that already feels like finals fever even when the teams inside the story are home on the couch.
For members who sat in the outer that night, the sensory memory is the point: the muffled roar when Greene snapped toward goal, then the collective inhale when Sidebottom marked. Replay packages cannot reproduce that pressure, but they remind the AFL’s broadcast partners why preliminary final tickets still sell out in minutes when the venue is the MCG.
