A record 14 Queenslanders will play in Q-Clash #30 at the Gabba on Saturday in the biggest game in Queensland football history.
This follows selection overnight for a game in which the Brisbane Lions go in as favourites to beat the Gold Coast SUNS.
Brisbane are coming off a 38-point loss to Geelong at the MCG last Friday night in a qualifying final in which the final margin flattered the defending premiers.
And the SUNS are riding an emotional high after a heart-stopping one-point elimination final win over Fremantle in Perth last Saturday night.
Bruce Reville, in his second AFL season at 24, will make his AFL finals debut as the ninth Queenslander in the Brisbane side after coach Chris Fagan chose him to replace injured co-captain Lachie Neale.
His first final will come in his 2nd QClash and his 23rd game overall.
Reville will join fellow Queenslanders Harris Andrews, Dayne Zorko, Will and Levi Ashcroft, Charlie Cameron, Jaspa Fletcher, Sam Marshall and Ty Gallup in a side that is without injured 2024 premiership Queenslanders Eric Hipwood and Jack Payne, and injured 2023 grand final star Keidean Coleman
Gallup, who played his first final in just his third AFL game against Geelong last week, retained his spot for what will be his first Q-Clash when coach Chris Fagan left out ex-SUN Sam Day to recall ruckman Oscar McInerney after his side was beaten by 38 points by Geelong in the qualifying final at the MCG last Friday night.
Day, who would have hoped to play against his former side, is among the Brisbane emergencies with James Tunstill and Darragh Joyce.
The SUNS stuck with the same side that beat Fremantle by a point in Perth last Saturday night and will field five Queenslanders - Connor Budarick, Alex Davies, Ethan Read, Bodhi Uwland and Lachie Weller.
They resisted the temptation to include highly-regarded SUNS Academy graduate Will Graham, who is available after a long fitness lay-off, or fellow 2023 draft Jake Rogers, who is an emergency with Ned Moyle and Oscar Adams.
The SUNS also overlooked four other Queenslanders who have played a combined 39 AFL games this year - Sam Closehy, Leo Lombard, Alex Sexton and Jed Walter.
In other AFL semi-final selection last night, Adelaide dropped Hugh Bond to welcome the return of Josh Rachelle for tonight’s Adelaide Oval clash with Hawthorn, who recalled Mitch Lewis for the injured Calsher Dear.
Queenslander Ben Keays will play his second final for the Crows after a quiet game last week in the Crows’ qualifying final loss to Collingwood, and Queenslander Mabior Chol will play his fifth final for the Hawks.
The winner of the Crows – Hawks game will meet Geelong in one preliminary final next week, while the winner of the Lions v Suns game will take on Collingwood in the other preliminary final. Both will be at the MCG.
In Sydney, Queenslander Lachie Keeffe announced his retirement after 119 games with Collingwood and GWS from 2011-2025. This comes as he looks forward to the birth of his second child in a fortnight.
And in Melbourne, ex-junior basketball international and Lions utility tall Tom Fullarton was delisted by Melbourne. The 26-year played two games in 2024-25 with the Demons after 19 games from 2020-23 at Brisbane.
The 14-man Queensland contingent for QClash29 and QClash Final #1 obliterates the record for most Queenslanders in an AFL final, set in 2004 and equalled last week when Brisbane, with the eight Queenslanders listed above, lost to a Geelong side which included Cairns junior Jack Bowes.
In 2004, when Brisbane beat St.Kilda by 80 points in a Gabba qualifying final, Michael Voss led a home side that included Jason Akermanis, Mal Michael, Robert Copeland and Joel Macdonald against a Saints outfit with four Queensland products - Nick Riewoldt, Max Hudghton, Trent Knobel and Brett Voss.
For the second week in a row the Lions’ side will include three teenagers and eight players aged 22 or younger.
Gallop (19), Marshall (19) and Levi Ashcroft (18) were three of only four teenagers playing in week one of the AFL finals, with Fremantle’s Murphy Reid (19) the other one.
Eight players aged 22 or younger in the Lions semi-final side is three more than were in the grand final side last year - Kai Lohmann (21), Will Ashcroft (20), Jaspa Fletcher (20), Darcy Wilmot (20) and Logan Morris (19) – with the three teenagers the inclusions.
The Lions will take a 21-8 aggregate QClash record into Saturday night’s sudden-death sell-out, and the comforting knowledge that they have won the last seven games between the clubs at the Gabba.
The last time the SUNS beat the Lions at the Gabba was Round 5 2018 in what was Zac Bailey’s second game and Cam Rayner’s fifth game. Only Bailey, Rayner, Andrews, Zorko, Cameron, Ryan Lester, Darcy Gardiner, Hugh McCluggage and Jarrod Berry of that side will play on Saturday night.
The only ‘survivors’ from that SUNS side are Brayden Fiorini, who received the three Brownlow Medal votes, Ben Ainsworth, David Swallow, Lachie Weller, Jarrod Witts and Touk Miller, who won the second of his four Marcus Ashcroft Medals.
Saturday night’s monster game will be the 180th AFL ‘derby’ between the two clubs from each of Queensland, NSW, Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales – and just the sixth derby final. And oddly, the ‘younger brother’ teams have a 3-2 record.
In Sydney, the GWS Giants beat the Sydney Swans in their first three finals meetings by 36 points at the Olympic Stadium in 2016, by 49 points at the SCG in 2018, and by one point in Launceston in 2021 before the Swans prevailed by six points at the SCG last year.
In Adelaide, the Adelaide Crows beat the Port Adelaide Power by 83 points at Football Park in 2005, while in Perth the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers have never met in a final.
Charlie Cameron, needing a lift after a career-low two possessions against Geelong last weekend, will play his 25th AFL final on Saturday night.
He’ll be just the 40th player in AFL history to this mark, and the second Queenslander behind Brownlow Medallist Jason Akermanis, who split 28 finals across Brisbane (22) and the Western Bulldogs (6).
Jason Dunstall and David Hale (21) are next on the Queensland finals list from Michael Voss and Marcus Ashcroft (19). Harris Andrews and Dayne Zorko will play their 17th final on Saturday night to join Nick Riewoldt in equal 7th place on the finals list, ahead of Kurt Tippett (16).
Joel Selwood holds the AFL record for most finals at 40, while Cameron is one of seven current players to have hit 25. The others are Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury (32) and Steele Sidebottom (27), Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield (29), the retiring Mitch Duncan (28) and Mark Blicavs (27), and North Melbourne’s ex-Sydney captain Luke Parker (26).
The Lions will be well on their way to a win if Cameron can hit the other finals milestone that is within reach on Saturday night – 50 finals goals.
He needs three more to join the legendary Dunstall, who kicked 78 finals for Hawthorn, behind the half-century. Riewoldt kicked 41 finals goals for St.Kilda.
Zorko will play his 27th QClash to maintain his three-game lead on the QClash Honour Roll over ex-Gold Coast captain David Swallow, who will play his 24th on Saturday after his match-winning heroics of last Saturday night in Perth.
Zorko also leads the all-time QClash possession list, while Cameron is the leading QClash goal-kicker all-time.
Zorko, who had a career-high 40 possessions in QClash #26 at the Gabba in Round 8 last year, is also one of four players to have had 40-plus in a QClash.
Brisbane’s Tom Rockliff (47) and Pearce Hanley (45) hit 40 in the same game in Q-Clash #8 in 2014, and Gold Coast’s Brayden Fiorini (41) had a career-best in Q-Clash #22 in 2021.
Cameron’s six goals in Q-Clash #18 in 2019 gives him a share of the Q-Clash single-game goals record with teammate Zac Bailey, ex-Lion Ash McGrath and inaugural Sun Charlie Dixon.
Q-CLASH – KEY STATS (top 10 plus ties)
GAMES
26 – Dayne Zorko (B)
23 – David Swallow (GC)
21 – Ryan Lester (B)
19 – Daniel Rich (B)
18 – Harris Andrews (B)
17 – Touk Miller (GC)
17 – Jarrod Harbrow (GC)
16 – Hugh McCluggage (B)
16 – Darcy Gardiner (B)
16 – Eric Hipwood (B)
16 – Ben Ainsworth (GC)
POSSESSIONS
559 – Dayne Zorko (B)
472 – David Swallow (GC)
408 – Touk Miller (GC)
402 – Hugh McCluggage (B)
395 – Daniel Rich (B)
371 – Tom Rockliff (B)
351 – Pearce Hanley (B/GC)
340 – Lachie Neale (B)
317 – Ryan Lester (B)
316 – Jarrod Harbrow (GC)
GOALS
35 – Charlie Cameron (B)
27 – Tom Lynch (GC)
22 – Eric Hipwood (B)
22 – Ben King (GC)
21 – Dayne Zorko (B)
19 – Joe Daniher (B)
18 – Alex Sexton (GC)
16 – Dan McStay (B)
16 – Ben Ainsworth (GC)
15 – Zac Bailey (B)
15 – Lincoln McCarthy (B)
BROWNLOW MEDAL VOTES
12 – Jarryd Lyons (B/GC)
11 – Lachie Neale (B)
10 – Pearce Hanley (B/GC)
9 – Tom Rockliff (B)
9 – Touk Miller (GC)
9 – Dayne Beams (B)
8 – Dayne Zorko (B)
7 – Brayden Fiorini (GC)
6 – Simon Black (B)
6 – Gary Ablett (GC)
TACKLES
142 – Dayne Zorko (B)
89 – Touk Miller (GC)
87 – David Swallow (GC)
69 – Tom Rockliff (B)
66 – Jarrod Berry (B)
66 – Matthew Rowell (GC)
65 – Jarryd Lyons (B/GC)
63 – Hugh McCluggage (B)
60 – Jarrod Witts (GC)
58 – Daniel Rich (B)
58 – Gary Ablett (GC)
CLEARANCES
85 – David Swallow (GC)
82 – Touk Miller (GC)
75 – Dayne Zorko (B)
70 – Lachie Neale (B)
69 – Jarryd Lyons (B/GC)
66 – Hugh McCluggage (B)
64 – Tom Rockliff (B)
61 – Matt Rowell (GC)
60 – Gary Ablett (GC)
56 – Daniel Rich (B)
GOAL ASSISTS
20 – Hugh McClugggage (B)
16 – Ben Ainsworth (GC)
15 – Dayne Zorko (B)
13 – Jarryd Lyons (B/GC)
12 – Pearce Hanley (B/GC)
11 – Daniel Rich (B)
11 – Tom Lynch (GC)
10 – Callum AhChee (GC/B)
10 – David Swallow (GC)
9 – Tom Rockliff (B)
9 – Charlie Cameron (B)
9 – Cam Rayner (B)
9 – Touk Miller (GC)
9 – Gary Ablett (GC)
ASHCROFT MEDALS
4 – Touk Miller (GC)
3 – Dayne Beams (B)
2 – Gary Ablett (GC)
2 – Jarryd Lyons (B)
2 – Pearce Hanley (B)
2 – Dayne Zorko (B)
2 – Lachie Neale (B)
1 – Jared Brennan (GC)
1 – Simon Black (B)
1 – Tom Rockliff (B)
1 – Jonathan Brown (B)
1 – Matthew Leuenberger (B)
1 – Charlie Dixon (GC)
1 – Tom Lynch (GC)
1 - Mitch Robinson (B)
1 – Charlie Cameron (B)
1 – Zac Bailey (B)
1 – Will Ashcroft (B)