The 1992 AFL Grand Final was an
Australian rules football game contested between the
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...
and the
Geelong Football Club, held at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on 26 September 1992. It was the 96th annual
grand final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...
of the
Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League), staged to determine the
premiers
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
for the
1992 AFL season. The match, attended by 95,007 spectators, was won by West Coast by a margin of 28 points, marking that club's first premiership victory and the first by a team based outside the state of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
.
Background
This was Geelong's first appearance in a grand final since losing the
1989 VFL Grand Final
The 1989 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Geelong Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 30 September 1989. It was the 93rd annual grand fi ...
, whilst West Coast was making its second successive appearance in the premiership decider, having been defeated by Hawthorn in the
1991 AFL Grand Final
At the conclusion of the
home and away season
In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...
, Geelong had finished first on the AFL ladder with 16 wins and 6 losses, winning the
McClelland Trophy
The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...
. West Coast had finished fourth (behind
Footscray and
Collingwood) with 15 wins, 6 losses and a draw.
In the finals series leading up to the game, West Coast defeated
Hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
in the elimination final, before convincingly defeating Geelong by 38 points in the second semi-final to advance to the grand final. Geelong defeated Footscray in the qualifying final, and after their loss to the Eagles in the second semi-final, defeated Footscray once again in the preliminary final to advance to the grand final.
Match summary
First quarter
In a repeat of three years prior, the Cats signalled their intent to attack both man and ball early when, two minutes into the quarter,
Ablett bumped into
Pyke with a raised forearm to the side of the face deep in Geelong's forward pocket, knocking Pyke out and needing to be stretchered off. Amazingly he was back on the ground less than ten minutes later.
After
Matera had given a slight glimpse of what was to come with a long shot that was slightly wide in the opening seconds, the Cats kicked the first two goals of the game in the space of a minute through
Poole and
Stoneham. The Eagles struggled for accuracy early in the game, kicking four straight behinds before
Riccardi Riccardi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alessio Riccardi (born 2001), Italian footballer
* Andrea Riccardi (born 1950), Italian church leader
* Arturo Riccardi (1878–1966), Italian Navy admiral
* Davide Ricca ...
added Geelong's third at the 13-minute mark with an impressive left-foot snap from a tight angle. Matera, who was being manned by
Bairstow, finally scored West Coast's first goal at the 20-minute mark when he ran onto a hit-out from
Barnes
Barnes may refer to:
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* Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name)
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United Kingdom
*Barnes, London, England
**Barnes railway station
** Barnes Bridge railway station
** Barnes Railway Bri ...
at the edge of the centre square, steadied and kicked truly from 55 metres. It was then Geelong's turn to squander several scoring chances, with
Hocking
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* Hocking County, Ohio, United States
* Hocking Township, Fairfield County, Ohio
* Hocking Hills, Ohio
* Hocking River, Ohio
* Hocking Canal, a former canal that ran parallel to the Hocking River
* Hocking, Western Aus ...
(twice), Riccardi and
Couch scoring behinds until veteran
Bruns Bruns is a surname, and may refer to:
* Dmitri Bruns (1929–2020), Estonian architect and architecture theorist
* Franklin Richard Bruns Jr. (1912–1979), of Maryland
* George Bruns (1914–1983), American music composer
* Karl Bruns (fl. 195 ...
converted a set shot to put the Cats 17 points ahead, which remained the quarter-time margin as
Sumich and
Brownless respectively kicked their first goal for the game.
Second quarter
Geelong were first on the scoreboard two minutes into the second quarter when Ablett finished off a fine sequence of midfield play by slotting a wonderful set shot from outside the 50-metre arc on the right half-forward flank. From the resulting centre bounce, Ablett was again in the action, marking a quick pass from Couch and unleashing a big torpedo punt which was marked by Brownless nearly on the goal line, only to miss the set shot from a tight angle. The Eagles continued to create chances but with little reward,
Waterman's three scoring attempts resulting in one behind and two out of bounds on the full. However, their persistence finally paid off when Matera gathered the ball from a ground level contest on the half-forward flank, used his explosive acceleration to escape from Bairstow, and snapped his second goal on the run from outside 50. Brownless replied quickly with his second goal of the game, but when Eagles rover
Evans
Evans may refer to:
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*Evans (surname)
*List of people with surname Evans
Places United States
*Evans Island, an island of Alaska
*Evans, Colorado
*Evans, Georgia
*Evans County, Georgia
*Evans, New York
*Evans Mills, New York
*Evans City, ...
kicked two consecutive goals, Geelong's 24-point lead had been cut to ten points. Couch gave the Cats breathing space again when he goaled from point blank range after being awarded a 50-metre penalty, but with seconds remaining Sumich capped off a desperate passage of play with a freakish over-the-shoulder snap for his second goal to make the margin 12 points at half time.
Third quarter
In a repeat of the second quarter, Ablett kicked the first goal (his second for the game) to give Geelong a 17-point buffer four minutes into the term. But West Coast replied just two minutes later when Evans followed up another attacking foray and benefited from courageous play by
Langdon to kick his third goal, and when
Wilson, who had just come back onto the field, gathered the ball in the forward pocket, shook off a diving tackle around the ankle and snapped a freakish goal over his head, leading to commentator
Dennis Cometti
Dennis John Cometti (born 26 March 1949) is an Australian retired sports commentator, player and coach of Australian rules football. In a career spanning 51 years, his smooth voice, dry humour and quick wit became his trademark. Until his reti ...
's iconic expression "like a cork in the ocean", the Eagles were now just four points behind the Cats and had seized the initiative. From the centre bounce following Wilson's goal, the Eagles again won the clearance, with
Kemp and
Heady combining to find Matera clear on the right half-forward flank. Matera marked and played on immediately, his glorious kick on the run from outside the 50-metre arc curling back between the big sticks for his third goal to give West Coast a lead they would never again relinquish. The Eagles extended the lead further when Sumich converted his set shot from a free kick for his third goal and Matera kicked his second for the quarter, picking up a loose ball as the Eagles again willed the ball forward through the middle of the ground, getting away from several Geelong defenders and finishing on his left foot. The siren sounded for the last change with West Coast 17 points ahead and holding all the momentum, having kicked the last five goals of the match.
Fourth quarter
Geelong fans were hoping for a repeat of their team's last quarter heroics from 1989, but it was West Coast who got the important first goal within the opening minute when
Mainwaring The surname Mainwaring ( or ) is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from "Mesnil Warin" (or "Mesnilwarin", "Mesnilvarin", "Mesnil Varin"), from the village of Le Mesnil Varin (= "the manor of Warin"), now Saint-Paër, Normandy.
Notable ...
and
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
combined superbly to find Sumich on a lead. Instead of taking the set shot, Sumich cleverly handballed over the man on the mark to the oncoming and unmarked Matera, who ran into an open goal.
Brownless, who had been relatively quiet since the second quarter, finally broke the Eagles' run of goals with a superb set shot from the forward pocket after
Kemp had been penalized for deliberate out of bounds. From the restart, the Cats again went into attack through Hocking. Ablett used his strength to bring the ball to ground and hand pass to Bairstow, whose running shot at goal from 40 metres out was touched on the line by
McIntosh
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Products and brands
* Mackintosh, a form of waterproof raincoat
* Mackintosh's or John Mackintosh and Co., later Rowntree Mackintosh, former UK confectionery company now part of Nestlà ...
. West Coast steadied and replied with the next three goals via Sumich (two) and Wilson to extend the margin to 34 points at the 12-minute mark.
Aftermath
The
Norm Smith Medal
The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football ...
was awarded to Eagles player
Peter Matera
Peter Matera (born 3 April 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Hailing from the West Australian country town of Wagin, Matera was born of an Italian fat ...
for being judged the best player afield, with 18 disposals and 5 goals from the wing. One of these goals was a stunning right-foot 60-metre running goal from the right forward flank to put the Eagles in front.
Teams
Match scorecard and Details
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
*
*
See also
*
1992 AFL season
{{Australian Football League
VFL/AFL Grand Finals
Afl Grand Final, 1992
1992 Australian Football League season
West Coast Eagles
Geelong Football Club