A very credible case could be made that this was the best grand final of all. Reply Since the fifth Grand Final in 1902, after a deal was made with the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC), the Grand Final has been played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground every season, except when it has been unavailable. He would turn up to Hawthorn training, sit on the fence, and eyeball them. Picture: AFL Photos. [62], In the city centre, a parade featuring two Victorian teams in fine weather would generally attract in excess of 100,000 fans;[63][64] attendances are typically lower in inclement weather or in the absence of Victorian clubs. Playing every game in the 1999 season, McCartney's bad Grand Final luck appeared to be at anend as North pummeled the Lions into submission - the problem being that McCartney had pummeled his forearm into Lions ruckman Clark Keating's head, copping a suspension and missing out on North's 1999 flag. Despite appealing to the league and even announcing it intended to forfeit,[7] Essendon relented and played the game,[8] and Fitzroy won the inaugural grand final 5.8 (38) d. 3.5 (23) before a crowd of 16,538. He would also miss the 1998 flag. Since the match was televised live in the late 1970s, many big Australian and international music stars have performed on the ground as part of pre-match, or occasionally half-time, entertainment. Prior to the Grand Final, it is traditional for the captain of each side to hold one side of the cup in official promotional photos. Girls, he said. [31] Since 2004, it has become tradition for the cup to be presented by a past legend of the winning club, with each club's potential presenter nominated ahead of the game. [141], The AFL grand final is televised into many countries, and grand final parties are held around the world. [54], The grand final is conventionally played on the afternoon of the last Saturday in September; it is often referred to in popular culture as the "One day in September", which is also the name of a famous football song. ADE vs COL. Sunday, Apr 30. Since the introduction of the current OzTAM ratings system in 2001,[137] the match has been the highest-rated program of the year four times across metropolitan audiences (2007, 2014, 2015 and 2017);[124][129][130][132] and the post-game ceremony was the highest-rated program twice (2016 and 2018). But up until three quarter time, it was the highest standard grand final Ive seen. But the Swans fought and harassed their way to an upset win. Ben Beams was brought into the side to play just his 18th game, and while Bruce would go on to play 234 games for Melbourne, he never managed to get further than a semi-final in his career. This was discontinued after 1981, popularly attributed to the negative spectacle of Collingwood's Peter Moore in his fourth losing grand final throwing the medal on the ground shortly after receiving it.[37]. Since 1902, only seven Grand Finals have been played at other grounds: The match sells out every year, and routinely qualifies as the world's most attended domestic sports championship event. In 2020, when most of the league's clubs had been relocated to Queensland for the majority of the season, the grand final was played at the Gabba in Brisbane, the first time it had been played outside Victoria. At the other end of the scale, Gold Coast failed to crack 50 wins while GWS managed 82, as many as Carlton despite playing 38 fewer games, and six more than Melbourne. The players have in the past appeared on parade floats; in recent times it has become a motorcade of open-top vehicles, weather permitting. This occurred on three occasions: in 1948, 1977 and 2010. That was a tragedy, Alastair Clarkson said. The Demons celebrate winning the 2021 Toyota AFL Grand Final. It is the most well-known corporate hospitality event associated with the grand final, and it rose to prominence in the 1970s when it was first televised across Victoria; it was endorsed by the VFL as the official pre-match function. It, too, does not feature in the on-field presentation. Modra hadwon the Coleman Medal in 1997 before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the preliminary final against the Bulldogs, not only forcing him out of the 1997 premiership but limiting his ability to return for the 1998 flag as well. The Demons' decades of misery - the AFL's longest premiership drought - is over after Melbourne's . Matthew Young (St Kilda, 1997): Young played 18 games in St Kilda's run to the 1997 Grand Final, but was dropped in favour of Robert Neill because of concerns over his endurance. [40] Criteria for the club-awarded medals prior to 1977 depended on the individual clubs' decisions. Essendon and Carlton have won the most VFL/AFL premierships, with a total of 16 each. The medal was first awarded in 2001, and it was retrospectively awarded to all premiership-winning coaches starting from 1950, the first season after McHale's retirement from coaching. Having berated senator Stephen Conroy for going the early crow, Eddie McGuire could no longer watch. "The commentators said I'd done a knee. As such, the match now recognised as the first grand final took place in the league's second season, on 24 September 1898, between Essendon and Fitzroy at the St Kilda Cricket Ground. The show, which ran from 2004 to 2010, was one of ABC's most successful series, enjoying top-20 Nielsen rankings and winning a number of Emmy Awards, including best drama series (2005). The Collingwood Football Club has appeared in the most grand finals, with a total 15 wins from 44 games played; Collingwood has also won the most consecutive grand finals, with four between 1927 and 1930. It was re-established in 2002 and has been held each year since. While the Hawks would win flags in 2013, 2014 and 2015, Whitecross would miss all them, playing just four games in that period. That was a tragedy, Alastair Clarkson said; losing a grand final was simply a missed opportunity. [139] The match has been broadcast live in colour into Victoria since that date, and consistently in high definition since 2015,[140] by the following networks: The grand final is covered by anti-siphoning laws, ensuring it remains on free-to-air television in Australia. Veteran forward Hawkins kicked four goals in the Cats' devastating 38-0 opening surge and finished with a career-best bag of eight in Sunday's 20.12 (132) to 16.8 (104) victory at the MCG. Melbourne dominated the final years before the Pacific War, comfortably winning grand finals in 1939, 1940 and 1941. Lost, American television drama that aired on ABC. A lanky bloke with a sandy-blond mullet sits down on a log fence in a park, his head bowed and his hands clasped in front of him. Both Braun and Jones would go on to play in the 2006 West Coast premiership. If hed kicked straight, he would have romped in the Norm Smith Medal. VFL AFL Grand Final results The first VFL Grand Final was played at the MCG in 1902 and, barring World War II, the 1991 Grand Final (played at Waverley Park), the 2020 Grand Final (played at The Gabba) and the 2021 Grand Final (played at Optus Stadium), every Grand Final has been played at the MCG. 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For Tanner, the wait for the next chance was not a long one. AFL Tables. The 1989 Grand Final, a high scoring and very physical encounter in which Hawthorn defeated Geelong by six points, is considered to be one of the greatest of all time. The biggest ever attendance was in 1970, where 121,696 watched Carlton overcome old rival Collingwood. [29] Although the flag is of lower physical importance than the cup, it retains its symbolic significance, and "the flag" is still widely used as a metonym for the premiership itself in Australian rules football parlance, including in many of the league's team songs. While Bews did play in the legendary 1989 final against Hawthorn, the 1992 prelimwould be the closest he would get to playing on the big stage again, as he was traded to Brisbane at the end of the 1993 season. Sheeds had some personal vendetta against me and it wasnt about my injury or whatever my performance was, it was a personal vendetta because we had a few words about three or four weeks before the grand final.. Blake would go on to play in the 2008 Grand Final loss to Hawthorn, and the 2009 premiership against St Kilda. The sight of thousands sitting between the fence and the boundary line was now usual at the grand final,[16] often resulting in injuries to spectators when players collided with them. This match too had been in doubt until night before it was played, Essendon disputing the choice and fitness for use of the St Kilda ground, which had already been top-dressed for the cricket season. Answer: They were both won in October. "I was so desperate to get it done that on the drive down I was done for speeding, but the cop knew (Cats teammate) Paul Brown and let me off because he knew how much playing the game meant to me. Football had never seen anyone like Kevin Sheedy. 1. But these things are subjective and this column is an indulgence. While Long did play in the 1993 and 2000 premierships, it would be a sad farewell as the 2001 preliminary final became his last match in the AFL. Andrew Collins (left) Greg Dear (centre) and Gary Ayres (right) of Hawthorn celebrate after winning the AFL grand final between the Hawks and Geelong Cats at the MCG in 1989. es, Ive left out 1972, 2005 and 2016. While it was elation for Tanner, it was heartache for the man who had to make way. The last of those games, in 1945, saw a capacity crowd of 62,986 squeeze into the Carlton ground, which was played just weeks after the armistice with Japan was declared. Mitchell White (West Coast, 1994): A premiership player in 1992 as a teenager, White struggled through 1994 with a groin injury and only played five games from Round 18 to the preliminary final. [21] In 2004, the AFL allowed clubs to purchase cups based on the current design for premierships won prior to 1959. Many famous, folkloric moments have occurred on the field throughout grand final history: The grand final is one of the most-watched television events of the year in Australia. It was that sort of day. Adrian Barich (West Coast, 1991): The midfielder turnedPerth media personality only played seven games in 1991, including a nine disposal performance in the Eagles' preliminary final victory over Geelong. [25] The following season, it was played at Optus Stadium in Perth in a twilight timeslot.[26][27]. All rights reserved. Jack Graham (Richmond, 2019): While all the focus was on the sensational story of Marlion Pickett making his debut in the Grand Final, Graham was the unlucky man to go out after suffering a shoulder injury in the preliminary final against Geelong. Ive never spoken to Troy since, he probably wouldnt speak to me any way, but the good thing was in 97 Adelaide won the premiership and thank god Troy was in that team and became a premiership player.. He would also go on to be a part of the 2020 premiership team. And in one of the most clutch moments in the history of the game, Dom Sheed executed the perfect football kick. The 1980s saw a concerted effort by the VFL to relocate the grand final to its privately owned VFL Park, in search of a better commercial deal, but the move was ultimately blocked by the state government and the game remained at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It would be his 273rd and final match in the AFL. [13] Between 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first and only club to win four consecutive premierships, winning in 'finals' in 1927 and 1928, then grand finals in 1929 and 1930. I was 11, and caught in the spell of Ablett and Brereton. Ben McEvoy and Michael Gardiner (St Kilda, 2010): In a similar set of circumstances to their rivals, McEvoy was dropped for the first Grand Final to make way for the returning Steven Baker, before being recalled for the replay after Gardiner injured himself in the drawn match. Tim Notting (Brisbane Lions, 2003): The midfielder was forced out of the 2003 premiership side to make way for Marcus Ashcroft, who was playing the final game of his career. For more than 800 Victorian families, it is a relative. In 1931, the PageMcIntyre Final Four system was introduced for finals, which eliminated the minor premier's right to challenge and guaranteed four finals and a genuine grand final each year. [80][81] This most infamously meant that photographs of St Kilda celebrating its only premiership in 1966 featured captain Darrel Baldock hoisting the trophy wearing a Collingwood guernsey; St Kilda later doctored the photo to put him back in a St Kilda guernsey in murals and promotional material it created with the image. And that's injuring yourself in a training session in the days leading up to the game. A few days earlier, Jill Meagher had been murdered. Essendon would go on to win the flag, while Kickett moved to the Sydney Swans in 1994. Wilson had previously played in Port's 2004 premiership. "It wasn't easy, you never know when you'll get another chance, but it was the right thing to do.". I'm a team man and I didn't want to let them down so I told Blighty (coach Malcolm Blight) and Ayresy (assistant coach Gary Ayres) that I was pulling out. Matthew Robran (Hawthorn, 1991): The son of SANFL legend Barrie Robran was in his first season at the Hawks when he was called in to replace injured spearhead Dermott Brereton in the crucial semi-final against Geelong. Cameron Bruce (Melbourne, 2000): Another victim of the cruel injury curse, Bruce hadplayed 19 games in his debut season, but tore his quad in Melbourne's 50-point victory in the preliminary final over North Melbourne. Im not sure Ive ever seen more crestfallen supporters as the Collingwood fans that day. "I told Ayresy that I didn't lie to him the year before about my ankle, and I wasn't lying to him this time I was ready to go.". The premiership flag is the most symbolic and longest-standing award for the clubs. The third and final drawn grand final occurred in 2010 between Collingwood and St Kilda, with Collingwood winning the replay; extra time has since been introduced to decide drawn grand finals, but it is yet to have been required.