| 2006 AFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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 Pre-match entertainment before the game. Giant banners were unfurled featuring the colours and emblems of all 16 clubs of the2006 AFL Premiership season. | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 30 September 2006 | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 97,431 | |||||||||||||||
| Favourite | West Coast | |||||||||||||||
| Umpires | Michael Vozzo (2),Brett Allen (10),Darren Goldspink (32) | |||||||||||||||
| Coin toss won by | West Coast | |||||||||||||||
| Kicked toward | City End | |||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | ||||||||||||||||
| Pre-match entertainment | Brian Mannix,John Paul Young,Sean Kelly,Daryl Braithwaite,Shane Howard andIrene Cara | |||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Brian Mannix, John Paul Young, Daryl Braithwaite and Shane Howard | |||||||||||||||
| Accolades | ||||||||||||||||
| Norm Smith Medallist | Andrew Embley (West Coast) | |||||||||||||||
| Jock McHale Medallist | John Worsfold | |||||||||||||||
| Broadcast in Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Network | Network 10 | |||||||||||||||
| Commentators | Stephen Quartermain (Host) Anthony Hudson (Commentator) Robert Walls (Expert Commentator) Malcolm Blight (Expert Commentator) Neil Cordy (Boundary Rider) Tim Gossage (Boundary Rider) | |||||||||||||||
The2006 AFL Grand Final was anAustralian rules football game contested between theSydney Swans andWest Coast Eagles, held at theMelbourne Cricket Ground inMelbourne on 30 September 2006. It was the 110th annualgrand final of theAustralian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League),[1] staged to determine thepremiers for the2006 AFL season. The match, attended by 97,431 spectators, was won by West Coast by a thrilling one point, earning the club its third premiership.
This was the second consecutive year that these two teams played in the premiership decider, with the Swans having won the2005 AFL Grand Final by a margin of 4 points. At the conclusion of thehome and away season, West Coast had finished first on the AFL ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses, winning theMcClelland Trophy. Sydney had finished fourth with 14 wins and 8 losses.
In the week leading up to the grand final,Sydney'sAdam Goodes was awarded theBrownlow Medal.
Prior to the match, at 10:00 a.m. theTAC Cup grand final was played.
TheRed 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 byIrene Cara,[1] as well as appearances fromBrian Mannix,John Paul Young,Daryl Braithwaite andShane Howard (lead singer ofGoanna). Themedley of songs they performed included "Solid Rock",Yesterday's Hero", "The Horses", "Everybody Wants to Work" and "I Hear Motion".
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 the1966 VFL Grand Final. The match has been labelled as a 'classic'.[2]
TheGrand Final Sprint, which had heats ran before the pre-match entertainment and the final ran during the half-time break, was won by Carlton'sBrendan Fevola. The 2006 Grand Final saw the first use of handicaps during the sprint.
| Position | Player | Club | Total votes | Vote summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st (winner) | Andrew Embley | West Coast Eagles | 10 | 3,3,3,1 |
| 2nd | Brett Kirk | Sydney Swans | 8 | 2,2,2,2 |
| 3rd | Dean Cox | West Coast Eagles | 6 | 3,1,1,1 |
| 4th | Daniel Kerr | West Coast Eagles | 3 | 3 |
| 5th | Tadhg Kennelly | Sydney Swans | 2 | 2 |
| 6th | Beau Waters | West Coast Eagles | 1 | 1 |
Andrew Embley was awarded theNorm Smith Medal for being judged the best player afield. He recorded 26 disposals, 6 marks, and 2 goals. Also polling votes wereBrett Kirk (27 disposals and 9 tackles),Dean Cox (20 disposals and 34 hitouts),Daniel Kerr (20 disposals and 5 tackles),Tadhg Kennelly (21 disposals), andBeau Waters (26 disposals and 10 marks).
The voters and their choices were as follows:[3]
| Voter | Role | 3 votes | 2 votes | 1 vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rohan Connolly | The Age | Andrew Embley | Brett Kirk | Dean Cox |
| Mark Maclure | ABC | Daniel Kerr | Brett Kirk | Dean Cox |
| Jenny McAsey | The Australian | Andrew Embley | Brett Kirk | Dean Cox |
| Mike Sheahan | Herald Sun | Andrew Embley | Tadhg Kennelly | Beau Waters |
| Ray Wilson | The West Australian | Dean Cox | Brett Kirk | Andrew Embley |
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),[clarification needed][citation needed] 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).
| Grand final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, September 30 (2:40 pm) | Sydney | def. by | West Coast | MCG (crowd: 97,431) | |
| 1.4 (10) 4.6 (30) 8.11 (59) 12.12 (84) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 4.2 (26) 8.7 (55) 10.10 (70) 12.13 (85) | Umpires:Vozzo,Allen,Goldspink Norm Smith Medal:Andrew Embley (West Coast) Television broadcast:Network 10 National anthem:Brian Mannix,John Paul Young,Daryl Braithwaite andShane Howard | ||
| O'Loughlin,Davis3 Mathews,Roberts-Thomson,Goodes,Schneider,O'Keefe,Malceski1 | Goals | 3Lynch 2Embley,Hansen,Cousins 1Judd,Armstrong,Hunter | |||
| Fosdike,Richards,Kennelly,O'Loughlin,McVeigh,Kirk,Goodes | Best | Embley,Chick,Judd,Glass,Lynch,Selwood,Braun,Cox,Cousins,Kerr | |||
| Ablett (shoulder) | Injuries | Nil | |||
| Nil | Reports | Nil | |||
The post-match presentation was carried out byCraig Willis. TheJock McHale Medal was presented by formerSt. Kilda andHawthorn Premiership coachAllan Jeans to the 2006 Premiership coachJohn Worsfold. The Norm Smith Medal was presented by former Essendon player and 1984 winnerBilly Duckworth to 2006 winnerAndrew Embley. The premiership cup was presented by former West Coast Eagle two-time premiership playerGlen Jakovich.
The following television networks covered the event.
The 2006 Charles Brownlow Medal Presentation was held at the Palladium atCrown 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 wasAdam 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.
| Place | Player | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Adam Goodes | 26 |
| 2nd | Scott West | 23 |
| 3rd[4] | Chris Judd | 21 |
Thegrand final parade took place on Friday 29 September 2006 and commenced onSt Kilda Road, and ending atSpring Street. The crowd was officially estimated at fifty thousand people.
      Sydney |    West Coast |
| Sydney | 2006 AFL Grand Final | West Coast |
| (12.12) | 84 – 85 | (12.13) |
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West Coast's premiership victory was the eighth time in ten years, and the sixth consecutive year dating back to2001, that a non-Victorian club had won the premiership, prompting then-AFL CEOAndrew Demetriou order an investigation into the under-performance of the Victorian clubs in the competition; at that point,Essendon was the last Victorian club to win a flag, in2000, andCollingwood was the last Victorian club to play in a grand final, in2003.[5][6] This trend since changed, and in the nineteen ensuing seasons, only three non-Victorian clubs –Sydney in2012, West Coast in2018 and theBrisbane Lions in2024 and2025 – won the premiership.[7][8]
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