2000 AFL Grand Final
The 2000 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and the Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 2 September 2000 rather than in its usual last Saturday of September date to avoid conflicting with the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. It was the 104th annual grand final (counting replays) of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League),[1] staged to determine the premiers for the 2000 AFL season. The match, attended by 96,249 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 60 points, marking that club's 16th premiership and thereby equalling the record for the most VFL/AFL premierships.
| 2000 AFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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 The Melbourne Cricket Ground, where the 2000 AFL Grand Final took place | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 2 September 2000 | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 96,249 | |||||||||||||||
| Favourite | Essendon | |||||||||||||||
| Umpires | Darren Goldspink (32), Brett Allen (10), Hayden Kennedy (7) | |||||||||||||||
| Coin toss won by | David Neitz, Melbourne | |||||||||||||||
| Kicked toward | City End | |||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | ||||||||||||||||
| Pre-match entertainment | The Idea of North, Trish Delaney-Brown, Megan Corson, Andrew Piper and Nick Begie | |||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Bachelor Girl | |||||||||||||||
| Post-match entertainment | Mike Brady, Russell Morris and Rick Price | |||||||||||||||
| Accolades | ||||||||||||||||
| Norm Smith Medallist | James Hird (Essendon) | |||||||||||||||
| Jock McHale Medallist | Kevin Sheedy (Essendon) | |||||||||||||||
| Broadcast in Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Network | Seven Network | |||||||||||||||
| Commentators | Bruce McAvaney (host and commentator) Sandy Roberts (commentator) Jason Dunstall (expert commentator) Gerard Healy (expert commentator) Malcolm Blight (expert commentator) Tony Lockett (boundary rider) Anthony Hudson (boundary rider) Robert DiPierdomenico (boundary rider) | |||||||||||||||
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Background
This was Essendon's first appearance in a grand final since winning the 1993 AFL Grand Final, whilst it was Melbourne's first since losing the 1988 VFL Grand Final.
In the previous week's preliminary finals, Essendon defeated Carlton by 45 points, while Melbourne defeated North Melbourne by 50 points. The following Monday saw Melbourne's Shane Woewodin awarded the Brownlow Medal with 24 votes, ahead of Western Bulldogs midfielder Scott West and Adelaide midfielder Andrew McLeod.[2]
Essendon won the most home-and-away games (21) and total games (24) in a single season in the history of the VFL/AFL, breaking the records set by Carlton in 1995 (20 and 23, respectively), and they broke Collingwood's 1929 record when it won its first twenty games; if the pre-season cup is included, Essendon won 30 games out of 31; all of these records still stand. In 2008, Geelong won 21 of 22 games in the home-and-away season to equal that record, but they lost the grand final. Essendon's grand final win was the last by a Victorian side until Geelong won in 2007.
Match summary
Melbourne captain David Neitz won the toss and chose to kick towards the City/Members end of the MCG in the opening quarter. The first score of the game went to Melbourne. Neitz, from a very tight angle near the behind post on the Members side of the goals, kicked the ball into the far goal post resulting in one point.
It was only a short time after the first score of the game that James Hird kicked the first goal of the game for Essendon. Melbourne's first goal was kicked by Stephen Powell.
The Bombers never looked threatened from after quarter time and comfortably won its record-equaling 16th premiership by 60 points after arguably the most dominant season in VFL/AFL history.
One downside for the Bombers was an incident in which Melbourne's Troy Simmonds was hit high by Essendon's Michael Long, resulting in a 25-man brawl. Simmonds was taken from the field on a stretcher; nine players were reported on ten offences by the umpires.
Hird was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for being judged the best player afield. Paul Barnard and Matthew Lloyd each kicked four goals for the Bombers.
Essendon's triumph would be the last by any Victorian team until the 2007 AFL Grand Final when Geelong won its first premiership in 44 years.
The National Anthem was sung by Tania Doko of Bachelor Girl.
Teams
      Essendon
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 Melbourne
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Scorecard
| Essendon vs Melbourne | ||||
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| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final |
| Essendon | 4.8 (32) | 10.16 (76) | 16.17 (113) | 19.21 (135) |
| Melbourne | 3.3 (21) | 5.5 (35) | 8.8 (56) | 11.9 (75) |
| Venue: | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne | |||
| Date: | 2 September 2000 | |||
| Attendance: | 96,249 | |||
| Umpires: | Darren Goldspink (32), Brett Allen (10), Hayden Kennedy (7) | |||
| Goal scorers: | Essendon | 4: Paul Barnard, Matthew Lloyd. 3: Blake Caracella. 2: James Hird. 1: Gary Moorcroft, Mark Mercuri, Michael Long, Justin Blumfield, Darren Bewick, Steven Alessio | ||
| Melbourne | 3: Jeff Farmer, Stephen Powell. 2: David Neitz, Russell Robertson. 1: Brad Green | |||
| Best: | Essendon | Hird, Barnes, Caracella, Misiti, Wallis | ||
| Melbourne | White, Powell, Johnstone, Neitz, Walsh | |||
| Reports: | Essendon: Wallis (striking), Long (rough play), Dustin Fletcher (striking) Melbourne: Brent Grgic (striking) | |||
| Injuries: | Melbourne: Simmonds (concussion), Green (fractured larynx) | |||
| Coin toss winner: | David Neitz, Melbourne | |||
| Norm Smith Medal: | James Hird, Essendon | |||
| Australian television broadcaster: | Seven Network | |||
| National Anthem: | Bachelor Girl | |||
References
- In 1897 and 1924 there were no grand finals and instead the premier was decided by a finals play-off. In 1948 and 1977 there were grand final replays after initial draws.
- Gruber, James. "Surprise Brownlow medal winner (AM transcript)". ABC. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
Notes
- Main, Jim (2001). More than a century of AFL Grand Finals. Pennon Publishing. ISBN 1-877029-00-9.