2006 AFL Grand Final

Background

Main article: 2006 AFL season

This was the second consecutive year that these two teams played in the premiership decider, with the Swans having won the 2005 AFL Grand Final by a margin of 4 points. At the conclusion of the home and away season, West Coast had finished first on the AFL ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses, winning the McClelland Trophy. Sydney had finished fourth with 14 wins and 8 losses.

In the week leading up to the grand final, Sydney's Adam Goodes was awarded the Brownlow Medal.

Pre-match entertainment

Prior to the match, at 10:00 a.m. the TAC Cup grand final was played.

The Red Berets parachuted into the MCG delivering the match balls, followed by a team warm up and the beginning of pre-match entertainment. The entertainment included a performance of the song "Flashdance (What A Feeling)", performed by Irene Cara, https://web.archive.org/web/20060426171548/http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=aflfocus as well as appearances from Brian Mannix, John Paul Young, Daryl Braithwaite and Shane Howard (lead singer of Goanna). The medley of songs they performed included "Solid Rock", Yesterday's Hero", "The Horses", "Everybody Wants to Work" and "I Hear Motion".

Match summary

West Coast started the better, and outplayed the Swans in the first half and led by a convincing 25 points at half time. The Swans fought back in the third quarter and the margin was just 11 points at 3/4 time. Goodes goaled within the first 15 seconds of the last quarter and the margin was suddenly less than a kick. It was goal-for-goal in one of the most intense final quarters of modern grand final history, with West Coast hanging on by a single point to win its first premiership since 1994 and avenge its heartbreaking 4-point loss to the Swans in the previous year's grand final.

It was the fifth consecutive match between the two teams to be decided by less than a goal, and the first grand final to be decided by a point since St Kilda defeated Collingwood in the 1966 VFL Grand Final. The match has been labelled as a 'classic'.

Grand Final Sprint

The Grand Final Sprint, which had heats ran before the pre-match entertainment and the final ran during the half-time break, was won by Carlton's Brendan Fevola. The 2006 Grand Final saw the first use of handicaps during the sprint.

Norm Smith Medal

Andrew Embley was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for being judged the best player afield. He recorded 26 disposals, 6 marks, and 2 goals. Also polling votes were Brett Kirk (27 disposals and 9 tackles), Dean Cox (20 disposals and 34 hitouts), Daniel Kerr (20 disposals and 5 tackles), Tadhg Kennelly (21 disposals), and Beau Waters (26 disposals and 10 marks).

The voters and their choices were as follows:

Match scoring records

The 2006 grand final placed Sydney vs West Coast games further in the VFL/AFL record books for closeness, with the five most recent margins up to and including this game standing at 4, 4, 2, 1 and 1. With 12 points' total difference across five games, Sydney vs West Coast comprehensively beat the previous five-game record of 19 points, set by Hawthorn versus Collingwood in 1958–60. They also became the seventh pair of teams in VFL/AFL history (and the second in 2006 after Geelong vs Western Bulldogs) to contest two consecutive one-point games.

These records were further improved in the grand final rematch in Round 1, 2007, which was again decided by a single point, giving the pair the record for four games, five games and six games (5 points, 9 points and 13 points, respectively), and positioning them equal second for three games behind Brisbane vs Port Adelaide (2 points, 1997–98) and Hawthorn vs Footscray (3 points, 1956–57).

Scorecard

Mathews, Roberts-Thomson, Goodes, Schneider, O'Keefe, Malceski 1 2 Embley, Hansen, Cousins 1 Judd, Armstrong, Hunter

Post-match presentation

The post-match presentation was carried out by Craig Willis. The Jock McHale Medal was presented by former St. Kilda and Hawthorn Premiership coach Allan Jeans to the 2006 Premiership coach John Worsfold. The Norm Smith Medal was presented by former Essendon player and 1984 winner Billy Duckworth to 2006 winner Andrew Embley. The premiership cup was presented by former West Coast Eagle two-time premiership player Glen Jakovich.

International telecasts

The following television networks covered the event.

• Papua New Guinea – EM TV, Australia Network (live)
• New Zealand – SKY Sport 1 (NZ) (live)
• Southeast Asia – Australia Network (live)
• Middle East – Australia Network. Israel – Fox Sports Israel
• Indian subcontinent – Australia Network
• North America – United States – Setanta Sports North America (live), MHz Worldview (delayed).
• Canada – Fox Sports World Canada (live). See also Australian Football Association of North America.
• United Kingdom – British Sky Broadcasting (live)
• Ireland – TG4 (delayed)
• Spain – Canal+ Spain

Grand final week

Brownlow Medal

Main article: 2006 Brownlow Medal

The 2006 Charles Brownlow Medal Presentation was held at the Palladium at Crown Casino, Melbourne, on 25 September 2006. The Charles Brownlow Medal is awarded to the "Best and Fairest" AFL Player of the year. It is selected by a 3–2–1 voting system awarded by the umpires of each match for the whole year (excluding finals and pre-season). The winner of the 2006 Brownlow Medal was Adam Goodes, the Sydney Swans utility who was playing in the grand final later that week. It was his second and final Brownlow Medal of his career.

Grand final parade

The grand final parade took place on Friday 29 September 2006 and commenced on St Kilda Road, and ending at Spring Street. The crowd was officially estimated at fifty thousand people.

Teams

List

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Aftermath

West Coast's premiership victory was the eighth time in ten years, and the sixth consecutive year dating back to 2001, that a non-Victorian club had won the premiership, prompting then-AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou order an investigation into the under-performance of the Victorian clubs in the competition; at that point, was the last Victorian club to win a flag, in 2000, and was the last Victorian club to play in a grand final, in 2003. This trend since changed, and in the nineteen ensuing seasons, only three non-Victorian clubs – in 2012, West Coast in 2018 and the in 2024 and 2025 – won the premiership.

References

References

1. 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.
2. [[Jim Main]], ''Aussie Rules: For Dummies'' (2nd edition, 2008) p 10.
3. (30 September 2006). "Andrew Embley Wins Norn Smith Medal".
4. [[Daniel Kerr]] was ineligible for 3rd place, even though he polled 22 votes, due to suspension.
5. (27 May 2007). "Demetriou: Victorian clubs need help". PerthNow.
6. (27 May 2007). "Interstate AFL dominance leads to investigation". [[ABC News (Australia).
7. Blucher, Peter. (22 September 2022). "Remember when .. 2012 Grand Final". Sydney Swans.
8. McGarry, Andrew. (29 September 2018). "AFL grand final: West Coast beats Collingwood by five points at the MCG in classic decider". [[ABC News (Australia).