1.
Geelong Football Club
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The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in the city of Geelong, Australia and playing in the Australian Football League. The Cats have been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with three in the AFL era and they have also won nine McClelland Trophies, a record shared with Essendon. The club was formed in 1859, making it the second oldest club in the AFL after Melbourne and one of the oldest football clubs in the world. Geelong participated in the first football competition in Australia and was a club of both the Victorian Football Association in 1877 and the Victorian Football League in 1897. The club first established itself in the VFA by winning seven premierships, the club won a further six premierships by 1963, before enduring a 44-year waiting period until it won its next premiership—an AFL-record 119-point victory in the 2007 AFL Grand Final. Geelong have since won a further two premierships in 2009 and 2011, the clubs home ground is Kardinia Park, currently also known by its sponsorship name Simonds Stadium. However, the club also hosts matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Geelongs traditional guernsey colours are blue and white hoops. The clubs nickname, The Cats, was first used in 1923 after a run of losses prompted a local cartoonist to suggest that the club needed a black cat to bring it good luck, the clubs official team song and anthem is We Are Geelong. Geelong Football Club was formally established at a meeting held in the Victoria Hotel on 18 July 1859, the club contested its first match of Australian rules football against Melbourne at Argyle Square in 1860, which finished as a scoreless draw. In 1863, Geelong travelled to Melbourne to contest the Caledonian Challenge Cup, although the competition was played under compromised rules, Geelong reached the final and defeated Melbourne to become the second winners of the cup. The club continued to contest the cup in the following years, during this time, Tom Wills—one of the founders of Australian football—played exclusively for the club from 1865 until his retirement from football in 1874. Following the formation of the Victorian Football Association in 1877, Geelong joined the association as one of its foundation clubs. The club relocated to Corio Oval as its home ground in time for the 1878 season. In 1924, following the death of VFL and Geelong administrator Charles Brownlow, the first player to win the award was Geelongs Edward Greeves. Having been one of the dominant clubs in the old VFA and it wasnt until 1925 that the club won its first VFL premiership. Geelong followed up with further wins in 1931 and 1937. In 1941, the club was forced to relocate from its Corio Oval base due to the oval being required for training during World War 2
2.
St Kilda Football Club
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The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club plays in the Australian Football League, the premier league. The clubs name originates from the bayside Melbourne suburb of St Kilda in which the club was established in 1873, St Kilda have only won a single premiership to date, a famous one-point win in the 1966 VFL Grand Final. St Kilda most recently won the premiership in the 2009 AFL season and were grand finalists in 2009 and 2010. The St Kilda Football Club was formed on 2 April 1873, soon after a decision was made to amalgamate St Kilda FC with nearby Prahran Football Club. St Kilda retained their colours, name and ground, as well as picking up a number of Prahran players. St Kilda competed as a club in the VFA from 1877 to 1879, 1881–1882. St Kilda were one of the eight clubs that took part in the inaugural VFL season in 1897 and they made their debut in an away game against Collingwood on 8 May 1897, which they lost 2.4. to 5.11. The clubs home ground in the new league was the Junction Oval in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, the score was St Kilda 3.8. to 10.6. St Kildas early years in the VFL were not successful and, in 1899, they had the lowest score recorded in a VFL/AFL match. In 1902, Charlie Baker became the first St Kilda player to be the leading goalkicker in a home. Six successive wins at the start of the 1907 season saw St Kilda make the finals for the first time, qualifying third with nine wins, St Kilda were beaten by Carlton in their first VFL final by 56 points. They qualified in third again in 1908 and were once again eliminated by Carlton in the semi-finals. The 1913 season saw improvement in which the team qualified fourth. St Kilda won its semi-final against South Melbourne and then defeated Fitzroy two weeks later 10.10. to 6.9. in what was a match between the two teams won the semi-finals.14. to 5.13. Colin Watson became the first St Kilda player to win the leagues highest individual award, the following years saw St Kilda establish itself as a more consistently competitive club. They made the finals in 1929 and were eliminated again by Carlton,12.9 to 11.7. In 1936, Bill Mohr became the second St Kilda player to be the leading goalkicker in a home
3.
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
4.
Mark Seymour
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Mark Jeremy Seymour is an Australian musician and vocalist. He was the frontman and songwriter of rock band, Hunters & Collectors, Seymour has a solo career, releasing a number of albums, at the ARIA Music Awards of 2001 he won Best Adult Contemporary Album for One Eyed Man. Mark Jeremy Seymour was born on 26 July 1956 in Benalla to Frank and he has two older sisters, Hilary and Helen, and a younger brother, Nick – later bass guitarist for Crowded House. His mother encouraged all four children to learn instruments and sing. He initially learned piano but switched to guitar as a teenager, Seymour and his family moved to Melbourne in 1972, he graduated from University of Melbourne in 1978 and was qualified to teach. He later lived in the St Kilda area, clinton Walker described the group as lighter, bouncier and more infectious than other like-minded bands such as Models. They issued a single, Newspaper, with the other side, Miniskirts in Moscow, by fellow pop group. The Jetsonnes, Models, and International Exiles were the first bands to rise out of Melbournes hothouse punk, in 1981, Seymour formed Hunters & Collectors from the remnants of The Jetsonnes with Archer, Falconer, and Tosti-Gueira. In 1998, Hunters & Collectors officially split up, Seymour later released a live DVD/CD in 2001 entitled One Eyed Man, which won Best Adult Contemporary Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2001. He followed with Embedded in 2004, and 2005s Daytime & the Dark and his fourth solo studio album, Westgate was released in June 2007. Seymour continues to tour, focusing on mostly small acoustic performances, in 2008, Thirteen Tonne Theory, a memoir detailing his experiences with Hunters and Collectors, was published by Penguin Books. Seymour has performed at several AFL Grand Finals, official website 2006 interview with Nick & Mark Seymour
5.
Jimmy Barnes
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James Dixon Swan AO, better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His career both as a performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel has made him one of the most popular. The combination of 14 Australian Top 40 albums for Cold Chisel and 13 charting solo albums, 1s, gives Barnes the highest number of hit albums of any Australian artist. James Swan was born in Glasgow, Scotland and he arrived in Adelaide, South Australia as a 5-year-old on 21 January 1962 with his parents Jim and Dorothy Swan and siblings John, Dorothy, Linda and Alan. Another sister, Lisa, was born in 1962 and the eventually settled in Elizabeth. His father, Jim Swan, was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan also works as a rock singer, John encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasnt really interested initially. His mother Dorothy soon remarried, to a clerk named Reg Barnes, after her daughter Lisa was teased by a schoolmate about being adopted, Dorothy encouraged her children to change their surname to Barnes. All of them did except for the eldest brother, John and this would later cause confusion about Jimmy Barnes and Swan, many thought them to be half- or stepbrothers. Barnes was raised a Protestant, and considers himself a Buddhist, in September 2009 he revealed that his maternal grandmother was Jewish. Barnes took an apprenticeship in a foundry with the South Australian Railways in 1973 but the love he, Swanee was now playing drums with Fraternity, who had just parted ways with singer Bon Scott. Within a short time the group had changed its name to Cold Chisel, Barnes relationship with the band was often volatile and he left several times, leaving Moss to handle vocal duties until he returned. Progress was slow and Barnes announced he was leaving again in May 1977 to join Swanee in a band called Feather. However, his performance with Cold Chisel went so well that he changed his mind and decided to stay in the band. While in Canberra in November 1979 however, he met Jane Mahoney, Barnes wrote the song Rising Sun about this, which would appear on the album East. The pair married in Sydney on 22 May 1981 and Jane soon gave birth to their first child Mahalia, named after Mahalia Jackson, on 12 July 1982. The singer had never been careful with money and the pressure on him to provide for his young family caused even more tension between him and the rest of Cold Chisel. Despite being hugely successful in Australia, the group had not been able to crack the market internationally. While the 1982 album Circus Animals provided Cold Chisel with its second consecutive No.1 album, at a meeting in August, it was decided that Cold Chisel should split up
6.
John Farnham
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John Peter Farnham, Jr. AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham from his professional debut in 1967 until 1980, is an English-born Australian pop singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, but has since forged a career as a contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he replaced Glenn Shorrock as lead singer of Little River Band from 1982 to 1985, in September 1986 his solo single, Youre the Voice peaked at No.1 on the Australian singles charts. The associated album, Whispering Jack, held the No.1 position for a total of 25 weeks and is the album in Australian history. Both the single and the album had Top Ten success internationally including No.1 in Sweden, in 1993, Anthology 1, Greatest Hits 1986–1997 in 1997, 33⅓ in 2000, The Last Time in 2002 and Two Strong Hearts Live in 2015. Farnham has been recognised by honours and awards including 1987 Australian of the Year,1996 Officer of the Order of Australia, from 1969 he was voted by TV Week readers as the King of Pop for five consecutive years. Aside from his career, Farnham performed on stage with lead roles in Australian productions of Charlie Girl, Pippin. He starred in his own TV series and specials including Its Magic and Bobby Dazzler and as a guest on other popular shows such as Countdown. Australian rock historian, Ian McFarlane described him as the most successful solo artist in the history of Australian rock, Farnham has retained an affable sense of humour and a simple, unpretentious everyman charm which also makes him one of the most respected celebrities in Australian entertainment history. John Peter Farnham, Jr. was born in Dagenham, England, on 1 July 1949, to John Farnham Sr and his sisters are Jean and Jaquiline, and his younger brother is Steven. Farnham spent his first ten years in the United Kingdom before his family emigrated to Australia in 1959 to live in Melbourne and he attended school at Yarraman Park State School, Lyndale Primary School and Lyndale High School. During school holidays, Farnham worked with a plumber and he left school to begin a plumbing apprenticeship. In 1967, he took two years leave from his job to pursue his music career. Johnny Farnham performed with local band The Mavericks on weekends, while attending school. The band had a five-song repertoire, in late 1965 he was asked to join Strings Unlimited as a singer and they had a regular booking at a local hotel. On 29 April 1967, Strings Unlimited performed as a band for pop singer Bev Harrell in Cohuna. Harrells manager, Darryl Sambell, was impressed with Farnhams vocals, initially performing in Sambells home town of Adelaide, Farnham recorded an advertising jingle Susan Jones for Ansett ANA and was offered a solo record contract with EMI. Farnhams first commercially successful recording was a novelty song entitled Sadie, however, EMIs in house producer, David MacKay, insisted and so the single was released in November 1967
7.
Jersey Boys
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Jersey Boys is a 2005 jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a format that dramatizes the formation, success. The musical is structured as four seasons, each narrated by a different member of the band who gives his own perspective on its history and music. Songs include Big Girls Dont Cry, Sherry, December 1963, My Eyes Adored You, Stay, Cant Take My Eyes Off You, Working My Way Back to You and Rag Doll, among others. The title refers to the fact that the members of The Four Seasons are from New Jersey, Jersey Boys won four 2006 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. In the early 2000s, Bob Gaudio, an original Four Seasons member and he hired book writers Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman, and director Des McAnuff. Brickman suggested creating a show about the history, instead of repurposing their songs for an independent story the way ABBA did with Mamma Mia. Brickman was drawn to the project because, Its a classic American story and its rags to riches, and back to rags. Little was known to the public about the history prior to the premiere of the musical. According to Gaudio, Back then, things were a little clean-cut, dont forget, other bands of the time projected street-tough images, but The Four Seasons cleaned themselves up in order to be palatable for mainstream listeners. Brickman and Elice also used material from interviews with surviving Four Seasons members Gaudio, Frankie Valli, interestingly, while the Four Seasons as a group made headlines, as individuals they did not receive much press due to groups like the Beatles receiving the attention. Brickman noted that each member had his own perspective on what happened during their tenure as a group, of the three, they approached DeVito last, who told them, Dont listen to those guys. Ill tell you what really happened, Elice said that getting DeVitos version was a eureka moment and the contradiction in their stories ended up being incorporated in the musical for a Rashomon effect. The writers were also contacted by members of the late mob boss Gyp DeCarlo to ensure that he would be portrayed respectfully. Although Gaudio was part of the development team, he wasnt involved in the creative process during tryouts. Gaudio, Valli and DeVito had decided to back from the shows creative process because they lacked objectivity. However, Gaudio and Valli still had final say on whether to end the show if they didnt like it, Robert Spencer played The Four Seasons. At the end of the tryout, Norona, who originated the role of Frankie Valli, was replaced by John Lloyd Young, the musical began previews on Broadway on October 4,2005, and officially opened on November 6,2005, at the August Wilson Theatre
8.
Norm Smith Medal
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The Norm Smith Medal is the award given in the AFL Grand Final to the player adjudged by an independent panel of experts to have been the best player in the match. The Norm Smith Medal is named after former Melbourne player and coach and it was named in his honour mostly due to his coaching feats in Grand Finals, he coached six Melbourne premiership sides from eight appearances in Grand Finals. As with most individual awards in sports, the Norm Smith Medal is usually awarded to a player on the winning side. Only four players have won the award in losing sides, Maurice Rioli in 1982, Gary Ablett, Sr. in 1989, Nathan Buckley in 2002 and Chris Judd in 2005. It is notable that Ablett, Buckley and Judd won their medals in very close Grand Finals, whereas Rioli won his in the 1982 Grand Final, despite his team being convincingly beaten by Carlton. Judd is the player to go on and play in a winning premiership team after his Norm Smith medal in 2005 in a losing team. Lenny Hayes is the player to win the Norm Smith in a drawn Grand Final. No player has won the double of a Norm Smith medal in the same year as his Brownlow medal. Gary Ayres, Andrew McLeod and Luke Hodge are the players to have won the medal twice. In the 1997 and 1998 grand finals McLeod won consecutive Norm Smith Medals, the first winner of the medal, Wayne Harmes, was Norm Smiths nephew. The medal is voted for by a panel of five experts from the media, the panel-members independently award 3-2-1 votes to the players they adjudge to be the best three players in the game. These votes are tallied, and the highest number of wins the medal. In the case of a final being drawn and a replay being required. There has been criticism that the judging panel makes its decision late during the last quarter, before the game has ended. Therefore, the last minutes of the game are not taken into consideration when voting takes place,1 – Winner played on losing team. 2 – Two medals were awarded as the final was drawn. The following players have won the Norm Smith Medal multiple times, michael Tuck Medal Clive Churchill Medal The Red Fox - The Biography of Norm Smith, Legendary Melbourne Coach
9.
Paul Chapman (footballer)
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Paul Chapman is a retired professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Geelong Football Club and Essendon Football Club clubs in the Australian Football League. Chapmans 2002 season was his breakout season he would go on to play 16 games for the season 15 of those games were the last 15 of the season, in round 9 Chapman would collect 26 disposals and also kick three goals this was Chapmans first ever 20+ possession game. At the end of the 2002 season Chapman was named Geelongs most improved player he would also finish 8th in Geelongs best and fairest award, Chapman was also a member of Geelongs VFL premiership team. In 2003 Chapman officially joined the Geelong senior team playing all 22 games of the season. Chapman played his best game for the season in Round 7 against the West Coast Eagles where he kicked 4 goals, Chapman would play his 50th career game in Round 21 against the Brisbane Lions. At the end of the 2003 season Chapman would be named best team and constructive player, Chapman had double figure possessions in every game except one, he also kicked 38 goals for the season with multiple goals in 12 games. Chapman would finish the season 9th in Geelongs Best and Fairest award, Chapman would only play 19 games in the 2005 season after he suffered an injury in round 19, Chapman would go on to miss the remaining 3 games and the finals series. His 2006 season started well, winning the AFL Pre-Season Premiership defeating Adelaide by 8 points, he played his 100th game in Round 5 against the Sydney, losing by 22 points. At the end of the year Chapman won the Carji Greeves Medal polling 462 votes, ahead of Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett, Jr. and he polled 14 votes in the Brownlow Medal. Chapman picked up double figure possessions in every game he played he also booted 30 goals for the season, Geelong finished first at the end of the season winning the McClelland Trophy. In Geelongs first qualifying final Chapman would kick 5 goals leading Geelong to a record breaking 106 point victory, Chapman was runner up in the Norm Smith Medal count. Chapman played his 150th game in Round 16,2008 against the Western Bulldogs, Geelong won the McClelland Trophy for the second year in a row, Chapman had 22 possessions and 1 goal, in the 2008 AFL Grand Final loss to Hawthorn by 26 points. At the start of the 2009 season, Geelong won the AFL Pre-Season Premiership defeating Collingwood by 76 points. Chapman played 20 games for the season and kicked 31 goals for the year, Chapman also had a career high 41 disposals in Round 6, Chapman went on to poll 12 votes in the Brownlow Medal, and made the All-Australian team for the first time. Geelong finished 2nd on the ladder and Chapman had a dominant finals series kicking 5 goals in the Preliminary final and 3 goals in the grand final. Geelong defeated the St Kilda by 12 points in the 2009 AFL Grand Final, Chapman kicked the winning goal, Chapman would make the All-Australian team for the second year in a row in 2010 where he played 21 games for the season booting 23 goals. Chapman also had 7 games with 30+ disposals, Geelong would finish 2nd on the ladder and go all the way to the Preliminary Final but were eliminated by Collingwood after losing by 41 points. Chapman would have 21 disposals and 1 goal in the game, Chapman played all 23 games of the 2011 season including 3 finals, he played his 200th game in Round 2 against Fremantle
10.
Network Ten
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Network Ten is an Australian commercial broadcasting network owned by Ten Network Holdings, and is headquartered in Pyrmont, New South Wales. It first aired on August 1,1964 in Melbourne, Network Ten is the one of five national free-to-air networks in Australia. Its owned-and-operated stations can be found in the capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. In the early 1960s, the government began canvassing the idea of licensing a third commercial television station in each capital city. This decision was seen by some as a way for the government to defuse growing public dissatisfaction with the dominance of imported overseas programming, the first of these third licences was granted to United Telecasters Sydney was granted on 4 April 1963. Structurally, the Australian television industry was modelled on the two-tiered system that had been in place in Australian radio since the late 1930s. One tier consisted of a network of publicly funded television stations run by the ABC, the second tier consisted of the commercial networks and independent stations owned by private operators, whose income came from selling advertising time. The network was launched as ATV-0 in Melbourne opened on 1 August 1964 and was owned by the Ansett transport and media group, which at the time owned one of Australias two domestic airlines. TEN-10 in Sydney, which opened on 5 April 1965, was owned by United Telecasters Sydney Ltd. Also opened that month was SAS-10, serving the city of Adelaide in South Australia, for its first five years, the 0/10 Network led a hand-to-mouth existence. By the beginning of the 1970s the network was in a financial position. In 1971, the 0/10 network first aired Young Talent Time, which was a ratings success. However, the true financial reprise came about due to the adult soap opera serial Number 96. The series broke new ground for Australian television and captured the imagination of viewers like few programs before or since and this began when Murdochs News Ltd purchased the Wollongong station WIN Television in the early 1960s, around the same time he bought Festival Records. In 1977, frustrated by regulatory blocks that prevented him from expanding into the Sydney market, Murdoch sold WIN, in 1979, Murdoch made an unsuccessful takeover bid for the Melbourne-based The Herald and Weekly Times media group. Although the bid failed, he gained a 50% stake in Ansett, in 1979, 0/10 first aired soap opera Prisoner, which was a huge ratings success. In 1987 Adelaides Network Ten affiliate and Seven Network affiliate successfully negotiated to exchange affiliation rights and channel frequencies due to ownership problems. On 27 December 1987, the exchange came into effect and ADS-7, owned by the owners as the main Network Ten stations, became ADS-10 with SAS-10 converting to SAS-7
11.
Luke Darcy
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Luke Darcy is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League and now works for the Seven Network and Triple M covering the AFL. Darcy was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of David Darcy, David, originally a Victorian, moved his family to Adelaide where Darcy attended Rostrevor College. Darcy started his career with South Adelaide before his recruitment by the Bulldogs in 1993, debuting in 1994, Darcy became known as one of the Bulldogs most successful ruckmen/forwards. In 2001 he took out the Bulldogs Best and Fairest award, the Charles Sutton Medal, in 2002 Darcy and the Brisbane Lionss Michael Voss were the first players to be awarded the Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFL Players Associations Most Valuable Player 1. In 2004 he was the Western Bulldogss leading goalkicker, in a 2005 match against Geelong, Darcy suffered a season-ending knee injury when he twisted it, depriving the Bulldogs of a quality tall-forward option, something they missed during the year. The Bulldogs finished the season in place, the first time the club had made the finals in six years. He had been part of a Bulldogs casualty list that included four ACL injuries during the season. Darcy was officially added to Network Tens AFL Commentary Team in 2007 and remained an Expert Commentator right up until the end of the 2011 AFL season, from the 2012 AFL season onwards, Darcy was part of the Seven Networks commentating team for Saturday matches. In 2008, he became a member of the AFL rules committee, after retiring Darcy continued his work in the media. He was a panelist on Fox Footys Fox League Teams and is now a television, following the 2011 season, Network Ten lost the rights to broadcast Australian rules football matches. Darcy joined the Seven Network who have the free to air broadcasting rights from 2012-2016. He is a member of the Saturday Night commentary team with Brian Taylor, Cameron Ling, Matthew Richardson, Samantha Lane, in 2014 Luke Darcy became the new host of Sevens iconic AFL chat show Talking Footy. Darcy is also a fill in presenter on Seven News Melbourne and has served as a tennis commentator for Seven. All prior VFL/AFL MVPs were retrospectively given the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 2005
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
13.
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
14.
2010 AFL Grand Final
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The 2010 AFL Grand Final is a series of two Australian rules football contests between the Collingwood Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. Together they are considered the 114th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League, the premiership is usually decided by a single match, however, as the first Grand Final ended in a draw, a Grand Final replay was played the following week and was won by Collingwood. Both Grand Finals were held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, the first was held on 25 September 2010. The game was attended by 100,016 spectators, the highest crowd for a VFL/AFL game since the 1986 VFL Grand Final, the match ended in a draw, with both teams scoring 68 points. This was the draw in a VFL/AFL Grand Final, the previous two occurring in 1948 and 1977. The premiership was decided by a replay on 2 October 2010. It was attended by 93,853 people, Collingwood defeated St Kilda by 56 points, marking Collingwoods fifteenth VFL/AFL premiership victory and their first since 1990. It was the last Grand Final to be replayed prior to the introduction of extra time, Collingwood entered the 2010 season after having lost its preliminary final in 2009 against eventual premiers Geelong. Collingwood was the best performed side of the home and away season, finishing with a record of 17–4–1 and winning its first Minor Premiership since 1977 and its first McClelland Trophy since 1970. St Kilda entered the season after having won the 2009 minor premiership with the clubs best ever home and away record of 20–2, after winning the first four games of the season, the Saints hit a form slump coinciding with a serious hamstring injury to captain Nick Riewoldt. They would recover to win seven games in a row before Riewoldts return, Collingwood and St Kilda met twice during the 2010 home-and-away season, each team winning once. St Kilda won in Round 3 at Etihad Stadium,10.9 to an inaccurate 4.17, in Round 16 at the MCG, Collingwood was a comfortable winner over St Kilda by the score 15.10 versus 6.16. The teams also met in the first round of the competition which St Kilda won by 1 point. The first final marked the 41st time Collingwood has contested the VFL/AFL Grand Final, the club was attempting to win its fifteenth VFL/AFL premiership, and its first since 1990. It was St Kildas seventh Grand Final appearance, and its second in a row after the loss in 2009, St Kilda was attempting to win its second premiership, the only previous premiership coming in 1966. The matches were the second and third Grand Finals contested by the two clubs, the only previous encounter was the 1966 Grand Final in which St Kilda won its only premiership, winning by a single point 10.14 to 10.13. They had met in a total of nine finals, of which St Kilda has won six, including the last five in a row, the 2010 decider was telecast nationwide by the Seven Network, on their main channel as well as the new high definition digital channel 7mate. The match was also broadcast for the first time in 3D, Seven also televised the AFL Grand Final replay, on 2 October, albeit not in 3D nor in High Definition, as the equipment was being loaned in Sydney for the NRL Grand Final
15.
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
16.
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
17.
2009 AFL season
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The 2009 Australian Football League season commenced on 26 March and concluded on 26 September. It was the 113th season of the VFL/AFL competition, the season consisted of 22 home and away rounds and four rounds of finals, culminating in the 2009 AFL Grand Final which determined the 2009 AFL premiers. Geelong won the Grand Final against St Kilda, richmond, the only club to show interest in recruiting Cousins, had one selection in the pre-season draft. Josh Carrs return to Port Adelaide was the major player move. Bold – Home game Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the finished the round inside the top 8. Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round, Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round. The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Gary Ablett, Jr. of Geelong, the AFL Rising Star was awarded to Daniel Rich of the Brisbane Lions, who received the maximum 45 votes. The Coleman Medal was awarded to Brendan Fevola of Carlton, who kicked 86 goals during the home, the Wooden Spoon was awarded to Melbourne for the second year in a row. Melbourne finished the season in last place on the ladder after 22 rounds, the McClelland Trophy was awarded to St Kilda for finishing 1st on the ladder during the premiership season. The AFL Players Association Awards were as follows, The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Gary Ablett, the Robert Rose Award went to Joel Selwood from Geelong for being the Most Courageous Player throughout the premiership season. The Best Captain award went to Jonathan Brown of the Brisbane Lions for the second time, the Best First-Year Player award was won by Daniel Rich from the Brisbane Lions. Rich blitzed the competition, receiving 463 votes, and the runner-up receiving just 45, the 2009 award was won by Daniel Rich from the Brisbane Lions. The Australian Football League celebrates the best goal of the season through the annual Goal of the Year competition, from 2009 onwards, the commercial name for the award is the AFL Stores Goal of the Year. Nominations Round 1 – Shannon Hurn Round 2 – Jason Winderlich Round 3 – Taylor Walker Round 4 – Ryan Houlihan Round 5 – Gary Ablett, from 2009 onwards, the commercial name for the award is the Hungry Jacks Mark of the Year. Each week three players and what they did are made available on the AFL Army Award website for supporters to vote on, the player with the highest percentage of the vote is the AFL Army Award nominee for that round. Nominations For the full list of nominees, see 2009 AFL Army Award. Umpires were also encouraged to recall a centre bounce if it is offline, Players contacting umpires continued to be an issue with several players fined for making contact with umpires as they retreated from ball-ups. In related offences, Collingwoods Heath Shaw was suspended for one week after touching an umpires shoulder,2009 Australian football code crowds AFL official website 2009 AFL Fixture 2009 Season – AFL Tables
18.
Hawthorn Football Club
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The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League. The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL and has won thirteen VFL/AFL premierships and it is renowned as the only club having won premierships in each decade of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. The team play in brown and gold vertically striped guernseys, the clubs Latin motto is spectemur agendo, the English translation being By our deeds let us be known. The Hawks origins are in the inner-eastern Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn and also at Glenferrie Oval, matches, however, have not been played there since 1973. In 2006, Hawthorns training and administration facilities were relocated to Waverley Park in the middle of the major supporter base in Melbournes outer-eastern region. Hawthorns current Victorian Football League affiliate team is the Box Hill Hawks Football Club, the official club history books and many supporters strongly believe that the clubs origins date back to its founding in 1873 at a meeting at the Hawthorne Hotel. Although a Hawthorn Football Club did indeed form at this time – and it is likely that today’s club is actually the third club to carry the name ‘Hawthorn Football Club’. In The Daily Telegraph of 12 May 1883 it is stated that “The Hawthorn Club having disbanded and this club also ceased in 1890. No Hawthorn club existed from 1890 to 1892, a new representative club, called the ‘Hawthorn Football Club’, was formed in 1893. It competed in the Victorian Junior Football Association until 1898, without a ground to play on, however, the club was disbanded in 1899. In March 1902, Alf Kosky formed a club from the various clubs under the banner of Hawthorn Football Club to compete in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association. The club merged with Boroondara in 1905 and adopted Boroondaras colours of a black guernsey with red sash, in 1906 Hawthorn merged with successful junior club the Hawthorn Rovers to form the Hawthorn City Football Club as a result of Glenferrie Oval opening. The club was reformed in 1912, changing to a gold guernsey with a blue V, the council then applied to the Victorian Football Association for inclusion which was granted in 1914 when Hawthorn replaced the disbanded Melbourne City club. The first task for the club was to decide on club colours, their jumper of blue, at a Special General Meeting held on 17 February 1914, a Mr J. Brain proposed brown and gold as the new colours and the motion was carried. The Mayblooms won three games and a draw in their first season in the VFA, the effect of World War I with players enlisting caused the club to finish last in 1915. The VFA then went into recess in 1916 and 1917, upon Hawthorn’s resumption in 1919 it was more competitive winning eight games and finishing sixth out of ten teams. Hawthorn dropped to eighth in 1920 but in 1921 they won seven games, bill Walton was appointed captain-coach of Hawthorn in 1922. He was however refused a clearance by Port Melbourne and as a result spent the season playing for them, twice that season, he had the unusual situation of playing a VFA game against the club that he coached
19.
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
20.
North Melbourne Football Club
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It is based at the Arden Street Oval in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Melbourne, Victoria, but plays its home matches at the nearby Docklands Stadium. The clubs mascot is a kangaroo, and its use dates from the middle of the 20th century. The club is also known as The Shinboners, a term which dates back to its 19th-century abattoir-worker origins. The clubs motto is Victoria amat curam, Latin for Victory Demands Dedication, in two aspects North Melbourne stands second to none. One is the loyalty of its supporters, the other is the determination to carry on, despite its disadvantages. In the face of adversity, which might well have broken the spirit of most men, North Melbourne Football Club originated in the year 1869, when a football team was formed for local cricketers desiring to keep fit over the winter months. Information on the clubs first ever match is limited, but it is known that it took place in Royal Park, the ball used in the match was purchased by a local resident called Tom Jacks, who sold some roofing iron to pay for it. James Henry Gardiner is considered the founder of the club and he continued an active role with North Melbourne until his death in 1921. Regular premiership matches of Australian Football commenced in Victoria in 1870, Although North Melbourne was a part of this, it was classed as a junior club. The Australasian noted them as being one of the best of junior clubs. The club continued to develop, graduating to senior ranks in 1874 finishing 4th, along with the promotion, the club adopted its first uniform of blue and white horizontal stripes. In 1877, the club was re-established as a club under the new name of Hotham. Football took a giant step forward in 1877, with the formation of Victorias first colonial football league, Hotham were prime movers in establishing this league and were afforded a place in light of their previous contributions to Australian Football. The 1880s marked the emergence of the identity we now associate with North today. In 1882, the club amalgamated with the Hotham Cricket Club and moved into the North Melbourne Recreation Reserve, the joint venture was aimed at affecting improvements at the Hotham Cricket Ground, which was the name of the Reserve at the time. Four years later the club adopted the uniform of blue and white vertical stripes at the insistence of the VFA. The third significant development occurred in 1888 with the returning to its original name of the North Melbourne Football Club. This followed the name of the local area reverting from Hotham to North Melbourne, the 1880s saw the club develop a penchant for inter-colonial travel with trips to Tasmania and South Australia
21.
2008 AFL season
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The 2008 Australian Football League season was the 112th season of the elite Australian rules football competition. This season commenced on 20 March 2008 and concluded on 27 September 2008, the season consisted of twenty-two rounds of home-and-away matches, and four rounds of finals. The premiership was won by Hawthorn, who beat minor premiers Geelong by 26 points in the 2008 AFL Grand Final, a significant feature of the season was the celebration of the 150th anniversary since the sport of Australian rules football was first established in 1858. Bold – Home game Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the finished the round inside the top 8. Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round, Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round. The 2008 Finals Series was conducted according to the conventions of the AFLs Amended Final Eight system that the AFL instituted in the AFL season 2000, statistics correct as at end of Round 22. The 2008 Brownlow Medal for the AFLs fairest and best player was awarded to Adam Cooney, of the Western Bulldogs, the Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFLs most valuable player was awarded to Gary Ablett, Jr. of Geelong. The Coleman Medal was awarded to Lance Franklin of Hawthorn, who kicked 102 goals during the home, the Norm Smith Medal as the player adjudged best afield in the AFL Grand Final was awarded to Luke Hodge, of Hawthorn. The McClelland Trophy was awarded to Geelong for holding top position on the ladder after 22 rounds, the Wooden Spoon was obtained by Melbourne who finished the season in last place on the ladder after 22 rounds. Chris Judd from Carlton was named the captain of the 2008 All-Australian Team, with seven Geelong players named, the AFL Mark of the Year and Alex Jesaulenko Medal was awarded to Matthew Lloyd of Essendon for a spectacular high mark against Melbourne in Round 19. The AFL Goal of the Year and Phil Manassa Medal was awarded to Leon Davis of Collingwood for his chase, tackle, Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the Coleman that round. The AFL Rising Star award for 2008 was awarded to Rhys Palmer from Fremantle, Western Bulldogs came back from a 37-point deficit against St Kilda at quarter time to come back and win the game by 38 points to make a 75-point turnaround in Round 4. Brisbane Lions produced its biggest ever comeback in Round 4 against Port Adelaide when they were down by 47 points late in the quarter to win by 20 points. Later in the season, Fremantles Dean Solomon beat that record and this was the second in a VFL/AFL-record string of five consecutive games which Fremantle lost after holding a three-quarter time lead. West Coast suffered its worst ever loss at Subiaco Oval, and worst loss anywhere since 1989, in Round 13, in Round 13, Dustin Fletcher and his father, Ken, claimed the record of most VFL/AFL games played by a father-son combination. In Round 16, Richmond player Joel Bowden deliberately conceded two behinds directly from the kick-in, to time while protecting his teams four-point lead over Essendon. This was a motivation for the introduction of a rule from 2009 that allows the umpire to give award free kick for a deliberate rushed behind. With its final-round victory, Geelong matched the 2000 Essendon record of 21 wins in a home-and-away season, ironically, Geelong also set the record for the highest average losing margin in a VFL/AFL season, with its only loss coming by 86 points at the hands of Collingwood
22.
Collingwood Football Club
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The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or less formally the Pies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. This spike in membership registration can mainly be attributed to the winning of the 2010 AFL Premiership and this record was again broken in 2013, with club reaching a new high of 80,000 members. Collingwood is regarded as one of Australias most popular clubs, being the highest attended, Collingwoods home guernsey consists of black and white stripes, matching the colours of an Australian magpie. Throughout its history, the club has developed rivalries with cross-town Melbourne based clubs Carlton, Richmond, Essendon, historically one of the most successful clubs in the league, Collingwood has won 15 VFL/AFL premierships, the third-most of any team. Collingwood has played in a record 43 grand finals, winning 15, the club fields a seconds team in the Victorian Football League and a womens team in the AFL Womens competition. It also owns and operates a team in the National Netball League. The Collingwood Football Club was established on 12 February 1892, Collingwood played its first game in the Victorian Football Association against Carlton on 7 May 1892. The club won the VFA Premiership in 1896, in 1897, Collingwood, along with fellow VFA clubs Fitzroy, Melbourne, St Kilda, Carlton, Essendon, South Melbourne and Geelong split from the VFA and formed the Victorian Football League. Collingwood won its first premiership in 1902, defeating Essendon by 33 points, Collingwood was the most successful club of the 1920s and 1930s, appearing in 13 out of a possible 20 Grand Finals during the period. Collingwood were premiers six times during this time, including four consecutive premierships between 1927 and 1930, a VFL/AFL record, and two premierships in 1935 and 1936. The clubs coach during this period was Jock McHale, who served as coach from 1912 to 1949, Collingwood lost two Grand Finals to Melbourne in this decade, but bounced back to win premierships in 1953 and 1958. Collingwoods 1958 premiership is much cherished by the club as it prevented Melbourne from equalling Collingwoods record four premierships in a row, the 1958 premiership was however to be Collingwoods last for 32 years, as the club was to suffer a string of Grand Final defeats in coming decades. A string of eight Grand Final losses, often by narrow margins, between 1960 and 1981 gave rise to a perception that the club was prone to choking, a phenomenon wittily dubbed Colliwobbles. Whether this perception is accurate remains a subject of debate, however, Lou Richards ceremoniously buried the Colliwobbles at Victoria Park after the clubs 1990 premiership. Collingwood made a return to the finals in 2006, but were defeated by the Western Bulldogs by 41 points, having earned a preliminary final against Geelong, the Pies challenged the eventual premiers, only to fall short by five points. Nathan Buckley would announce his retirement at seasons end after playing just five games in 2007 due to injury, Collingwood finished eighth in 2008 and were assigned an away final against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. After at one point trailing in the match, the Pies went on to end Adelaides season, having defeated the Saints in both their regular season meetings, the Pies lost convincingly, ending their 2008 season. The 2009 season saw Collingwood finish inside the top-four for the first time since 2003, but the season ended abruptly for the Magpies, with an 73-point loss to the Cats
23.
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
24.
Port Adelaide Football Club
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The Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, Port Adelaide, South Australia. The clubs senior team plays in the Australian Football League whilst its reserves, Port Adelaide is the oldest professional football club in South Australia and the fifth-oldest club in the AFL. Since the clubs first game on 24 May 1870, it has won 36 South Australian league premierships, the club also won the Champions of Australia competition on a record four occasions. In 1997, the joined the Australian Football League as the only pre-existing non-Victorian club—and subsequently added the 2004 AFL Premiership to its achievements. By the late 1860s Port Adelaides river traffic was growing significantly causing John Rann, Mr. Leicester, the Port Adelaide Football Club was established on 12 May 1870 as part of a joint Australian football and cricket club with the first training session taking place two days later. It played its first match against a team called the Young Australians on 24 May 1870 at inaugural club president John Harts family property in Glanville. Football in South Australia at this stage was yet to be organised by a single body, in 1877 Port Adelaide joined seven other clubs to form the South Australian Football Association, the first league of its type in Australia. It competed its first few seasons wearing magenta guernseys and white shorts, in 1878 the club hosted its first game against the recently established Norwood Football Club with the visitors winning 1-0. A rivalry between these clubs would soon develop into one of the fiercest in Australian sport, in 1880 the club moved to Alberton Oval. In 1881 the club played a team for the first time against Carlton at Adelaide Oval. Later that year the club travelled to Victoria and played its first game outside South Australia against Sale, during the 1882 season Port Adelaide overcame Norwood for the first time after nine previous attempts winning by 1 goal at Adelaide Oval. In 1884 Port Adelaide won its first SAFA premiership, ending Norwoods run of six premierships, on 25 May 1885, Port Adelaide played its first game at the MCG against South Melbourne, drawing with the eventual VFA premiers in front of 10,000 spectators. In 1887 immense interest led into the Round 8 meeting against Norwood as the two matches between the clubs resulted in draws. Norwood won in front of a then-record 11,000 spectators at Adelaide Oval, during 1889 the club played against the Richmond at Punt Road, with Port prevailing by a goal. The 1889 SAFA season ended with Port Adelaide and Norwood equal top, Norwood went on to defeat Port Adelaide by two goals. In 1890 Port Adelaide won its second SAFA premiership and would go on to be crowned Champions of Australia for the first time after defeating VFA premiers South Melbourne. During the 1890s Australia was affected by a depression and many players were forced to move interstate to find work translating into poor on field results. By 1896, the club was in crisis and finished last causing the clubs committee to meet with the aim of revitalising the club
25.
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
26.
Australian Football League pre-season competition
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The pre-season competition culminated annually in a Grand Final and pre-season premier. After the 2013 season, the competition has consisted of a series of matches without an eventual winner. This series is known by the name JLT Community Series. The pre-season competition was established from the Australian Football Championships Night Series in 1988, in 1988, the competition was moved entirely into the pre-season, and became the VFL Pre-season Cup. Between 1988 and 1999, the competition was run as a simple knock-out tournament in which the teams moved through to the next round. In 1992, the introduced the Michael Tuck Medal for the best player in the grand final. After criticism that the format limited the preparation of the losing teams. The sixteen teams were split into groups of four, each playing three matches with the winner of each group advancing to the knockout semi-final stage. The public reaction to the change was mixed, as the atmosphere at some of the games was noticeably flat compared with previous years. The competition reverted to the straight knock-out format in 2003, in 2011, the pre-season competition expanded to eighteen teams with the addition of the Gold Coast Suns and the Greater Western Sydney Giants. The format from that point was, In 2011, the winner of each of the six groups, in 2012 and 2013, all teams then played two pre-scheduled full-length games, giving each team a total of four matches. The teams with the best two records over the four matches then faced off in the Grand Final and this format features no ranking or overall winner. It does retain some of the features of the former competition. Since 2017, the series has been known as the JLT Community Series, most games during the pre-season competition, including the final, were night matches. Lightning matches, when they were played from 2011 until 2013, were played two halves of 20 minutes plus time-on. Extra time was played to resolve drawn knock-out games, since 2003, pre-season matches have featured the super goal as a scoring option. The super goal, which scores nine points, is awarded for a goal kicked from beyond the 50-metre arc, particularly in the 21st century, the pre-season competition was used to trial rule changes before they are introduced into the premiership season. Among the notable rule trials were,2003 Three points for a rushed behind
27.
Michael Gardiner
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Michael Strickland Gardiner is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League. He made his debut for the club in 1997, and over the next seasons replaced Ryan Turnbull as the clubs first-choice ruckman, after being named in the All-Australian team in 2003, Gardiner missed most of the 2004 season due to injury. Loss of form and a series of controversies led to him being traded to St Kilda at the end of the 2006 season. During his time at St Kilda, Gardiner added another 52 games, including St Kildas 2009 and 2010 losing grand final teams, before retiring at the end of the 2011 season. Gardiner was born in Albany, Western Australia, and played football for the Royals Football Club before heading to Perth Western Australia to play for Claremont Football Club in the WAFL. Gardiner was the number 1 draft pick in the 1996 National Draft, Gardiner debuted in 1997 at only 17 years of age. There were big wraps on Gardiner as an emerging ruckman/forward and he did not disappoint, winning a Rising Star nomination in 1997 and All Australian selection in 2003. However, he was limited by chronic knee injuries. In May 2005, Gardiner and then West Coast team mate Ben Cousins were criticised for involvement with a group of alleged Perth underworld figures, Cousins and Gardiner allegedly received phone calls from gangland figures both before and after a stabbing and shooting at the Metro City nightclub. Police questioned Cousins and Gardiner about the incident but they refused to aid the inquiries, the Eagles told the pair that they were on their last warning and that their off field behaviour would not be tolerated. On 18 July 2006, Gardiners playing contract was suspended indefinitely, while he escaped the accident with only minor injuries, West Coast Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said that it was highly unlikely the club would renew his contract at the end of the year. During the 2006 AFL Trade Period, the Eagles traded Gardiner to St Kilda with a swap of third round draft picks, due to persistent injuries, Gardiner was unable to play any competitive AFL football during the 2007 season. Michael Gardiner started his St Kilda career by playing in the Saints 2008 NAB Cup winning side, during the AFL season Gardiner, hampered by injury, only managed to play 8 games. However, his attitude and effort in training, combined with the glimpses of form, the 2009 season saw Gardiner return to some of his best football form. Gardiner played in 16 of 22 matches in the 2009 home and away season in which St Kilda finished top of the ladder and he averaged 10 disposals and 20.5 hit outs per game, while proving a threat up forward, kicking 12 goals for the season. Though unfortunate to miss out on selection, Gardiner’s return to form. Another of the highlights of the season for Gardiner occurred the week in the Round 14 blockbuster clash between the two undefeated sides of the competition - the Saints and the Cats. In front of an AFL record crowd of 54,444 at Docklands Stadium, Gardiner would receive 3 Brownlow Medal votes in recognition of his performance as best player on ground against the Cats
28.
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
29.
Gary Ablett Jr.
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Gary Ablett Jr. is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League. He also previously played with the Geelong Football Club, the eldest son of Australian Football Hall of Fame member and former Geelong player Gary Ablett Sr. Ablett was drafted to Geelong under the father-son rule in the 2001 AFL draft. He made his debut in 2002 and has become recognised as one of the AFLs best midfielders. Ablett became the captain of the Gold Coast Football Club in 2011. He is a winner of the Gold Coast Best & Fairest award. He won the clubs first and only Brownlow Medal in 2013, in recent years, Ablett has suffered a number of setbacks through injury. Gary Ablett, Junior was born to Gary and Sue Ablett in the town of Modewarre. As the eldest boy among three siblings, Abletts childhood coincided with the peak of his fathers footballing career. Along with his brother Nathan, Ablett would regularly attend his fathers training sessions, Geelong players regarded them as barefooted pests in the rooms, and would often engage in kick-to-kick sessions with both of the boys. He attended Christian College Geelong during his schooling years, Ablett played junior football with the Modewarre Football Club until he was chosen to play for the Geelong Falcons in the Under 18 TAC Cup competition in 2000. Abletts selection was met controversy, as some families of other prospective junior players felt Ablett was chosen on the basis of his famous family heritage rather than footballing merit. However, the Falcons football manager Mick Turner repeatedly dismissed speculation, nonetheless, as the son of a popular and famous football player from Geelong, Ablett attracted a large following even at junior level. Although he was still a player, Ablett received mid-year State honours for Victoria Country during the 2001 National Championships. After spending one year in the TAC Cup, Ablett entered his name into the 2001 AFL Draft at the conclusion of the 2001 season. Ablett was drafted by the Geelong Football Club with their fifth selection, Ablett made his senior debut for the club in the opening round of the 2002 AFL season, where he gathered 8 disposals and took 4 marks. Ablett made twelve appearances in total during the season, before spending the latter half of the year with the reserves team. Playing as a forward, he helped the clubs reserves team win the 2002 VFL premiership against the Port Melbourne Football Club. After achieving premiership success with the team in the previous year
30.
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
31.
1997 AFL Grand Final
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It was the 101st annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1997 AFL season. The match, attended by 99,645 spectators, was won by Adelaide by a margin of 31 points, at the conclusion of the home and away season, St Kilda had finished first on the AFL ladder with 15 wins and 7 losses, winning the McClelland Trophy. They had won their last seven matches, Adelaide, with former Woodville and North Melbourne star Malcolm Blight taking over as coach, had finished fourth with 13 wins and 9 losses. They had made the finals for only the time in their club history. Tony Modra was the leading goalkicker for the fifth straight season with a total of 84. They then progressed to a final against the Western Bulldogs. It was, at time, the greatest victory in the Crows team history. However, in this game Adelaide lost Modra in the first quarter to an ACL injury, the Saints went into the grand final as heavy favourites. St Kildas Robert Harvey won the Brownlow Medal earlier in the week for having been the best player in the AFL for the 1997 season. It was an exciting Grand Final, and despite St Kilda leading by 13 points at half time, Adelaide won by 5 goals, Adelaide became the first team to win four consecutive finals to claim a premiership. Andrew McLeod won his first Norm Smith Medal for being judged the best player afield, other influential Crows players included Shaun Rehn, Kane Johnson, David Pittman, Troy Bond and Ben Hart. St Kildas Austinn Jones kicked the goal of the match, or what could have been goal of the year, in an effort reminiscent of Phil Manassa in the replayed 1977 Grand Final, Jones ran almost the full length of the ground and kicked the goal from the boundary. Saints forward Barry Hall, who kicked three goals, would feature in the Sydney Swans premiership winning team in 2005. Adelaide went on to win its second consecutive premiership the following year, whilst St Kilda had to wait until 2009 for another shot at the premiership, but again were denied by Geelong
32.
1966 VFL Grand Final
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It was the 70th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1966 VFL season. The match, attended by 102,055 spectators, was won by St Kilda by a margin of one point, marking that clubs first and only premiership victory to date. Twenty-five minutes into the quarter and with scores level, Collingwoods Wayne Richardson had a shot at goal on the run. St Kilda then began to work the ball out of defence after winning the boundary throw-in, a kick from Ian Cooper saw the ball make its way to centre half forward. Collingwood defender Ted Potter failed to mark the low down. Brian Mynott won the tap for the Saints but it was intercepted by Potter who was quickly tackled. Potter however managed to get out a pass but it found its way to St Kildas Barry Breen who snapped at goal. With about a minute left on the clock, Collingwood were able to work the ball towards their forward line, bob Murray, however, was able to take a mark at centre half back and the siren sounded after he kicked the ball towards the wing. One of the timekeepers was an avid St Kilda fan and blew the final siren for more than ten seconds, umpire – Jeff Crouch Australian Football article on the grand final 1966 VFL season 2010 AFL Grand Final
33.
Bookmaker (gambling)
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A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization that, or a person who, takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. When a large bet comes in, a bookmaker may also try to lay off the risk by buying bets from other bookmakers. Bookmakers do not generally attempt to make money from the bets themselves but rather by acting as market makers and their working methods are similar to that of an actuary, who does a similar balancing of financial outcomes of events for the assurance and insurance industries. Depending on jurisdiction, bookmaking may be legal or illegal, and is often regulated, however, gambling debts were unenforceable under English law until the Gambling Act 2005. Many bookmakers are members of IBAS, an industry organisation used to settle disputes, bookmaking is generally illegal in the United States, with Nevada being a notable exception due to the influence of Las Vegas. In some countries, such as Singapore, Sweden, Canada, and Japan, in Canada, this is part of the lottery program and is known as Sport Select. Following the Gaming Act 1845, the only gambling allowed in the United Kingdom was at race tracks, the introduction of special excursion trains meant that all classes of society could attend the new racecourses opening across the country. Cash concentrated towards the bookmakers who employed bodyguards against protection gangs operating within the vast crowds, in 1961, Harold Macmillans Conservative government legalised betting shops, with tough measures enacted to ensure that bookmakers remained honest. A large industry has grown since, at one time, there were over 15,000 betting shops. Now, through consolidation, they have reduced to between 9,100 and 9,200 in 2013. The group of the largest bookmakers in the country, known as the Big Three, comprises William Hill, Ladbrokes, improved TV coverage and the modernisation of the law have allowed betting in shops and casinos in most countries. A so-called super-casino had been planned for construction in Manchester, although online gambling first started in 1994 when the licensing authority of Antigua and Barbuda passed the Free Trade & Processes Act, bookmakers did not get involved until 2001. They were forced to act when research at the time there were eight million online players worldwide. The main websites require bets to be from countries where Internet gambling is allowed, some small bookmakers and startups purchase software from specialized white label solution providers. Controversially, the explosion in Internet gambling is being linked to a rise in gambling addiction, according to the UKs help and advice organizations for addicts, GamCare and Gamblers Anonymous. These online exchange markets operate a market index of prices near but usually not at 100% competitiveness, true wholesale odds are odds that operate at 100% of probabilistic outcomes. Betting exchanges compete with the traditional bookmaker, however, traditionally, arbitrage has always been possible by backing all outcomes with bookmakers, as opposed to laying an outcome on an exchange. Exchanges, however, allow bookmakers to see the state of the market and set their odds accordingly, with the increasing number of online betting exchanges, betting exchanges are now providing free bet offers in an attempt to lure customers away from the competition
34.
VFL/AFL
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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
