1.
Melbourne Cricket Ground
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The Melbourne Cricket Ground, also known simply as The G, is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. The MCG is within walking distance of the city centre and is served by the Richmond railway station, Richmond, and it is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct. Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has been in a state of almost constant renewal and it served as the centrepiece stadium of the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and two Cricket World Cups,1992 and 2015. The annual Boxing Day Test is one of the MCGs most popular events, the stadium fills to capacity for the AFL Grand Final. Concerts and other events are also held at the venue. The MCG is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and was included on the Australian National Heritage List in 2005, journalist Greg Baum called it a shrine, a citadel, a landmark, a totem that symbolises Melbourne to the world. Founded in November 1838 the Melbourne Cricket Club selected the current MCG site in 1853 after previously playing at several grounds around Melbourne, the club’s first game was against a military team at the Old Mint site, at the corner of William and Latrobe Streets. The area was subject to flooding, forcing the club to move again and it was not long before the club was forced out again, this time because of the expansion of the railway. The South Melbourne ground was in the path of Victoria’s first steam railway line from Melbourne to Sandridge and this last option, which is now Yarra Park, had been used by Aborigines until 1835. Between 1835 and 1853 it was an agistment area for colonial troopers’ horses, in 1850 it was part of a 200-acre stretch set aside for public recreation extending from Governor La Trobe’s Jolimont Estate to the Yarra River. By 1853 it had become a busy promenade for Melbourne residents, an MCC sub-committee chose the Richmond Park option because it was level enough for cricket but sloped enough to prevent inundation. That ground was located where the Richmond, or outer, end of the current MCG is now, at the same time the Richmond Cricket Club was given occupancy rights to six acres for another cricket ground on the eastern side of the Government Paddock. At the time of the grant the Government stipulated that the ground was to be used for cricket and cricket only. This condition remained until 1933 when the State Government allowed the MCG’s uses to be broadened to other purposes when not being used for cricket. In 1863 a corridor of land running diagonally across Yarra Park was granted to the Hobson’s Bay Railway, the area closest to the river was also developed for sporting purposes in later years including Olympic venues in 1956. The first grandstand at the MCG was the original wooden stand built in 1854. It was during this tour that the MCG hosted the worlds first Test match, in 1881 the original members stand was sold to the Richmond Cricket Club for £55. A new brick stand, considered at the time to be the world’s finest cricket facility, was built in its place, the foundation stone was laid by Prince George of Wales and Prince Albert Victor on 4 July and the stand opened in December that year
2.
Essendon Football Club
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The Essendon Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. Formed in 1871 as a club and playing as a senior club since 1878. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, dyson Heppell is the current team captain. A founding member club of both the Victorian Football Association, in 1877, and the Victorian Football League, in 1896, the club claims to have over at least one million supporters Australia wide. Essendon has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships which, along with Carlton, is the most of any club in the competition, the club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have formed in 1872 at a meeting it the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. Robert McCracken, the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon club and his son, Alex, Alex would later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alexs cousin, Collier, who had played with Melbourne, was the teams first captain. The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873, Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the junior members of the Victorian Football Association in 1877. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its matches at Flemington Hill. In 1878, Essendon played in the first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white, in 1883 the team played four matches in Adelaide. In 1891 Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892,1893 and 1894, one of the clubs greatest players, Albert Thurgood played for the club during this period. Essendon was undefeated in the 1893 season, at the end of the 1896 season Essendon along with seven other clubs formed the Victorian Football League. Essendons first VFL game was in 1897 was against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong, Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final, the club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne respectively. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889 and it was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon
3.
Melbourne Football Club
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The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club, playing in the Australian Football League. It is named after and based in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne is the worlds oldest professional club of any football code. The clubs origins can be traced to an 1858 letter in which Tom Wills, captain of the Victoria cricket team, Melbourne has won 12 VFL/AFL premierships, the latest in 1964. The club celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008 by naming 150 Heroes as well as creating a logo which appeared on its official guernsey. The football club has been a section of the Melbourne Cricket Club since 2009. In the winter and spring of 1858, an organised football team known as Melbourne played in a series of scratch matches in the parklands outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Other figures associated with this embryonic Melbourne side include cricketers Jerry Bryant, William Hammersley, Thompson, and teacher Thomas H. Smith. During meetings held on 17 and 21 May 1859, Wills, Hammersley, Thompson and Smith met near the MCG at the Parade Hotel, owned by Bryant, the resulting ten codified rules are the laws from which Australian rules football evolved. The first mention of a match played under the new code was between Melbourne and South Yarra in July 1859, with Hammersley as Melbournes inaugural captain. In 1861, Melbourne participated in the Caledonian Societys Challenge Cup, the club pushed for its rules to be the accepted rules, however many of the early suburban matches were played under compromised rules decided between the captains of the competing clubs. By 1866 several other clubs had adopted an updated version of Melbournes rules, drafted at a meeting chaired by Wills cousin. Harrison was a key figure in the years of the club, he often served as captain and, in later years. Due to his reputation and administrative efforts, he was officially named Father of Australian Football in 1908. During the 1870s, Melbourne fielded teams in the Seven Twenties, after a visit to England by one of the clubs officials, the colours of red and green were officially adopted by the club. Shortly following, the club wearing a predominately red strip. The name Redlegs was coined after a Melbourne official returned from a trip to England with one set of red, Melbourne wore the red set while the blue set were, allegedly, given to the Carlton Football Club. This may be the source of Carltons nickname, The Blueboys, in 1877, the club became a foundation member of the Victorian Football Association. During the same year the took part in the first interstate football match involving a South Australian side, Victorian
4.
Seven Network
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The Seven Network is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main television networks in Australia. In 2011 the Seven Network won all 40 out of 40 weeks of the season for total viewers. Seven is the first to achieve this since the introduction of the OzTAM ratings system in 2001, as of 2014, it is the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach. In 2016, the network had its biggest lead in total people over the Nine Network since the current OzTAM ratings system began, in Melbourne,30 of the 40 ratings weeks were won and all ratings weeks were won in Adelaide and Perth. Sevens administration headquarters are based in a warehouse at Jones Bay Wharf in Pyrmont, Sydney. The networks main playout centre is located in Docklands, Melbourne, National news and current affairs programming are based between flagship station ATN-7 in Sydney and HSV-7 in Melbourne. In 2009, Seven moved its Sydney-based production operations from Epping to a purpose-built high-definition television production facility at the Australian Technology Park in Eveleigh, the present Seven Network began as a group of independent stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. HSV-7 Melbourne, licensed to The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, was launched on 4 November 1956, ATN-7 Sydney, licensed to Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of Fairfax, was launched on 2 December 1956. BTQ-7 Brisbane followed on 1 November, signing on as Brisbanes second commercial television station, ADS-7 Adelaide was launched on 24 October 1959 as the final capital city VHF7 station. In the early 1960s, coaxial cable links, formed initially between Sydney and Melbourne, allowed the sharing of programmes and simultaneous broadcasts of live shows, left without their original partners, ATN-7 and HSV-7 joined to form the Australian Television Network in 1963. The new grouping was soon joined by other capital-city channel 7 stations, ADS-7 Adelaide, however, it was not until 1970 that a national network logo was adopted, albeit still with independently owned and operated stations with local advertising campaigns. Colour television was introduced across the network in 1975, when a new logo was adopted. Rupert Murdoch made a bid for the Herald and Weekly Times, owners of HSV-7, in 1979. Fairfax, however, successfully bought a 14. 9% share of the later in the same year. The 1980s saw the introduction of sound, as well as a number of successful shows, most notably A Country Practice in 1981, and Sons and Daughters. Wheel of Fortune began its 25-year run in July 1981, produced from ADS-7s studios in Adelaide, the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow were shown live on the network the year before. Perth based businessman Robert Holmes à Court, through his business the Bell Group, bought TVW-7 from its original owners, the Herald and Weekly Times, owner of HSV-7 and ADS-7, was sold to Rupert Murdoch in December 1986 for an estimated A$1.8 billion
5.
AFL Grand Final
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The winning club of the grand final receives the AFLs premiership cup and the premiership flag. All players in the team receive a gold premiership medallion. Adelaide is the club to have never lost a grand final which it has contested. The concept of a grand final gradually evolved from experimentation by the Victorian Football League in the years of competition following its inception in 1897. During the 19th century, Australian football competition adopted the approach that the team on top of the ladder was declared the premiers. However, the fledgling VFL decided that a series played between the top four teams at the end of the season would generate more interest and gate money. For 1897, the VFL scheduled a round robin tournament whereby the top four played each other once, the winners of these semi finals then met in a final to decide the premiership. The first such final was contested in 1898 between the Essendon Football Club and Fitzroy Football Club at the St Kilda Cricket Ground, which Fitzroy won scoring 5.8 to Essendons 3.5. The new finals system caused problems in 1901 when Geelong finished on top of the ladder but was eliminated when defeated in the semi final. A right of challenge was introduced, giving the team finished on top at the end of the regular season the right to challenge if they lost the semi final or the final. This challenge match came to be called the grand final, the first four grand finals were scattered around various Melbourne venues, one at Albert Park, two at St Kildas Junction Oval and one at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground. The selection of the venue could depend on the portion of the demanded by the grounds landlords. The public remained ambivalent to the concept of football until the VFL pulled off a coup in 1902. Previously, the MCG was unavailable to football in the spring months as it was being prepared for the coming cricket season. The original Argus system had been instituted by the VFL in 1901 and this figure was beaten in the 1912 Grand Final when 54,463 saw Essendon defeat South Melbourne. The big finals crowds prompted the MCC to cut down the eleven fifty-year-old elm trees inside the ground and turn the stadium into a bowl, complete with extra stands. The record fell again in the last grand final before World War I, the war had a considerable effect on the impact of the grand final and attendances plummeted. One critic called for the Carlton team to receive the Iron Cross after they defeated Collingwood in the thrilling 1915 Grand Final, ironically dubbed a glorious contest by famous coach Jack Worrall
6.
Australian rules football
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The main way to score points is by kicking the oval-shaped ball between the two tall goal posts. The team with the score by the end of the match wins unless a draw is declared. During general play, players may position themselves anywhere on the field, the primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. There are rules on how the ball can be handled, for example, throwing the ball is not allowed and players must not get caught holding the ball. A distinctive feature of the game is the mark, where players anywhere on the field who catch a ball from a kick are awarded possession, possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick or mark is paid. Players can tackle using their hands or use their body to obstruct opponents. The game features frequent physical contests, spectacular marking, fast movement of players and the ball and high scoring. The sports origins can be traced to matches played in Melbourne, Victoria in 1858. Its annual Grand Final is the highest attended club championship event in the world, the sport is also played at amateur level in many countries and in several variations. The games rules are governed by the AFL Commission with the advice of the AFLs Laws of the Game Committee, there is evidence of football being played sporadically in the Australian colonies in the first half of the 19th century. The earliest such match, held in St Kilda on 15 June, was between Melbourne Grammar and St Kilda Grammar. Born in Australia, Wills played a nascent form of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School in England and his letter is regarded by many historians as giving impetus for the development of a new code of football today known as Australian football. Two weeks later, Wills friend, cricketer Jerry Bryant, posted an advertisement for a match at the Richmond Paddock adjoining the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This was the first of several kickabouts held that year involving members of the Melbourne Cricket Club, including Wills, Bryant, W. J. Hammersley, trees were used as goalposts and play typically lasted an entire afternoon. Without an agreed code of laws, some players were guided by rules they had learned in the British Isles. Another significant milestone in 1858 was a match played under experimental rules between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College, held at the Richmond Paddock. This 40-a-side contest, umpired by Wills and Scotch College teacher John Macadam, began on 7 August and it is commemorated with a statue outside the MCG, and the two schools have competed annually ever since in the Cordner-Eggleston Cup, the worlds oldest continuous football competition. Since the early 20th century, it has suggested that Australian football was derived from the Irish sport of Gaelic football
7.
Melbourne
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Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in Australia and Oceania. The name Melbourne refers to an urban agglomeration spanning 9,900 km2, the metropolis is located on the large natural bay of Port Phillip and expands into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon mountain ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. It has a population of 4,641,636 as of 2016, and its inhabitants are called Melburnians. Founded by free settlers from the British Crown colony of Van Diemens Land on 30 August 1835, in what was then the colony of New South Wales, it was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837. It was named Melbourne by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, in honour of the British Prime Minister of the day, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. It was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria, to whom Lord Melbourne was close, in 1847, during the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the worlds largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as the interim seat of government until 1927. It is a financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region. It is recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature and a centre for street art, music. It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the main passenger airport serving the metropolis and the state is Melbourne Airport, the second busiest in Australia. The Port of Melbourne is Australias busiest seaport for containerised and general cargo, Melbourne has an extensive transport network. The main metropolitan train terminus is Flinders Street Station, and the regional train. Melbourne is also home to Australias most extensive network and has the worlds largest urban tram network. Before the arrival of settlers, humans had occupied the area for an estimated 31,000 to 40,000 years. At the time of European settlement, it was inhabited by under 2000 hunter-gatherers from three indigenous tribes, the Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung and Wathaurong. The area was an important meeting place for the clans of the Kulin nation alliance and it would be 30 years before another settlement was attempted. Batman selected a site on the bank of the Yarra River. Batman then returned to Launceston in Tasmania, in early August 1835 a different group of settlers, including John Pascoe Fawkner, left Launceston on the ship Enterprize
8.
Australian Football League
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The Australian Football League is the pre-eminent professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the governing body. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association, the league currently consists of 18 teams spread over five of Australias six states. Matches have been played in all states and territories of Australia. The AFL season currently consists of a competition, followed by a 23-round regular season. The top eight teams play off in a four-round finals series, culminating in the AFL Grand Final. The winning team in the Grand Final is termed the premiers, the current premiers are the Western Bulldogs. The six clubs invited two more VFA clubs – Carlton and St Kilda – to join the league for its season in 1897. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from the VFA, Port Adelaide was the most successful club of the competition winning three titles during the period along with an earlier victory. In 1925, the VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Hawthorn remained very weak in the VFL for a very long period. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first, in 1952, the VFL hosted National Day, when all six matches were played outside of Melbourne. Matches were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Brisbane Exhibition Ground, North Hobart Oval, Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn, Footscray became the first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premiership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith, the club contested seven consecutive grand finals from 1954 to 1960, winning five premierships, including three in a row from 1955 to 1957. Television coverage began in 1957, with telecasts of the final quarter permitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different games, however, when the VFL found that television was reducing crowds, it decided that no coverage was to be allowed for 1960. In 1961, replays were introduced although direct telecasts were rarely permitted in Melbourne, in 1959, the VFL planned the first purpose built mega-stadium, VFL Park, to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club, which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground. VFL Park was planned to hold 155,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world – although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for the stadium was purchased at Mulgrave, then farmland, the VFL Premiership Trophy was first awarded in addition to a pennant flag in 1959, essentially the same trophy design has been in use since
9.
Brownlow Medal
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It is the most prestigious award for individual players in the AFL. It is also acknowledged as the highest individual honour in the sport of Australian rules football. The medal was first awarded by the Victorian Football League and it was created and named in honour of Charles Brownlow, a former Geelong Football Club footballer and club secretary, and VFL president, who had died in January 1924 after an extended illness. You were selected as the fairest and best player and we have pleasure in presenting the accompanying Gold Medal in recognition of those sterling qualities, trusting that you will be long spared to interest yourself in the adancement of the Game. We are, yours sincerely W. Baldwin Spencer, M. E. Green, over time, all of these awards have migrated towards similar rules regarding voting and eligibility. But for the change of the monogram from VFL to AFL in 1990, on the awards night, the votes from each match are tallied, and the player or players with the highest number of votes is awarded the medal. The current voting system has used for the vast majority of Brownlow Medal counts. There have been different voting systems for short periods in the past, until 1930, since the rules were changed in 1980, if two or more eligible players score the equal highest number of votes, each wins a Brownlow medal. Even with these considerations, these failed to separate Des Fothergill and Herbie Matthews. The league decided to keep the original medal and award replica medals to the two winners, in 1989, the eight players who since the inception of the award had tied on votes but lost on a countback were awarded retrospective medals. The fairest component of the medal is achieved by making ineligible any player who is suspended by the AFL Tribunal during the home-and-away season, an ineligible player cannot win, place or be classified in the final Brownlow Medal rankings, regardless of the number of votes he has received. The application of the ineligibility criteria has remained consistent throughout the history of the award. Since 2015, the criteria has been based upon whether or not the player is suspended during the season. On three occasions, a player has tallied the highest number of Brownlow votes, In 1996, Corey McKernan received the same number of votes as the joint-winners James Hird. McKernan was suspended for one match during the season for kneeing, McKernan was named the AFL Players Association MVP in the same year, which is not subject to the same eligibility criteria. In 1997, Chris Grant polled one more vote than winner Robert Harvey, Grant was suspended for one match during the season for striking. The voting system has come under scrutiny because the Medal is almost always won by midfield players, some of the games greatest players in these positions never even coming close to winning the Brownlow, despite having high reputations amongst their peers and coaches. This is primarily because players who are most valuable to their teams in key or defensive positions tend not to attract attention to feature amongst the top three players on the ground
10.
Western Bulldogs
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The Western Bulldogs is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. The club has won two VFL/AFL premierships, in 1954 and 2016, and was runner up in 1961, the Western Bulldogs home guernsey features two thick horizontal hoops—one red and one white—on a royal blue background. The clubs traditional rivals include St Kilda and geographical rival Essendon, the clubs headquarters and training facilities are located in Footscray at Whitten Oval, nicknamed The Kennel, its original home ground. In 1996, the changed its name from the Footscray Football Club to its nickname. Newspapers record Australian rules football being played in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray in the mid-1870s, in 1880, the club changed its name to the Prince Imperials in honour of Napoléon, Prince Imperial, the heir to French throne, who had recently died in battle. The club reverted to Footscray a few years later, in 1886, Footscray gained admission to the Victorian Football Association after amalgamating with the Footscray Cricket Club to form a senior football club. The club tended to struggle over the decade, occupying the lower rungs of the VFA ladder. The club began to improve after the VFL breakaway of 1896, as no finals were played, Footscray were declared premiers. The club played in and won its first finals match in 1903, against Richmond, the minor premiers, after losing to West Melbourne in the 1906 VFA Grand Final, the club won its first premiership by defeating Brunswick in 1908. The club entered two years of recess during World War I and returned in 1918, still rebuilding, the club won the wooden spoon. From bottom to top in one year,1919 saw the win the premiership. The club went back-to-back in 1923 and 1924, the 1924 premiership would be Footscrays last in the VFA. Footscray recorded a victory, winning by 28 points. The win was a significant factor in Footscray gaining admission to the VFL. In 1919, there were nine clubs competing in the VFL, due to the return of all the foundation teams plus Richmond after World War I and this caused one team to be idle every Saturday and the VFL was keen to do away with this bye each week. On the night of 9 January 1925, a meeting of the VFL, chaired by Reg Hunt of Carlton. It was decided in the meeting to admit Footscray, along two other VFA clubs, Hawthorn and North Melbourne. Footscray played their first VFL match against Fitzroy on Saturday 2 May at the Brunswick Street Oval in front of 28,000 spectators, future Brownlow medallist Allan Hopkins was regarded as Footscrays best player that day
11.
2007 AFL Grand Final
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It was the 111th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2007 AFL season. The match, attended by 97,302 spectators, was won by Geelong by a margin of 119 points, the victory marked Geelongs seventh premiership win, and ended its 44-year premiership drought. Geelong entered the season after finishing 10th in 2006, Geelong had lost only one game since Round 5, by five points to Port Adelaide at Skilled Stadium in Round 21 when Domenic Cassisi goaled with 3 seconds remaining. The grand final was Geelongs first appearance in a premiership decider since losing the 1995 Grand Final, Geelong won a tight contest with the Magpies by 5 points in front of a crowd of 98,002. Port Adelaide, having finished 12th the previous season, rose an amazing 10 places to become 2nd on the ladder in 2007, with a 15–7 record and a percentage of 113.54. Port Adelaide had hosted reigning premiers West Coast Eagles at AAMI Stadium in their qualifying final, having also earned a second week bye, they proceeded to the third week and hosted the Kangaroos in a preliminary final at AAMI Stadium, winning by 87 points. The 2007 AFL Grand Final was Port Adelaides first since winning the 2004 Grand Final and this was the first Grand Final fought between two teams that missed the finals the previous year since 1997. The Cats outscored the Port Adelaide Power 5.7 to 2.2 in the opening term, Geelong excelled in their defence - which had been the best in the competition all season - keeping the Power to their lowest score of the year. The backlines, led by Matthew Scarlett at fullback, repeatedly turned defence into attack, half-forwards Paul Chapman and Steve Johnson kicked four goals each and set up numerous others. Johnson was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best-on-ground in the Grand Final after the Cats’ triumph, chapmans day included a sensational high mark over Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea during the third quarter. Key forwards Cameron Mooney and Nathan Ablett also performed strongly, Power players Kane Cornes and Domenic Cassisi performed reasonably well against Geelong stars Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett, Jr. The match ended with Geelong winning by the score of 24.19 to 6.8, recording the greatest winning margin in AFL Grand Final history,119 points. This broke the record of 96 points set by Hawthorn against Melbourne in the 1988 VFL Grand Final, it was also, at the time. Geelongs 417 disposals was also a Grand Final Record, meanwhile, Port Adelaide became the only finals side in history to have more handballs than kicks. Geelong scored 17.10 from Port Adelaide turnovers, while the Power scored just 1.2 from the Cats, the Cats win ended a 44-year premiership drought for the club. The last flag had come in 1963, and since then the club had lost five Grand Finals and it was also the first premiership won by a team from Victoria since Essendons 2000 victory. MCC Chairman Nickolas Daskalou was quoted Half the MCC members departed long before three quarter time in what was seen as the most one sided Grand Final in history,2007 AFL season 2007 AFL Finals Series Match stats at AFL Tables AFL Website
12.
2008 AFL Grand Final
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It was the 112th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the Premiers for the 2008 AFL season. The game was the third Grand Final meeting between the two teams in their history, having previously contested in the 1963 and 1989 VFL Grand Finals. The 2008 Grand Final was the first Grand Final contested by two Victorian-based teams since Essendon and Melbourne met in 2000 and it was attended by 100,012 spectators, the first crowd to exceed 100,000 for a VFL/AFL game since the 1986 VFL Grand Final. Geelong entered the match as the favourites to win, however, Hawthorn won by 26 points, earning its 10th Premiership and they were convincing 58-point winners in their Qualifying Final against St Kilda, earning them a weeks rest and a home Preliminary Final. They then defeated the Western Bulldogs by 27 points to qualify for the Grand Final, leading up to the Grand Final Geelong had won its past fifteen games. Hawthorn won its first nine games of the season, and sat atop the AFL ladder at Round 11. They began to lose a few games towards the end of the season and they convincingly beat the Western Bulldogs by 51 points in their Qualifying Final, which earned them a weeks rest and home Preliminary Final, in which they beat St Kilda by 54 points. Hawthorn had won four games in a row leading into the Grand Final and it was the teams first appearance in a Grand Final since winning the 1991 AFL Grand Final. The two teams had met once during the season, in a Friday night game in Round 17. Geelong was missing defending and eventual Leigh Matthews Trophy winner Gary Ablett, Jr. Geelong was the warm favourite to win the Grand Final, with Hawthorn attracting odds of $3.05 for the win at the opening bounce. It was a highly anticipated Grand Final, eliciting memories of the classic 1989 VFL Grand Final played between the same teams, the 2008 decider was telecast by the Seven Network, its first Grand Final telecast since 2001. Included a live performance by Powderfinger of their hit On My Mind, interspersed with a rendition of the AC/DC classic, Its a Long Way to the Top, ian Moss also performed lead guitar notes to the tune of Up There Cazaly. The Australian National Anthem Advance Australia Fair was performed by Amanda Harrison and Lucy Durack, the Grand Final was played in warm conditions under sunny skies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with conditions reaching 27 °C. The first goal of the game was scored by Geelongs Tom Lonergan from a mark, the Hawks opened up a thirteen-point lead with goals from Chance Bateman on the run, Xavier Ellis from a set shot and Jarryd Roughead along the ground from an acute angle. Hawthorn started conceding goals through free kicks, first to Gary Ablett, Jr. then to Max Rooke, Geelong began to completely control play in the midfield, winning the stoppages easily and providing their forwards with plenty of opportunities which they wasted.9. Meanwhile, Hawthorn scored 3.1 for the quarter, with goals to Cyril Rioli, Mark Williams, Hawthorn defender Trent Croad left the field midway through the second quarter with a broken foot. Midfielder Sam Mitchell was reported for making forceful front-on contact on Ablett, Geelong captain Tom Harley was concussed because of a clash of heads with Hawthorns Williams and he left the ground. The same trends continued into the third quarter, with Geelong winning in the midfield
