Ahead of Collingwood and Brisbane's clash for premiership glory, cast your mind back to some of the great grand final displays in recent memory.

Footy's biggest stage has long-been a place for flashes of brilliance, triumph in deciding moments and best afield performances from Indigenous VFL/AFL stars.

When the Pies meet the Lions in front of a humming MCG, the likes of Bobby Hill, Charlie Cameron and Keidean Coleman are poised to add more chapters to the list below.

Could the Eagles have brought home their first flag without the tearaway game from a favourite son?

Was it a returned hero who made the difference for his boyhood club to break the Lions' streak almost two decades ago?

Is 22 disposals from an untapped gem the best football story of the decade?

The last Saturday in September is scattered with memories of deadly moments.

Unsurprisingly, the Rioli family gets a few mentions, starting with the first Tiwi export to light up the then VFL.

Maurice Rioli's Norm Smith v Carlton - 1982

If it wasn't for Maurice Snr there's a good chance the following list might be a lot slimmer.

It's been 41 years since Rioli took home the Norm Smith medal in 1982.

After an impressive seven-season tenure in the WAFL with South Fremantle, Rioli jumped across the Nullarbor for a VFL switch.

He landed at the Tigers' doorstep ahead of the '82 season.

Within a year he was a cult-hero with Punt Road faithful and opposition supporters alike.

Against a golden-era Carlton outfit the Tigers let a half-time lead slip to hand the Blues their 14th flag.

Despite his team falling short, the 25-year-old spent the afternoon weaving through traffic with relative ease to deliver the ball into Richmond's front 50.

That's when he wasn't getting in front of the sticks himself.

The match is equally famous for Helen D'Amico's streak across the MCG in front of 107,000 fans.

Less than distracted, Rioli clinched the medal for best-on-ground along with three goals for the match.

Peter Matera's five goals v Geelong, 1992

The first non-Victorian club to compete in a grand final quickly became the first to taste premiership success when West Coast came back from a two-goal deficit to sink Geelong in the 1992 grand final.

The western state's maiden flag came just seven seasons after the Eagles entered the league in the early wave of the Victorian game's quest for national expansion.

Fittingly, it was a dashing Noongar man putting the team on his back to get the job done.

Norm Smith medallist? Peter Matera.

Goals kicked? Five.

From where? The wing.

Only topped by WAFL and Eagles' champion Peter Sumich (6) for most goals on the ground, Matera carved up the right side time and time again to launch bombs through the goals as Cats defenders bent their backs to watch the ball sail over their heads.

The effort lodged him in the hearts of West Coast fans and AFL history forever.

Michael Long, THAT goal in the baby Bombers' triumph over Carlton in '93

"In the middle now Michael Long. Look at this boy go!"

"Away goes Michael Long. 50 metres out. Still going! 30 metres out. Oh, what a play! It may have been touched on the line.. No!

"One of the plays of the year."

Michael Long's goal early in the 1993 grand final is forever etched into footy folklore.

It's one of the all-time great moments, thanks in part to continued controversy over whether Steven Silvagni got a shaving on the ball as it passed his fingers.

What might be forgotten out of the day is Long's overall influence on the match.

He notched up 33 disposals, eight marks, a pair of goals and the Norm Smith.

The Bombers took home the honours at a packed MCG in '93.

'97-98. Andrew McLeod's back-to-back masterclasses in Crow's flags

The boy from Darwin was pivotal in the Crows' maiden premiership in 1997 grabbing 31 disposals around the ground to help the South Australians clinch the flag.

Despite St Kilda's Robert Harvey and Nathan Burke getting more of the pill, McLeod's 11 marks and three tackles made the difference in the judge's eyes for who to hand the Norm Smith.

Leading up to Adelaide's premiership defence in 1998, McLeod put on a show with seven goals against the Bulldogs in the preliminary final.

One week later he once again walked off the MCG with two medals around his neck now a duel premiership player and duel best-on-ground in the deciding game with another 30 touch effort against North.

Wanganeen's fairytale, Pickett's show: Port spoil Brisbane's party in '04

Gavin Wanganeen helped Port Adelaide bring home their first flag since entering the AFL in 1997 after a successful bid as one of the country's best sporting clubs with countless SANFL premierships.

The Powers' jump to the national competition was enough to convince one Essendon premiership hero and former Brownlow medallist back to his boyhood club.

After a shy first half, Wanganeen went off in the later stages.

He kicked four second half goals as the tide turned against the Lions and Port ran home with the win.

On his side was eventual Norm Smith winner Byron Pickett.

Pickett had three majors of his own - grinding out possessions through the tough stages and putting finishing touches on his performance as momentum took hold.

Just 20 touches was enough to see him claim best-on-ground honours.

According to Wanganeen, Port's Indigenous players had met in the hotel the night before the game to arrive on the shared agreement if they all played well the almighty Lions would end their streak at three straight flags.

Cyril's 3v1 effort v Geelong '08

With just a goal in it and seven minutes until the third change, everything was on the line between the fancied Cats and smokey chance Hawks.

At 19 years old, Cyril Rioli showed a dose of what would come throughout his career on his side's defensive wing.

Stuart Dew's hurried kick out of back fifty should have been snapped up, if not easily handled, by the three-strong convoy of Geelong players surrounding the young Rioli.

Instead, repeated efforts turned a sure inside fifty entry into a 50/50 ball and eventual free kick under serious pressure.

The Hawks would go on to record one of the great upsets in recent times.

Travis Varcoe gets things started v Magpies in 2011

Varcoe had a knack for getting things started on the last Saturday of September.

Against the Pies in 2011, Varcoe strolled out of the centre square after gathering a hand pass from Joel Selwood at the opening bounce to gift the Cats a dream start with a long bomb at goal.

Seven years later he did it again, this time for Collingwood.

Although the Eagles would steal the game late with a famous play (more on that later), Varcoe still retired as a two-time premiership player.

'Jetta Wins the gold medal': A footrace for the ages in Swans v Hawks 2012

It wasn't a goal and it's wasn't a Norm Smith. It was however enough to lift every bum off their seats.

In the early stages of Sydney's triumph over Hawthorn in 2021 the Swans got a little win in the wrestle.

Deep in their back fifty Lewis Jetta took off in front of fellow speedster Cyril Rioli for a classic moment.

Over four bounces the gap between them neither closed nor widened as the sea of players seem to part around them.

The Swans would later absorb the Hawks pressure to kick a pair of late clutch goals.

Adam Goodes' right foot dribbler out of stoppage gave his side some breathing space, and a platform for Nick Malceski's sealer with six minutes on the clock.

Brothers off the field, foes on it: Stephen and Bradley Hill face off in 2013

In 2013 Stephen and Bradley Hill became the first brothers to line up against one another in a grand final for more than 100 years.

Eldest of the pair, Stephen, had already cemented himself in a Dockers line up as they pushed for their first premiership.

It was the younger, less experience Bradley's day however.

The Hawks would go on to win the first of their three consecutive flags in what would become one of football's greatest dynasties 11.11 (77) 8.14 (62).

Cyril Rioli goes ballistic v Eagles 2015

When the footy viewing public looks back at the three-peat Hawks between 2013-15, they seldom remember their grand final wins weren't as easy as they might seem today.

Whether they would topple the Dockers was unknown, Sydney were hot favourites in 2014 and West Coast presented another tough contest.

But the Hawks had Cyril.

It was another best afield for the Rioli family when the then 26-year-old kicked two early goals to set the tone for Hawthorn.

Among them was Hawthorn's opener and a second within minutes to go toward a game-high 10 score involvements for the match (four direct assists).

He was the runaway winner with 13 votes out of a possible 15 for Norm Smith.

Liam Ryan's massive bump on Maynard, hand in premiership deciding passage of play v Collingwood 2018

Collingwood were hot early before a rampant West Coast came back into the contest to rip the premiership cup from their grasp in 2018.

In the middle somewhere, a crunching hit from Liam Ryan showed his side meant business.

The bump wouldn't define Ryan's day.

Amongst the litany of storied grand final moments, Dom Sheed's dead-eye set shot to steal the flag sits somewhere towards the top of the list.

Without Flyin' Ryan's input seconds before it might never have happened.

It went; McGovern out of back fifty, Vardy mark and moves on, Ryan marks while sandwiched between two Pies before having the game sense to play on and deliver inside fifty.

The resulting goal handed West Coast their fourth flag.

Marlion Pickett looks totally at home in debut v GWS 2019

The news was massive.

The first grand final debutant in 67 years.

His composure; dumbfounding. His touch; flawless. His spin out of pressure; almost comical.

The goal? Electrifying!

It was one of the great footy stories; a life turned around by the opportunity presented from the competition's benchmark in the first mid-season draft.

What came of it was a grand final performance for the ages.

In the end Pickett had 22 disposals and a third place finish in the Norm Smith as he lit up an otherwise ordinary game vs GWS.

Marlion Pickett's influence on the 2019 premiership decider will go down in history.

Stengle's 12 month rise from obscurity to flag hero

In 2021 Tyson Stengle was running around with Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFL after being shown the door by the Crows after off-field indiscretions.

12 months later, after being handed a lifeline by Geelong, he was quickly being heralded as the recruit of the year.

Stengle kicked 53 goals from 25 games in the hoops across 2022.

He'd quickly slotted into the Cats' artillery up front as a touch of x-factor behind bulking key forwards Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron.

On grand final day, Stengle kicked four goals in their 81-point thrashing of the Swans.

He and Eddie Betts embraced after the final siren. The Carlton and Adelaide great has played a huge role in bringing Stengle to the club.