The 2021 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia, on Saturday 25 September 2021. It was the 126th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL), staged to determine the premiers of the 2021 AFL season. As the top-placed side on the ladder at the end of the 2021 home-and-away season, Melbourne finished minor premiers; conversely, the Western Bulldogs faded in the final four home-and-away games to finish 5th, thus needing to win all of their finals games to qualify for the grand final.
Optus Stadium (pictured) where the 2021 AFL Grand Final was played at the moment Simon Goodwin and Max Gawn raise the premiership cup together.
Optus Stadium, host venue of the 2021 AFL Grand Final.
The Western Bulldogs players running through their banner. The last line reads: "Yield to none", which was the Bulldogs' finals slogan and an English translation of their club motto.
The Melbourne players running through their banner.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, also called Australian football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval ball between the central goal posts, or between a central and outer post.
A ruckman leaps above his opponent to win the hit-out during a ball-up
Statue next to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the approximate site of the 1858 football match between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College. Tom Wills is depicted umpiring behind two young players contesting the ball. The plaque reads that Wills "did more than any other person – as a footballer and umpire, co-writer of the rules and promoter of the game – to develop Australian football during its first decade."
Engraving of a football match at the Richmond Paddock, 1866. The MCG and its first pavilion are visible in the background, as are kick-off posts, the forerunner of today's behind posts.
Engraving of the first intercolonial football match between Victoria and South Australia, East Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1879
