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Year in, year out, fans gather to watch the number one moment that marks the end of the AFL season and the culmination of the season's effort by the best team in the league.
From underdog tales, near wins to every other unpredictable event, every grandfinal has its own story. In this article, we'll take a look at the top five grandfinals in the history of the AFL.
#5 2006 West Coast vs Sydney
This was the second consecutive grand final in which the Eagles and the Swans faced off. The Swans won the grand final in 2005 by a four-point margin.
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After the home and away rounds, West Coast were first on the ladder with 17 wins and five losses and were winners of the McClelland trophy. Sydney, on the other hand, finished fourth with 14 wins and eight losses. Adam Goodes won the Brownlow Medal that year.
West Coast outplayed Sydney in the first half and led by 25 points. The Swans fought back in the second half and produced one of the most intense goal-for-goal performances in AFL history. West Coast held their one-point lead to win the game.
Andrew Embley was awarded the Norm Smith Medal. He recorded 26 disposals, six marks, and two goals. Coach John Worsfold received the Jock McHale Medal.
#4 1997 Adelaide vs St Kilda
This was a historic game for both sides with St Kilda playing in their first grand final since their loss in the 1971 season and aiming to win their second premiership. Adelaide, on the other hand, were making their maiden appearance in a final.
The Saints won the McClelland trophy with the lowest season tally to win the award in the modern era. They won 15 and lost seven games and went top of the ladder after topping Geelong by percentage.
Adelaide finished fourth and progressed to the preliminary finals against the Bulldogs and won by two points. Despite losing top goalkicker Tony Modra to an ACL injury in the first quarter against the Bulldogs, Malcolm Blight's tactical change decision to switch Darren Jarman from midfield to attack paid dividends. Jarman's sharpshooter skills won the game for the Crows as scored score five goals to cement himself as one of the greats.
Till the 2021 grandfinal when Bayley Fritsch also scored six, no other player achieved such a feat. His performance in that quarter is widely regarded as the greatest quarter from any individual in AFL history.
The Norm Smith award was won by 21-year-old Andrew McLeod, who Blight moved from the half-back position to midfield for his pace, agility and ball-winning skills. McLeod finished the game with 18 kicks, 13 handpasses and 11 marks.
#3 2010 Collingwood vs St Kilda
In a thrilling match between winners of the McClelland trophy that season and third-placed St Kilda, nothing could separate both sides at full time.
The following week, the match was replayed as extra time hadn't been introduced at the time. This also turned out to be the last grand final to be replayed when it was a draw.
The teams met twice in the home and away rounds and had a 1-1 win record against each other. St Kilda won in round three 69- 42 while Collingwood won 100- 52 in round 16.
Collingwood started the first quarter well and even had a 20-point lead until the 17th minute when goals by St Kilda's Riewoldt and Schneider brought the margin back to six points.
Collingwood dominated the second quarter and went into half-time with a 24-point lead. St Kilda increased the intensity of their play in the third and fourth quarters. They kicked six of the next eight goals to trail by just a point with two minutes to play.
A kick by Lenny Hayes which narrowly missed the hands of small forward Stephen Milne went between the posts for a behind, tying the scores at the very last moment.
The full replay saw Collingwood victorious with a 56-point margin with a 108- 52 score. Although St Kilda's Lenny Hayes won the Norm Smith in the draw, Scott Pendlebury was awarded the Norm Smith Medal in the replay match. He accumulated 29 disposals, seven marks and made 11 tackles.
#2 2005 West Coast vs Sydney
“Leo Barry, you star! Siren! The longest premiership drought in football history is over!”
Stephen Quartermain’s praise for the player mirrored the cheers from the crowd in what ended Sydney's 72-year premiership drought.
In the final moments of the final quarter with Sydney four points ahead of West Coast, Barry took a mark in the midst of a pack full of Eagles players quelling any hope the Eagles had for a comeback. The final score was 58- 54.
Chris Judd won the Norm Smith medal and became the fourth player to win the Norm Smith Medal despite being on the grand final losing side, joining legends Maurice Rioli (Richmond 1982), Gary Ablett Sr. (Geelong 1989) and Nathan Buckley (Collingwood 2002).
#1 1989 Hawthorn vs Geelong
In what was Hawthorn’s seventh successive grand final appearance, they were looking to successfully defend the premiership. They were previously denied by Essendon and Carlton.
Geelong set a point-scoring record for the home-and-away season (425 goals and 366 behinds for a total of 2916 points, at an average of nearly 133 points per game on their way to their first grandfinal since 1967).
Geelong played a very physical game which took its toll on the Hawks at the end of the first quarter. Mark Yeates’ challenge on center half forward Brereton left him with broken ribs and a bruised kidney, which caused him internal bleeding.
This didn't stop him from remaining on the field and scoring three goals. Brereton’s teammate, John Platten, had been concussed, and Robert DiPierdomenico was crunched from behind by Geelong's Gary Ablett while going backward to take a mark.
Despite Ablett scoring nine goals to equal the record for most goals kicked in a grand final, tying Collingwood's Gordon Coventry's 61-year-old record of goals in a grand final set in the 1928 VFL Grand Final, it would not be enough to win the grandfinal.
A few moments after Ablett completed his haul, Geelong's David Cameron scored the last goal of the match with 29 seconds to play. Hawthorn’s six-point lead was safe, bringing the score to 144- 138.
In the documentary series The Final Story, Coach Malcolm Blight said;
“That fact that the '89 grand final is held in such esteem by most people that love the game of football … it was a joy to be involved, for all the good and bad of it. It's just that every time we talk about it now, we still can't win the bloody thing."
