The 2002 AFL Grand Final was an
Australian rules football game contested between the
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL).
The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...
and the
Collingwood 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 28 September 2002. It was the 106th 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
2002 AFL season
The 2002 AFL season was the 106th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...
. The match, attended by 91,817 spectators, was won by the Brisbane Lions by a margin of 9 points, marking the club's second consecutive premiership victory, as well as its second overall since being established in 1997.
Background
The Lions had made it into their second consecutive grand final after finishing second on the
AFL ladder with a 17–5 record, one game behind
Port Adelaide, and overcoming
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and Port Adelaide in their early finals. It was the club's second consecutive grand final, having defeated in the
2001 Grand Final.
Collingwood had reached the finals for the first time since 1994, and found its way into its first premiership decider since the
1990 Grand Final. They finished fourth on the ladder with a 13–9 record, and not much was expected of them in the final month of the year. However, the Magpies upset minor premiers Port Adelaide by 13 points in a dramatic Qualifying Final at
AAMI Stadium, earning a week's rest before beating Adelaide 13.13 (91) to 9.9 (63) in the preliminary final at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Jason Cloke
Jason Cloke (born 6 May 1982) is an Australian rules footballer, who played in the Australian Football League with the Collingwood Football Club.
Career
Cloke played his junior football for Park Orchards in the Eastern Junior Football Le ...
from Collingwood was suspended during the week after being charged for striking Tyson Edwards in the nose during their preliminary final victory against Adelaide. This controversy dominated headlines during the week in the buildup to the grand final. Also in the week leading up to the grand final, Brisbane's
Simon Black
Simon Black (born 3 April 1979) is a former Australian rules football player and current assistant coach, who played his whole career with the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Black was a midfielder with a reputation fo ...
was awarded the
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...
.
Match summary
In a tight and overall enthralling exhibition of Australian rules football, Brisbane withstood a brave challenge from Collingwood to win the 2002 AFL Grand Final by nine points, taking out their second successive flag. It was the first time since 1989 that the grand final was decided by less than four goals, with grand finals having often been one-sided affairs throughout the 1990s.
First quarter
The game was played in cold conditions with rain off-and-on throughout. In a tight, low-scoring first quarter, neither team could manage a goal until very late, Collingwood's
Anthony Rocca
Anthony Rocca (born 15 August 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer who has played with the Sydney Swans and Collingwood in the Australian Football League.
Rocca is currently serving as North Melbourne's development coach.
Sydney
...
kicking the first goal in the 27th minute. The quarter time score of 1.4 (10) vs 0.4 (4) was the lowest-scoring quarter in a grand final since 1960, and ended Brisbane's
VFL/AFL
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...
record streak of 253 consecutive quarters in which it scored at least one goal.
Second quarter
Brisbane finally kicked its first goal in the 5th minute of the second quarter,
Shaun Hart converting from general play in the forward pocket. Throughout the second quarter, Brisbane gained control of general play, but repeatedly failed to convert this advantage on the scoreboard. Collingwood regained the lead with a goal from a set shot and 50m penalty to
Josh Fraser
Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to:
People A–J
* "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...
in the 14th minute, then extended it with another to Rocca from a down-field free kick in the 18th minute.
Simon Black
Simon Black (born 3 April 1979) is a former Australian rules football player and current assistant coach, who played his whole career with the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Black was a midfielder with a reputation fo ...
kicked Brisbane's second goal in the 22nd minute, and
Tarkyn Lockyer responded with a set shot goal in the 27th minute. By the 28th minute of the quarter, the score was Collingwood 4.4 (28) leading Brisbane 2.12 (24), the Lions having kicked 2.8 for the quarter from its repeated forward entries, although had not missed many easy shots, with Collingwood's defenders keeping the Lions to hurried or wide-angle shots. But, two late goals – to
Craig McRae
Craig McRae (born 22 September 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer and the current senior coach of the Collingwood Football Club.
Playing career
Originally from South Australian National Football League club Glenelg, McRae was draf ...
in the 29th minute from a free kick with advantage at full forward, then
Alastair Lynch
Alastair Graeme Lynch (born 19 June 1968) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is best known as a three-time premiership full-forward for the Brisbane Lions.
The Tasmania ...
from a 20m set shot – Brisbane took an eight point lead into half time. Overall in the second quarter, Brisbane had 24 inside-50s for 4.8 (32), and Collingwood had only eight for 3.0 (18).
Third quarter
After Brisbane's ground dominance in the second quarter, the third quarter was much more evenly contested, and early goals to Fraser for Collingwood (2nd minute), Lynch for Brisbane (4th minute) and Rocca (5th minute) brought the margin back within a goal. Collingwood regained the lead in the 12th minute when
Nathan Buckley
Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator.
He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising S ...
kicked his first goal. No goals were kicked over the next ten minutes, until Lynch regained the lead for Brisbane in the 22nd minute. Rocca then kicked his fourth goal to regain the lead in the 25th minute. As in the second quarter, Brisbane finished with two quick late goals –
Jonathan Brown kicking his first goal in the 30th minute, then
Michael Voss
Michael Voss (born 7 July 1975) is a former professional Australian rules football player with the Brisbane Bears/Lions and current senior coach of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Voss was a triple premiersh ...
one minute later. Collingwood was the more wasteful in front of goal in the third quarter, kicking 4.6 (30) to Brisbane's 4.2 (26), and at three-quarter time, Brisbane led 8.14 (62) to 8.10 (58).
Fourth quarter
A tight opening to the final quarter saw no score until the eighth minute, when Rocca famously lined up for his fifth goal from a 50m set shot near the boundary line. Rocca thought he had kicked a goal and began to celebrate, but the goal umpire ruled it a behind; Rocca was known for his long kicking, and the ball crossed the goal line above the height of the posts making it a difficult score to judge, but in its post match review, the AFL confirmed the goal umpire's decision. Three minutes later, Josh Fraser marked with the flight of the ball in the goal square, and kicked his third goal to put Collingwood ahead by three points. Another chance to score for Collingwood off the ensuing centre clearance was rushed through for a behind, in what was Collingwood's last score of the game, as heavy rain began to fall.
In the 14th minute, a kick to a pack at full-forward ended with a free kick to Alastair Lynch, who kicked his fourth goal and put Brisbane back in front by two points. Both teams had opportunities over the next ten minutes, and a behind by
Jason Akermanis
Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears ...
in the 19th minute extended the lead to three points. Then, in the 24th minute with just under five minutes of game time remaining, Akermanis roved the front of a marking contest at full forward and kicked a goal to put Brisbane nine points ahead. There was no further score, and Brisbane won by the nine point margin.
Norm Smith Medal
Nathan Buckley
Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator.
He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising S ...
of the Magpies was awarded 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 ...
for being judged the best player afield, despite the fact that he finished on the losing side. It was the third time a grand final player had won the Norm Smith Medal without being on the winning premiership team. Out of respect for his teammates, Buckley took the medal off as he returned from the dais. Buckley polled 12 votes for the medal, and teammate Anthony Rocca finished second with 8 votes;
Nigel Lappin was the highest-placing Lion with 5 votes, Voss polled 4 and Simon Black 1.
To meet the timeline for compiling the votes, the panellists were asked to lodged their votes during the latter part of the final quarter, with some doing so as early as halfway through the quarter. Three of the five panellists famously claimed in the days after the match that they would have awarded more votes to Michael Voss had they voted after the final siren, as he had been pivotal in the dying minutes of the game – although it was never determined whether or not these extra votes would have been enough to make up the substantial eight vote gap to Buckley. Nevertheless, practices were changed to ensure votes were not cast until after the final siren from 2003 onwards.
Teams
Scorecard
List
See also
*
2002 AFL season
The 2002 AFL season was the 106th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...
References
External links
2002 Grand Final Match Report - Brisbane Lions Football Club website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2002 Afl Grand Final
VFL/AFL Grand Finals
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...
Brisbane Lions
Collingwood Football Club