The 2003 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 27 September 2003. It was the 107th 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),
[In 1897 and 1924 there were no grand finals and instead the premier was decided by a finals play-off. In 1948 and 1977 there were grand final replays after initial draws.] 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
2003 AFL season
The 2003 AFL season was the 107th 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 six ...
. The match, attended by 79,451 spectators, was won by Brisbane by a margin of 50 points, marking the club's third premiership victory, all won consecutively from 2001 to 2003.
Background
Brisbane had appeared in the
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 ...
for the past two years, winning both contests. Collingwood had competed against Brisbane in the
previous year's grand final, losing by 9 points.
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 ...
, Port Adelaide had finished first on the AFL ladder with 18 wins and 4 losses, winning their second successive
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 ...
. Collingwood finished second with 15 wins and 7 losses, and Brisbane was third with 14 wins, 7 losses and a draw. The two sides faced each other in a low-scoring qualifying final won by Collingwood, 9.12 (66) d. 7.9 (51). Brisbane comfortably defeated in its semi-final by 46 points; and then both clubs had comfortable preliminary final victories, Collingwood dominating throughout its match against Port Adelaide to win by 44 points; and Brisbane kicking away from with a six goals to nil final quarter, also winning by 44 points.
In the week prior to the grand final, Collingwood forward
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
...
was suspended during the week for an elbow to the head of Port Adelaide's
Brendon Lade
Brendon Lade (born 10 July 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently a senior assistant coach with the Western Bulldogs Football Club.
AFL care ...
player during the preliminary final; Rocca had played every game of the year and kicked 45 goals, and had also been one of Collingwood's best in the previous year's grand final, and his suspension was considered a major blow to the Magpies' chances;
Tristen Walker took Rocca's place in the team. Brisbane's had numerous key players under injury clouds, including captain
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 ...
with an injured knee,
Nigel Lappin
Nigel Lappin (born 21 June 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. Lappin is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Geelong Football Club.
Playing career
Lappin was born in the locally based regional hospital at ...
with broken ribs and both
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 ...
and
Martin Pike with hamstring injuries, but all four ended up playing.
The build-up was further magnified due to the Lions' chance of being the first team since
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 ...
in the 1950s to win three successive premierships. Attention was also focussed on whether the Magpies would avenge their close loss to the Lions in the previous year's grand final. In the week leading up to the grand final, Collingwood's
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 ...
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 ...
, which was tied between Buckley,
Sydney's
Adam Goodes
Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, d ...
and
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 ...
's
Mark Ricciuto
Mark Anthony Ricciuto ( ; born 8 June 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). From Ramco, South Australia, Ricciuto started as a junior with the local Waike ...
.
The match attendance of 79,451 spectators was the smallest grand Final attendance at the MCG since the
1946 VFL Grand Final
The 1946 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 5 October 1946. It was the 48th annual Grand Final of the Victorian ...
, owing to a part of the grandstands having been demolished to make way for the construction of new seating at the ground for the
2006 Commonwealth Games.
Match summary
First quarter
The Lions dominated the Magpies and led throughout the majority of the match, gaining the lead inside the first two minutes and never relinquishing it. The Lions led 5.5 (35) to Collingwood's 3.3 (21) at quarter time.
Second quarter
Two early Brisbane goals extended the margin to 25 points five minutes into the second quarter; and while
Alan Didak was able to peg one back for Collingwood in the 9th minute, a flurry of four goals to Brisbane in the latter part of the quarter opened a game-winning 42 points half time lead, from which Collingwood never seriously challenged.
Third quarter
Collingwood won the third quarter, kicking two early goals to bring the margin back to 30 points, but overall after kicking 5.0 (30) to Brisbane's 3.5 (23) for the quarter, the difference was still a nearly insurmountable 35 points at three-quarter time.
Fourth quarter
Collingwood attacked hard to open the final quarter, but after four behinds, Brisbane ran away with the game, kicking five goals between the 15th and 26 minutes of the quarter to open a game-high 69-point lead. Three late goals to Collingwood narrowed the final margin to fifty points, Brisbane 20.14 (134) d. Collingwood 12.12 (84).
Norm Smith Medal
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 ...
of the Lions 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. His 39 disposals set and, as of 2021, still holds the record for equal most disposals by a player in a grand final sharing that record with Christian Petracca.
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 ...
kicked five goals for Brisbane.
Post match
With this win, Brisbane became AFL premiers for the third consecutive year, the fifth team in VFL/AFL history to do so and first since 1955–57, earning a place among the greatest teams of the modern era. Brisbane would go on to contest a fourth consecutive grand final in the
2004 AFL Grand Final
The 2004 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Brisbane Lions, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 2004. It was the 108th annual grand fi ...
, but would lose that game to
Port Adelaide.
Teams
Scorecard
See also
*
2003 AFL season
The 2003 AFL season was the 107th 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 six ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 Afl Grand Final
VFL/AFL Grand Finals
Afl Grand Final, 2003
Brisbane Lions
Collingwood Football Club