2000 AFL season

Ansett Australia Cup

Main article: 2000 Ansett Australia Cup

The 2000 pre-season began with the 2000 Ansett Australia Cup. Unlike most pre-season competitions which start in February, the 2000 series started on 31 December 1999 with a one-off "Match of the Millennium" between and , which was notable for Brendan Fevola kicking twelve goals, a pre-season record. defeated the by 41 points in the grand final.

Home-and-away season

All starting times are local time. Source: AFL Tables

Round 1

• The v match was the first match played for premiership points at Colonial Stadium. Essendon recorded its biggest win over Port Adelaide, winning by 94 points.}}

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

• 's 117-point win over is the biggest win by either team in a Western Derby. West Coast forward Scott Cummings kicked ten goals in the win.}}

Round 7

• recorded its equal-biggest win against , winning by 61 points.}}

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

• The v match was moved from Colonial Stadium to the Melbourne Cricket Ground after the former's playing surface was so poor it was deemed an unsafe workplace.}}

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

• broke the record for its longest winning streak by winning its first 17 matches of the season. Essendon would win a further three consecutive matches to set the record at 20.
• Essendon's 101-point win over was its biggest since 1960 and second-biggest of all time over Richmond.}}

Round 18

• played against at Optus Oval for the first time since 1982 (and the last time to date). Carlton recorded its highest score (180) and biggest win (111 points) against Collingwood.}}

Round 19

• The match between and was the final VFL/AFL match held at the WACA Ground.}}

Round 20

Round 21

• 's loss to the was its first for the season, ending a club record 20-match winning streak. The match was later referred to as the Super-Flood, following the extreme flooding tactics implemented by the Bulldogs to win the game.
• 's win over , just its second in twelve Western Derbies, was later referred to as the Demolition Derby after several fights erupted during the match. Four players were suspended for a total of 15 matches (Fremantle's Dale Kickett received the most weeks with nine) and eleven players were fined.}}

Round 22

• recorded its highest score (170) and biggest win (70 points) against , the latter breaking the record equalled earlier in the season.}}

Ladder

|- style=background:#FFFFBB | 1 || align=left | (P) || 22 || 21 || 1 || 0 || 2816 || 1770 || 159.1 || 84 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 2 || align=left | || 22 || 16 || 6 || 0 || 2667 || 1979 || 134.8 || 64 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 3 || align=left | || 22 || 14 || 8 || 0 || 2557 || 2159 || 118.4 || 56 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 4 || align=left | || 22 || 14 || 8 || 0 || 2447 || 2304 || 106.2 || 56 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 5 || align=left | || 22 || 12 || 9 || 1 || 2234 || 2306 || 96.9 || 50 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 6 || align=left | || 22 || 12 || 10 || 0 || 2602 || 2222 || 117.1 || 48 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 7 || align=left | || 22 || 12 || 10 || 0 || 2321 || 2241 || 103.6 || 48 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 8 || align=left | || 22 || 12 || 10 || 0 || 2198 || 2251 || 97.6 || 48 |- | 9 || align=left | || 22 || 11 || 11 || 0 || 2068 || 2221 || 93.1 || 44 |- | 10 || align=left | || 22 || 10 || 12 || 0 || 2254 || 2219 || 101.6 || 40 |- | 11 || align=left | || 22 || 9 || 13 || 0 || 2255 || 2347 || 96.1 || 36 |- | 12 || align=left | || 22 || 8 || 14 || 0 || 1886 || 2618 || 72.0 || 32 |- | 13 || align=left | || 22 || 7 || 14 || 1 || 2216 || 2399 || 92.4 || 30 |- | 14 || align=left | || 22 || 7 || 14 || 1 || 1928 || 2295 || 84.0 || 30 |- | 15 || align=left | || 22 || 7 || 15 || 0 || 2089 || 2431 || 85.9 || 28 |- | 16 || align=left | || 22 || 2 || 19 || 1 || 1855 || 2631 || 70.5 || 10 |}

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 103.4 Source: AFL Tables

Progression by round

Source: AFL Tables

Home matches and membership

Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Main article: 2000 AFL finals series

| RD2-RD3-cross = yes | team-width = 120 | score-width = 80 | RD1-text1 = 12 August, Melbourne Cricket Ground | RD1-team1 = **** | RD1-score1 = 31.12 (198) | RD1-team2 = | RD1-score2 = 11.7 (73) | RD1-text2 = 11 August, Colonial Stadium | RD1-team3 = | RD1-score3 = 12.11 (83) | RD1-team4 = **** | RD1-score4 = 14.8 (92) | RD1-text3 = 12 August, The Gabba | RD1-team5 = **** | RD1-score5 = 15.20 (110) | RD1-team6 = | RD1-score6 = 10.16 (76) | RD1-text4 = 13 August, Melbourne Cricket Ground | RD1-team7 = | RD1-score7 = 12.15 (87) | RD1-team8 = **** | RD1-score8 = 15.6 (96) | RD2-text1 = 18 August, Melbourne Cricket Ground | RD2-team1 = **** | RD2-score1 = 16.14 (110) | RD2-team2 = | RD2-score2 = 15.10 (100) | RD2-text2 = 19 August, Melbourne Cricket Ground | RD2-team3 = **** | RD2-score3 = 23.13 (151) | RD2-team4 = | RD2-score4 = 10.9 (69) | RD3-text1 = 26 August, Melbourne Cricket Ground | RD3-team1 = **** | RD3-score1 = 18.17 (125) | RD3-team2 = | RD3-score2 = 12.8 (80) | RD3-text2 = 25 August, Melbourne Cricket Ground | RD3-team3 = **** | RD3-score3 = 23.18 (156) | RD3-team4 = | RD3-score4 = 17.4 (106) | RD4-text1 = 2 September, Melbourne Cricket Ground | RD4-team1 = **** | RD4-score1 = 19.21 (135) | RD4-team2 = | RD4-score2 = 11.9 (75)

All starting times are local time. Source: AFL Tables

Finals week 1

• recorded its highest score (198) and biggest win (125 points) against the .}}

Finals week 2

• broke the record set earlier in the season for its biggest win (82 points) against the .}}

Finals week 3

Grand final

Main article: 2000 AFL Grand Final

Win/loss table

The following table can be sorted from biggest winning margin to biggest losing margin for each round. If two or more matches in a round are decided by the same margin, these margins are sorted by percentage (i.e. the lowest-scoring winning team is ranked highest and the lowest-scoring losing team is ranked lowest). Opponents are listed above the margins and home matches are in bold.

Source: AFL Tables

Season notes

• became the first team in VFL/AFL history to win 21 matches in a home-and-away season.
• By winning the grand final, Essendon set a new record for the most wins in a season (24); the club also set a new record for the highest average winning margin in a season (51 points).
• Due to a major upgrade of the Gabba, the Brisbane Lions played their first four regular season games away from home. They were also the only non-Victorian club to qualify for the finals.
• This is the season when the current finals format was introduced.

Awards

Major awards

• The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Shane Woewodin of Melbourne.
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to Matthew Lloyd of Essendon.
• The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to James Hird of Essendon.
• The AFL Rising Star was awarded to Paul Hasleby of Fremantle.
• The wooden spoon was "awarded" to St Kilda.

Leading goalkickers

! rowspan=2 style=width:2em | # ! rowspan=2 | Player ! rowspan=2 | Team ! colspan=22 | Home-and-away season (Coleman Medal) ! colspan=4 | Finals series ! rowspan=2 | Total ! rowspan=2 | Games ! rowspan=2 | Average |- ! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! 13 !! 14 !! 15 !! 16 !! 17 !! 18 !! 19 !! 20 !! 21 !! 22 !! F1 !! F2 !! F3 !! GF |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 1 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 2 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 3 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 4 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 5 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 6 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 7 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center rowspan=2 | 8

Source: AFL Tables

References

Sources

• 2000 AFL season at AFL Tables
• 2000 AFL season at Australian Football

References

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2. {{Ref AFL Encyc. 4th. 195
3. (2001). "AFL 2001: The official statistical history of the AFL".
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14. "Fremantle – all games – by opponent (section: West Coast)". AFL Tables.
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18. "Attendances 2000". AFL Tables.
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20. "Carlton – all games – by opponent (section: Brisbane Lions)". AFL Tables.
21. Eddy, Dan. (27 September 2017). "Grand Final Moments: Greatness". essendonfc.com.au.
22. "2000 Premiership". essendonfc.com.au.
23. Blucher, Peter. (4 October 2024). "Grand Final Stats Recap". Brisbane Lions.
24. McClure, Geoff. (9 July 2008). "Hit for six". The Age.