| 2001 AFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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 TheMelbourne Cricket Ground, where the 2001 AFL Grand Final took place. | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 29 September 2001 | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 91,482 | |||||||||||||||
| Favourite | Essendon | |||||||||||||||
| Umpires | Matthew James,Scott McLaren,Martin Ellis | |||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | ||||||||||||||||
| Pre-match entertainment | Vanessa Amorosi,Men At Work,INXS | |||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Julie Anthony | |||||||||||||||
| Accolades | ||||||||||||||||
| Norm Smith Medallist | Shaun Hart (Brisbane Lions) | |||||||||||||||
| Jock McHale Medallist | Leigh Matthews | |||||||||||||||
| Broadcast in Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Network | Seven Network | |||||||||||||||
| Commentators | Bruce McAvaney (host and commentator) Sandy Roberts (commentator) Jason Dunstall (expert commentator) Gerard Healy (expert commentator) Robert DiPierdomenico (boundary rider) Matthew Campbell (boundary rider) | |||||||||||||||
The2001 AFL Grand Final was anAustralian rules football game contested between theEssendon Bombers and theBrisbane Lions, held at theMelbourne Cricket Ground inMelbourne on 29 September 2001. It was the 105th annualgrand final of theAustralian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League),[1] staged to determine thepremiers for the2001 AFL season. The match, attended by 91,482 spectators, was won by Brisbane by a margin of 26 points, marking the club's first premiership in their history since their inception in 1997.
Essendon were defending their2000 premiership, and they went into the game having finished on top of the ladder on percentage ahead of second-placed Brisbane (both had won 17 games). Brisbane had won 15 consecutive games leading up to the grand final, a streak which commenced with a major upset of Essendon atthe Gabba in Round 10. It was the Brisbane Lions' first appearance in a grand final, and it broke a long grand final drought for the two clubs who merged to form it in 1997: its Melbourne-based predecessor,Fitzroy Lions, had not contested a grand final since1944, and its Brisbane-based predecessor,Brisbane Bears, did not contest a grand final in its ten-year history. Essendon were the dominant team between1999 and2001, losing just 11 games (including just one in 2000) from the start of 1999 until the 2001 grand final.
In the 2001 finals series, Essendon defeatedRichmond by 70 points in the first qualifying final and then defeatedHawthorn by 9 points in the first preliminary final to advance to the grand final. Brisbane earned their place in the grand final by defeatingPort Adelaide by 32 points in the second qualifying final and then Richmond by 68 points in the second preliminary final.
In the lead-up to the match, Brisbane'sJason Akermanis won theBrownlow Medal. The two coaches, Kevin Sheedy and Leigh Matthews, had met in a grand final 11 years prior, when Matthews' Magpies ended their so-called "Colliwobbles"(a drought lasting 32 years) by defeating Sheedy's Bombers in the1990 AFL Grand Final.
This was the last AFL match to be televised by theSeven Network before it lost the broadcasting TV rights to the sport, having shown the game for the previous 45 years, with the exception of 1987, when the game was televised by theABC and TV0 in Brisbane.[2] It wasn't until2007 that Seven would regain the rights,[3] and it wasn't until2008 that the AFL Grand Final would again be televised by the Seven Network.
Brisbane started the game well, scoring the first goal of the match from a free kick awarded toAlastair Lynch for holding againstDustin Fletcher. Essendon fought back late in the first quarter then took control of the game in the second term. Brisbane's poor kicking for goal almost put them out of the game in the second quarter as Essendon blew their lead out to 20 points late in the term. Brisbane had kicked an inaccurate 5.10 by the half-time break.
Brisbane managed to overrun Essendon in the third term, kicking six goals to one and turning a 14-point deficit into a 16-point lead. Brisbane's pace in the midfield and the tiring legs of most of the Essendon players played a pivotal role in Brisbane taking full control of the game in the second half to win comfortably. Essendon had scored two late goals in the last quarter after once trailing by as much as 39 points.
Shaun Hart of the Lions was awarded theNorm Smith Medal for being judged the best player.Matthew Lloyd was among the best for Essendon, kicking five goals.
Essendon captainJames Hird was visibly shattered and disappointed in his post-match speech. A quick congratulations to Brisbane for winning was followed by a public apology to Bombers fans for letting them down.
In a remarkable statistic, most of the Lions' premiership side were on the playing list when the club won thewooden spoon in1998.[4]
This was the first of four consecutive grand final appearances by Brisbane, and the first of three consecutive flags. For Essendon, this is their most recent grand final appearance as of the completed2025 season.
The lower than capacity attendance figure of 91,482 was blamed onMCC members not taking up their seats, with the AFL also pointing to the issues with airline partnerAnsett Australia.[5]
TheNorm Smith Medal was awarded to Brisbane midfielderShaun Hart. The voting panel for the award includedSunday Herald Sun reporterDamian Barrett,Seven Network'sRobert DiPierdomenico,ABC Grandstand commentatorStan Alves, andTony Morwood from4AAA.[6]
| Player | Team | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Shaun Hart | Brisbane | 9 |
| Nigel Lappin | Brisbane | 5 |
| Jonathan Brown | Brisbane | 3 |
| Chris Johnson | Brisbane | 3 |
| Justin Leppitsch | Brisbane | 2 |
| Michael Voss | Brisbane | 2 |
      Essendon |    Brisbane Lions |
| Grand final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 29 September 2:30pm | Essendon | def. by | Brisbane Lions | MCG (crowd: 91,482) | |
| 3.2 (20) 8.6 (54) 9.8 (62) 12.10 (82) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 3.7 (25) 5.10 (40) 11.12 (78) 15.18 (108) | Umpires:James,McLaren,Ellis Norm Smith Medal:Shaun Hart (Brisbane Lions) Television broadcast:Seven Network National anthem:Julie Anthony | ||
| Lloyd 5,Lucas 4,Caracella,Johnson,Moorcroft | Goals | Power 3,Akermanis 2,Brown 2,Lappin 2,Lynch 2,Ashcroft,Notting,Pike,Voss | |||
| Lloyd,Lucas,J. Johnson | Best | Hart,Johnson,Voss,Lappin,Power | |||
| Nil | Injuries | Nil | |||
| Nil | Reports | Nil | |||
| Team Stats | (B.L.) | (Ess) |
|---|---|---|
| Kicks | 176 | 165 |
| Marks | 73 | 60 |
| Handballs | 78 | 90 |
| Tackles | 34 | 54 |
| Hitouts | 39 | 26 |
| Frees | 22 | 19 |
A number of participants from this Grand Final have gone on to coach at senior level in the AFL:
This was the first of six consecutive premierships to be won by non-Victorian clubs, during which one club from each of the other four major mainland states (Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia) won the premiership, with Brisbane winning again in2002 and2003, followed byPort Adelaide in2004,Sydney in2005 andWest Coast in2006.[11][12][13]
