Collingwood claim AFL title as McKenna's Brisbane fall short

Collingwood shrugged off a history of Grand Final failure to claim the Australian Football League (AFL) championship on Saturday, pipping the Brisbane Lions by four points in a thriller at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Record-holders for the most Grand Final defeats (27) in the top flight of Australian Rules football, the Melbourne-based "Pies" held firm in a nerve-shredding finish to win a record-equalling 16th title in front of a crowd of 100,024.

The result meant disappointment for former Brisbane's Conor McKenna, who was seeking to become the second player to win both a Sam Maguire Cup and an AFL Premiership.

McKenna struggled to impact the match, finishing with 13 disposals, two marks and two tackles. The Tyrone man returned to Australia having won an All-Ireland title in 2021. Tadhg Kennelly remains the only player to achieve the feat of winning both.

The 12.18 (90) to 13.8 (86) win secured Collingwood their first championship since beating St Kilda in 2010 in a Grand Final re-match after the first decider was sensationally tied.

The country's most supported team, the Magpies have now drawn level with home-town rivals Carlton and Essendon for the most championships in the competition.

"So much work goes in for so long," said Collingwood captain Darcy Moore, one of the AFL's top defenders. "So much has to go right to pull it off today. And we did it.

"It was fun to play, I'm sure it was fun to watch. We all said at half-time, 'Jesus, what an incredible game it is'."

The Brisbane Lions missed out on a fourth championship, 20 years after their hat-trick of Grand Final triumphs which included back-to-back defeats of Collingwood in 2002-03.

Relentless in the contest all day, Brisbane took the lead with just over five