2010 AFL finals series

The finals system

Main article: AFL final eight system

The system is a final eight system. This system is different from the McIntyre final eight system, which was previously used by the AFL.

The top four teams in the eight receive what is popularly known as the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals. This means that even if a top-four team loses in the first week, it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games, in that only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home-state advantage goes to the team with the higher seed in the first two weeks, to the qualifying final winners in the third week. Games in Victoria are played at the MCG, regardless of the team's usual home ground, if a crowd larger than the seating capacity of Etihad Stadium (53,359) is expected.

In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final plays the elimination finals winners in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final at the MCG in Melbourne.

Qualification

won the minor premiership, followed by 2009 Grand finalists and , while giving a second chance spot in the top four. and , the only non-Victorian clubs in the finals series, finished equal on points, but Sydney earned a game against on percentage. finished 7th despite a poor start to the season.

Summary of results

|RD4-legs=2 |team-width=110 |score-width=70

|RD1-text1= 4 Sep, MCG |RD1-team1= Collingwood |RD1-score1= 17.22 (124) |RD1-team2= Western Bulldogs |RD1-score2= 8.14 (62) |RD1-text4= 3 Sep, MCG |RD1-team7= Geelong |RD1-score7= 11.13 (79) |RD1-team8= St Kilda |RD1-score8= 12.11 (83) |RD1-text2= 5 Sep, ANZ Stadium |RD1-team3= Sydney |RD1-score3= 14.15 (99) |RD1-team4= Carlton |RD1-score4= 13.16 (94) |RD1-text3= 4 Sep, Subiaco Oval |RD1-team5= Fremantle |RD1-score5=14.10 (94) |RD1-team6= Hawthorn |RD1-score6= 8.16 (64) |RD2-text1= 11 Sep, MCG |RD2-team1= Western Bulldogs |RD2-score1= 11.11 (77) |RD2-team2= Sydney |RD2-score2= 10.12 (72) |RD2-text2= 10 Sep, MCG |RD2-team3= Geelong |RD2-score3= 20.15 (135) |RD2-team4= Fremantle |RD2-score4= 10.6 (66) |RD3-text1= 17 Sep, MCG |RD3-team1= Collingwood |RD3-score1= 18.12 (120) |RD3-team2= Geelong |RD3-score2=11.13 (79) |RD3-text2= 18 Sep, MCG |RD3-team3= St Kilda |RD3-score3=13.10 (88) |RD3-team4= Western Bulldogs |RD3-score4=8.16 (64) |RD4-text1= 25 Sep, MCG; Replay: 2 Oct MCG |RD4-team1= Collingwood |RD4-score1-1=9.14 (68) |RD4-score1-2=16.12 (108) |RD4-team2= St Kilda |RD4-score2-1=10.8 (68) |RD4-score2-2= 7.10 (52)

Week one

First qualifying final (Collingwood vs. Western Bulldogs)

L. Brown, Didak, Pendlebury 2 Cloke, Thomas, Dawes, Davis, Jolly 1 Hahn, Giansiracusa 1 Collingwood was never challenged by the Bulldogs throughout the game. Collingwood midfielders Dane Swan (39 disposals, 3 goals), and Scott Pendlebury (30 disposals and 2 goals) controlled the game. The Bulldogs' best player was Ryan Griffen (34 disposals, 2 goals), who had come into the game under an injury cloud. Collingwood advanced to the preliminary final to play the winner of the second semi-final (), and the Bulldogs advanced to the first semi-final against .

Second qualifying final (Geelong vs. St Kilda)

Johnson, Stokes, Varcoe 2 Byrnes, Chapman 1 Gardiner, Goddard, Jones, Koschitzke, Montagna, Schneider 1 won in an upset against in the qualifying final. The Saints controlled the first half, and held a 33-point early in the third quarter, before Geelong fought back. The final quarter was played in heavy rain, and Geelong dominated general play, recording seventeen inside-50s to St Kilda's five; however, wayward goalkicking saw Geelong score 1.7 (13) to St Kilda's 1.0 (6). A potential go-ahead goal by Cameron Ling with one minute remaining was disallowed because Cameron Mooney pushed James Gwilt in the back during the tackle which set up the shot on goal. Although controversial, the free kick was deemed to be correct. Mooney and Geelong coach Mark Thompson were both criticised in the media for their response to the free kick, but neither was penalised by the AFL. advanced to the preliminary final to play the winner of the first semi-final (), while advanced to the second semi-final against .

First elimination final (Sydney vs. Carlton)

Bevan 3 Shaw 2 Jack, White, Goodes, Jetta, O'Keefe 1 Warnock, Garlett, Henderson 2 Murphy 1 recorded a memorable elimination final win against at ANZ Stadium by five points. scored the first four goals of the game, and maintained that advantage at half time, but Carlton scored five unanswered goals in the third quarter to lead by seven points at three-quarter time. First-year forward Trent Dennis-Lane proved the match-winner in the final quarter, scoring two of the Swans' three goals, as Sydney won by five points. Josh Kennedy played his best game for the Swans, Brett Kirk effectively tagged Kade Simpson and Dennis-Lane finished with four crucial goals. captain Chris Judd was instrumental in Carlton's third-quarter fightback, while Marc Murphy was damaging through the midfield and Andrew Walker, who had played mainly in defence during the season, played forward and scored three goals.

Second elimination final (Fremantle vs. Hawthorn)

Mayne 2 Broughton, Morabito, Sandilands, Walters, Hill, Crowley, McPhee, Mundy, Silvagni 1 Franklin 2 Whitecross, Ladson 1 record its second win in a finals match in the club's history, overpowering by 30 points at Subiaco Oval. Fremantle built a 42-point lead at three-quarter time, while Hawthorn's goalkicking accuracy was poor, scoring 1.11 (17) in the first half. Hawthorn kicked four goals to two in the final quarter, but withstood the minor challenge to win and advance to the second semi-final against . Tagger Adam McPhee was particularly influential on Luke Hodge, holding the former Norm Smith medallist to only five disposals in the first three-quarters.

Week two

First semi-final (Western Bulldogs vs. Sydney)

Giansiracusa 3 Addison, Hooper, Grant, Murphy 1 Goodes, Shaw 2 J Bolton, McGlynn, Jetta 1 Sydney entered as narrow favourites, having won its last five games, and with full forward Daniel Bradshaw and goalsneak Ben McGlynn back into the side. After a close first quarter, Sydney dominated the second quarter, kicking five goals in a row to lead by as much as 30 points. However, goals against the run of play to Bulldogs Barry Hall and debutante Andrew Hooper reduced the margin to 16 points at half time. The Bulldogs' played much better in the third quarter, scoring three goals to Sydney's none to tie the scores at three quarter time; the Swans missed several opportunities, scoring 0.5 (5) in the quarter. In a tight final quarter, the Bulldogs opened up a 13-point lead, and while Sydney brought the margin back to 5 points, the Bulldogs held on for the victory. The loss was the final game for Sydney captain Brett Kirk and coach Paul Roos, who had both pre-announced their retirements at the end of the season. The Bulldogs advance to their third consecutive preliminary final, a rematch of the 2009 preliminary final against .

Second semi-final (Geelong vs. Fremantle)

Wojcinski 2 Bartel, Byrnes, Chapman, Hawkins, Ling, Mooney, Ottens, Selwood, Varcoe 1 Walters 3 Duffield, Fyfe, Mayne 1 scored eight goals to 's one in the first quarter of their semi-final to take a 42-point lead into quarter time. From there, Geelong was never seriously challenged, eventually winning by 69 points. Geelong dominated the disposal count, recording 484 disposals (the highest ever in a final) to Fremantle's 287. Geelong advanced to its fourth consecutive preliminary final, and the third of those to be played against .

Week three

First preliminary final (Collingwood vs. Geelong)

Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Swan, Wellingham 2 Beams, Brown, Dawes, Didak, Johnson, Macaffer, Thomas 1 Bartel, Johnson, Mooney, Ottens, Podsiadly 1 built a big lead early in the game, and was never able to bring the game back to competitive. At one stage, Collingwood led by over 80 points, before Geelong scored 8 second half goals to finish 41 points behind, meaning they missed out on competing in the AFL Grand Final for the first time since 2007. The Cats' 62-point half-time deficit was the largest that Geelong had faced in any game since Round 18, 1998 against .

Second preliminary final (St Kilda vs. Western Bulldogs)

Milne, Koschitzke 2 Gardiner, McEvoy, Peake 1 Addison, Giansiracusa, Gilbee, Grant, Hall, Picken 1 Despite being underdogs, the Bulldogs started the match well. In slippery conditions, the Bulldogs made the most of their opportunities to take a six-point lead at half time. In the third quarter, Nick Riewoldt inspired the Saints to a seven-goals-to-one quarter, opening up a 31-point lead from which the Bulldogs could not recover. It was the Bulldogs' third consecutive preliminary final loss, marked the final game of retiring captain Brad Johnson. St Kilda advanced to its second consecutive Grand Final.

Weeks four and five

Grand final and replay (Collingwood vs. St Kilda)

Main article: 2010 AFL Grand Final

Scorecards

Jolly, Blair, Didak, Thomas, Macaffer, O'Brien, Davis Schneider, Koschitzke, Gilbert, Hayes

• The third drawn Grand Final in VFL/AFL history, following previous draws in 1948 and 1977.

Goldsack, Johnson, Jolly, O'Brien, Swan, D. Thomas Dal Santo, Gilbert, Goddard, Hayes, Koschitzke

References

1. (September 2021)
2. McFarlane G, Nicholson R,[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-backs-james-gwilt-free/story-e6frf9jf-1225914234207 Herald Sun] "AFL backs James Gwilt free kick against Cameron Mooney", 5 September 2010, Retrieved 6 September 2010
3. Paton A,[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/mooney-fined-for-ump-blast/story-e6frf9jf-1225914805231 Herald Sun] "Mooney cleared for umpire blast", 6 September 2010, Retrieved 6 September 2010.