| 2019 AFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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 The teams line up for the National Anthem at the 2019 AFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 28 September 2019, 2:30 pm | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 100,014 | |||||||||||||||
| Favourite | Richmond | |||||||||||||||
| Umpires | Matt Stevic,Shaun Ryan,Ray Chamberlain[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Coin toss won by | Richmond | |||||||||||||||
| Kicked toward | City End | |||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | ||||||||||||||||
| Pre-match entertainment | Paul Kelly,Dean Lewis,Tones and I,John Williamson,Mike Brady | |||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Conrad Sewell | |||||||||||||||
| Post-match entertainment | Dean Lewis | |||||||||||||||
| Accolades | ||||||||||||||||
| Norm Smith Medallist | Dustin Martin | |||||||||||||||
| Jock McHale Medallist | Damien Hardwick | |||||||||||||||
| Broadcast in Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Network | Seven Network[2] | |||||||||||||||
| Commentators | Bruce McAvaney (host and commentator) Hamish McLachlan (host and master of ceremonies) Brian Taylor (commentator) Wayne Carey (expert commentator) Cameron Ling (expert commentator) Daisy Pearce (boundary rider) Matthew Richardson (boundary rider) Leigh Matthews (analyst) | |||||||||||||||
The2019 AFL Grand Final was anAustralian rules football game contested between theRichmond Football Club andGreater Western Sydney Giants at theMelbourne Cricket Ground on 28 September 2019. It was the 124th annual grand final of theAustralian Football League (formerly Victorian Football League), staged to determine thepremiers for the2019 AFL season. The match, attended by 100,014 spectators, was won by Richmond by a margin of 89 points, marking the club's twelfth VFL/AFL premiership and their second in three seasons. Richmond'sDustin Martin won theNorm Smith Medal as the player judged best on ground.
After ending a 37-year premiership drought in 2017, then winning the 2018 minor premiership but being eliminated byCollingwood in the preliminary final, Richmond still entered the season considered a strong chance at the premiership, after retaining the core of its 2017 team and adding key forwardTom Lynch from Gold Coast.[3] Richmond suffered misfortune during the first half of the season, with several of their star players sidelined due to injury – including star defenderAlex Rance, and young stars in Jack Higgins, Sydney Stack and Jack Graham.[4] At the conclusion of Round 14, the Tigers were ninth on the ladder with an average 7–6 win–loss record; however, they did not lose again in the home-and-away season, winning their last nine games to finish third with a 16–6 record.[5] The Tigers advanced directly to the preliminary final after a 47-point victory over Brisbane in the qualifying final;[6] then, in the preliminary final, overcame a 21-point half time deficit to defeatGeelong by 19 points.[7]
Greater Western Sydney started season 2019 having been eliminated from the 2018 season in the semi-finals.[8] The club lost co-captainCallan Ward to anACLinjury early in the season,[9] a season-ending injury to star midfielderStephen Coniglio later in the year. A strong start to the year saw the Giants placed second after Round 11, but indifferent form and a 5–6 record in the second half of the year,[10] saw the Giants qualify for the finals in sixth with a 13–9 win–loss record. However, strong form in September saw the Giants win three finals to qualify for the grand final: a dominant win againstWestern Bulldogs by 58 points in the elimination final,[11] then two thrilling victories – a three-point win over Brisbane in the semi-final,[12] and a four-point win against Collingwood in the preliminary final.[13] It was just the second time since the introduction of theAFL final eight system in 2000 that a team reached the grand final without finishing inside the top four, after the Bulldogs'2016 victory.
The teams met twice during the home-and-away season; first in round 3 atGiants Stadium when the Giants thrashed Richmond by 49 points,[14] and then in round 17 at theMCG when the Tigers won by 27 points.[15]
It was Richmond's 23rd grand final appearance, and second in three years; and it was the first grand final appearance for Greater Western Sydney. The sides had previously contested one final, the 2017 preliminary final won by Richmond by 36 points. It was the eighth consecutive grand final which featured one Victorian team and one non-Victorian team, and it was only the second grand final in VFL/AFL history (and the first since1980) that did not feature either team that finished first or second on the ladder at the conclusion of the home-and-away season.
As the higher-ranked team, Richmond wore its full home kit, and GWS wore its predominantly white clash guernsey with white shorts.[16] Richmond was an overwhelming favourite to win, with bookmakers offering odds of $1.44 for a Richmond win compared with $3.25 for a Giants win.[17]
With an average audience of 2.197 million across the five major capital cities, this was the lowest-rating AFL Grand Final on free-to-air television sinceOzTAM began recording television ratings in2001.[18]
Tones and I performed "The Kids Are Coming" and "Dance Monkey", and was followed byDean Lewis, who performed "Be Alright" and "Waves".John Williamson also performedWaltzing Matilda.[19]
Paul Kelly performed "Leaps and Bounds" and "Dumb Things".Mike Brady also performed "Up There Cazaly".
Conrad Sewell performed the Australian National Anthem "Advance Australia Fair".
Richmond chose Maureen Hafey – the widow of legendary Richmond coachTom Hafey – as their ambassador to carry the premiership cup onto the field, while GWS choseKevin Sheedy – their first-ever coach. Hafey also presented the trophy to Trent Cotchin and Damien Hardwick during the on-field award ceremony.
The opening term of the grand final was a tough and low-scoring battle, with neither team scoring a goal in the first twenty minutes of the match. Giants spearheadJeremy Cameron scored the opening goal of the grand final at the 20-minute mark before two late goals—fromDustin Martin at the 24-minute mark andDaniel Rioli right on the quarter-time siren—saw the Tigers take a seven-point lead at quarter time.
Richmond was the stronger team in the second quarter. They scored five unanswered goals in a dominant quarter;Jack Riewoldt goaled at the four-minute mark of the term, followed by Martin's second goal at the seven-and-a-half minute mark.Tom Lynch scored two minutes later before Riewoldt finished the half with another two goals. Greater Western Sydney was held to just four behinds in the second quarter, and Richmond held a 35-point lead at half time.
Richmond sealed the premiership with a dominant third quarter in which it scored five goals to one. Lynch kicked his second goal at the five-minute mark before Martin kicked his third in the eighth minute.Marlion Pickett scored his only goal of the afternoon at the 11th minute, andKane Lambert scored two minutes after. The Giants finally broke a run of 11 consecutive Richmond goals with aJacob Hopper goal at the 25-minute mark of the quarter, beforeIvan Soldo goaled right on the three-quarter-time siren. The margin was 62 points in favour of the Tigers at three quarter time, and the premiership was now beyond doubt.
In the final quarter, Richmond again scored five goals and conceded only one. The Giants scored their third and final goal of the game early in the final quarter byHarry Himmelberg second minute.Shai Bolton scored his first goal of the day for Richmond at the ninth minute, followed by Riewoldt's fourth goal. Richmond skipperTrent Cotchin goaled at the 23-minute mark and was followed soon after by Martin, who also scored his fourth goal. Riewoldt kicked the final goal only moments before the siren to increase the final margin to 89 points, the third-highest margin in a grand final. It was Richmond's greatest winning margin in a grand final, surpassing its 81-point victory against Collingwood in 1980.
By unanimous selection – 15 out of 15 possible votes –Dustin Martin was awarded his second Norm Smith Medal after having won it in 2017, making him the fourth player to win multiple Norm Smith Medals afterGary Ayres,Andrew McLeod andLuke Hodge. No other player garnered more than 6 votes, butBachar Houli finished second as he did in 2017. Chaired byAlastair Lynch, the voters and their choices were as follows:[20]
| Position | Player | Club | Total votes | Vote summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (winner) | Dustin Martin | Richmond | 15 | 3,3,3,3,3 |
| 2 | Bachar Houli | Richmond | 6 | 2,2,2 |
| 3 | Marlion Pickett | Richmond | 4 | 2,1,1 |
| 4 | Jack Riewoldt | Richmond | 3 | 1,1,1 |
| 5 | Dion Prestia | Richmond | 2 | 2 |
| Voter | Role | 3 Votes | 2 Votes | 1 Vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alastair Lynch | Fox Footy | Dustin Martin | Bachar Houli | Jack Riewoldt |
| Chris Johnson | NIRS | Dustin Martin | Dion Prestia | Jack Riewoldt |
| Bruce McAvaney | Channel 7 | Dustin Martin | Bachar Houli | Marlion Pickett |
| Matthew Lloyd | 3AW | Dustin Martin | Bachar Houli | Marlion Pickett |
| Angela Pippos | ABC | Dustin Martin | Marlion Pickett | Jack Riewoldt |
The teams were announced on 26 September 2019. Richmond made one change to the side, withJack Graham dropping out of the side due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the preliminary final.Marlion Pickett, who had never previously played a senior AFL game, took his spot; having previously been picked up from South Fremantle in the WAFL during the midseason draft following the retirement of 2017 premiership playerShaun Grigg, Pickett had won the Norm Goss Medal in the Richmond reserves' VFL grand final victory over Williamstown the previous week. He was the first player to make his senior debut in a grand final sinceKeith Batchelor for Collingwood in1952.[21]
Richmond fielded sixteen of the twenty-two players who had been part of its premiership team in2017: Pickett, Tom Lynch, Shai Bolton, Ivan Soldo, Jayden Short and Liam Baker were the new players, and Rance, Grigg, Graham,Jacob Townsend,Dan Butler andKamdyn McIntosh were the six missing.
Greater Western Sydney recalledToby Greene andLachie Whitfield, who missed their preliminary final win due to suspension and injury respectively, into their side, withLachlan Keeffe andIan Hill omitted to make way.[22] GWS also was missing former Richmond rising starBrett Deledio, after he had been injured earlier in the finals.
      Richmond |   GWS Giants |
The umpiring panel, comprising three field umpires, four boundary umpires, two goal umpires and an emergency in each position is given below.
| Position | Emergency | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field: | 9Matt Stevic(7) | 18Ray Chamberlain(3) | 25Shaun Ryan(8) | 21Simon Meredith | ||
| Boundary: | Matthew Tomkins(3) | Chris Gordon(4) | Ian Burrows(8) | Matthew Konetschka(2) | Joshua Mather | |
| Goal: | Steven Piperno(2) | Michael Craig(1) | Angus McKenzie-Wills |
Numbers in brackets represent the number of grand finals umpired, including 2019.
| Grand Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 28 September (2:30 pm) | Richmond | def. | Greater Western Sydney |  Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 100,014) | Report |
| 2.3 (15) 7.5 (47) 12.9 (81) 17.12 (114) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 1.2 (8) 1.6 (12) 2.7 (19) 3.7 (25) | Umpires:Stevic,Chamberlain,Ryan Norm Smith Medal:Dustin Martin Television broadcast:Seven Network National anthem:Conrad Sewell | ||
| 5:Riewoldt 4:Martin 2:Lynch 1:Rioli,Pickett,Lambert,Soldo,Bolton,Cotchin | Goals | 1:Cameron,Hopper,Himmelberg | |||
| Martin,Riewoldt,Prestia,Pickett,Edwards,Vlastuin,Houli | Best | Taranto,Shaw,Haynes,Hopper,Williams | |||
| Nil | Injuries | Nil | |||
| Nil | Reports | Nil | |||
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| Station | Region | Play-by-play commentators | Analysts | Boundary riders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triple M | National | James Brayshaw,Luke Darcy | Chris Judd,Nathan Brown, Ash Chua (statistician) | Michael Roberts, Dr. Rohan White |
| ABC Radio | National | Alister Nicholson, Clint Wheeldon | Brad Sewell,Mark Maclure | Kelli Underwood |
| AFL Nation | National | Peter Donegan,Stephen Quartermain | Terry Wallace,Nick Dal Santo | Jo Wotton |
| 3AW | Melbourne,VIC | Tim Lane,Tony Leonard | Leigh Matthews,Matthew Lloyd,Jimmy Bartel | Jacqui Reed |
| SEN | Melbourne,VIC | Anthony Hudson,Gerard Whateley | Garry Lyon,Kane Cornes | Mitch Cleary |
| K Rock | Geelong,VIC | Tom King,Darren Berry | Shaun Higgins,Leigh Brown | Heath Buck |
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