Knight’s 2026 Premiership posters unveiled – and you can get one
Wharfie time or a pride of three-peat lions? Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight has unveiled his iconic 2026 Premiership posters. Find out how to get yours ahead of the AFL Grand Final clash
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Wharfie time or a pride of three-peat lions? No matter the result on Saturday, Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight has both bases covered.
Unveiling the two potential Herald Sun Premiership Posters for 2026, Knight said the posters captured two very different Grand Final stories ahead of the historic clash between the Fremantle Dockers and Brisbane Lions.
While the posters celebrate both teams competing for premiership glory, they also continue a longstanding tradition of raising money for sick children at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), Melbourne.
With all proceeds from the sale of the posters donated to the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, executive director Rebecca Cowan said that every poster sold directly supports lifesaving equipment and medical care at the RCH.
“It’s wonderful to see this beloved Grand Final tradition continue to flourish* year after year,” Ms Cowan said.
The posters have raised more than $8.2 million since they were first drawn by legendary Herald Sun cartoonist William Ellis Green (WEG) in 1954. Commemorating* Footscray’s first and only premiership that year, WEG’s iconic* posters continued for more than 50 years.
So committed was the artist to the Good Friday Appeal for sick children that he discharged himself from hospital two weeks before the 2008 Grand Final to ensure he could draw the posters. He passed away peacefully at home just after Christmas with his family and wife Joan that same year.
This is not the first time award-winning cartoonist Knight, who has been drawing the posters since 2009, has been asked to tweak an initial design. Ahead of past season deciders, St Kilda requested changes to the head on its 2010 poster, Collingwood took issue with a heavily tattooed magpie and Melbourne complained the Demon looked, well … “too demonic*”.
For families who have relied on treatment from the Royal Children’s Hospital, the Appeal carries meaning far beyond the footy field.
Excited Brisbane supporter Blake, a former patient at the hospital, is hopeful about his team’s chances in the upcoming Grand Final.
After being dismissed by four different doctors, Blake was treated at the RCH for Kawasaki* disease, where he received “nothing but the best care”.
Blake said that it was extra special that the money from the posters would go to the RCH.
Another Brisbane fan, Darcy, who also attended the poster reveal, spent months at the RCH recovering from serious injuries sustained in a car accident that tragically claimed his father’s life.
His mum Krista said he displayed the “the determination and strength of a Lion”, just like his favourite footy team.
“(The hospital’s) support during such a tragic and difficult time in our lives will never be forgotten,” Krista said. “It’s only possible due to the generosity of the community who support such appeals as the Good Friday Appeal.”
For Knight, capturing the contrast in this year’s Grand Final teams provided two very different stories to bring to the page.
“Usually when I’m drawing the Grand Final posters, I’m looking for what makes each team unique, but this year the stories couldn’t be more different,” he said.
This is Knight’s 18th year of creating the AFL’s only officially endorsed Premiership poster.
More than 100 volunteers will sell the posters for $5 outside the MCG immediately after the final siren on Grand Final day, Saturday, September 26.
Posters will also be available online at goodfridayappeal.com.au
WATCH THE VIDEO
POLL
GLOSSARY
- flourish: to grow or develop successfully
- commemorating: remembering officially and giving respect to a great person or event, especially by a public ceremony or by making a statue, special building or piece of art
- iconic: very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time
- demonic: diabolical, having or suggesting the negative qualities or characteristics of a demon
- Kawasaki disease: an acute inflammatory disease of young children that causes fever, red spots on the skin, red eyes and other symptoms including fever and inflamed blood vessels
EXTRA READING
Hawks star’s own ‘shoe museum’
Where AFL players go to school
Clubs on fine line for head knocks
QUICK QUIZ
- Will the proceeds from Premiership poster sales end up?
- How much money have the posters raised to date?
- Which clubs have asked Mark Knight to go back to the drawing board?
- Which legendary cartoonist created the posters for the first 50-plus years?
- Award-winning Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight has been creating these commemorative posters since what year?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Values, identities and actions
Choose one of Mark Knight’s Premiership posters and answer the following questions about the work:
What values does this artwork invite us to think about?
Who is this cartoon speaking about? And who is this work trying to speak to?
What actions might the viewpoint in the cartoon encourage?
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
How can cartoonists like Mark Knight encourage or change people’s opinions on a controversial subject or topic?
Do you agree that his work needs approval from the two teams before going to print? Explain your answer.
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Describe it
Choose one of the posters, study the cartoon and make a list of five nouns that you see. Then describe those five nouns with five adjectives. Now add a preposition to those five nouns and adjectives.
Finally, choose your favourite bundle and put all the words together to make one descriptive sentence.
(For lower reading level articles, remove “add a preposition”)