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Brisbane Hosts Sydney in AFL Round 16 at the Gabba
Sydney faced Brisbane in an AFL match at the Gabba on 25 June 2026. The game began at 7:32 p.m. under clear conditions. A former umpire also appeared in court that day on betting fraud charges.
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Sydney hosted Brisbane in an AFL Round 16 match at the Gabba on 25 June 2026. The contest started at 7:32 p.m. local time with the temperature at 16.3 degrees Celsius and clear skies, Abc reported. Lachie Neale secured an early clearance for Brisbane.
Sydney entered the match in second place on the ladder after averaging 112.7 points scored and conceding 78.4 points per game in the 2026 season to that point. Brisbane sat eighth after averaging 101.8 points per game. Sydney regained Errol Gulden after a shoulder injury from three months earlier against Brisbane, along with Tom McCartin following a concussion and Peter Ladhams from VFL duty.
Matt Roberts, Hayden McLean and Harry Kyle were omitted. Brisbane welcomed back Ryan Lester from injury and omitted Shadeau Brain. The sides met six times in the prior three seasons.
Brisbane won the 2024 AFL Grand Final by 60 points, Round 2 2025 by 4 points at the SCG, Round 20 2024 by 2 points at the SCG and Round 14 2023 by 16 points at the Gabba. On the same day, former AFL umpire Michael Pell, 35, appeared at Melbourne Magistrates' Court with Donovan Pell and Mitch Lucas on charges linked to alleged Brownlow Medal betting fraud in 2021 and 2022, Abc reported.
Magistrate Patrick Southey dismissed defence arguments over legislative loopholes and stated that the alleged conduct did affect betting outcomes.
Police allege Pell shared inside information on Brownlow votes, leading to about $300,000 in winnings. Pell made his AFL umpiring debut in 2021 and reached the main list in 2022. All three men pleaded not guilty and remained on bail.
