As has been posted elsewhere Virgin have equally high airfares for late bookings around big sporting events or concerts.
Smart supporters simply plan further ahead and dont have this issue.
I loathe almost all forms of sportsball and have zero interest in AFL yet I typically am in Melbourne on AFL GF weekend simply because it is the labor day long weekend in NSW and allows me to schedule multiple catch ups with Melbourne based friends on the Sat & Sun (the non AFL fans on Sat, the AFL fans on the Sun) and then schedule back to back breaky, coffee, lunch, coffee meetings on the Monday with colleagues and ex-colleagues on the Monday (which is not a PH in Melbourne).
I booked my flights during the red tail sale (also DSC) in Feb when you could get SYD-MEL RTN for $260 in Y or $900 in J and there were multiple classic rewards (in Y and J) on almost every flight on the Fri/Sat/Sun. Someone who may want to go to the GF depending on whether their team made the final could have wisely booked classic award seats in Jan for 16k points RTN and cancelled later if their team bombed out or worn the change fee on a red tail fare for another time.
Same with hotel, I was able to get a nice room at the Voco on IHG points (zero $ outlay) again booking back in Feb. Remaining rooms now are double to triple the normal price. But that is how supply and demand works in travel industry.
There are many things QF have done which were wrong, but charging what the market will bare for a last minute fare isnt newsworthy imo - it happens the world over with all airlines. And the GF is a known date so an individuals failure to plan ahead is something they need to own.