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The 2009 AFL season was the 113th 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 sixteen clubs, ran from 26 March until 26 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a
finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
featuring the top eight clubs. The premiership was won by the Geelong Football Club for the eighth time, after it defeated by twelve points in the
2009 AFL Grand Final The 2009 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the St Kilda Football Club and the Geelong Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009. It was the 113th annual grand final of the Austral ...
.


Pre-season


AFL pre-season draft

The pre-season draft was held on 16 December 2008 (but is referred to as the 2009 Pre-season draft in continuation from the early years of the AFL draft when it was held in January or February) and most pre-draft interest was on whether or not former
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 ...
captain and
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 ...
winner
Ben Cousins Benjamin Luke Cousins (born 30 June 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL). Cousins is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the fifty greatest players of ...
would be selected by the Richmond Football Club. Richmond, the only club to show interest in recruiting Cousins, had one selection in the pre-season draft (because it had only one space left on its senior list). In the week leading up to the pre-season draft, Richmond requested to have
Graham Polak Graham Polak (born 16 June 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Fremantle career Polak began his AFL career with the Fr ...
(who had been hit by a tram the previous season, with it not clear at this stage whether or not the resulting injuries would end his career) moved to the rookie list, to free up an additional list space and give them a second selection in the pre-season draft. The request was similar to one made by and granted to the Essendon Football Club a few years earlier with respect to
Adam Ramanauskas Adam Ramanauskas (born 19 November 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer for the Essendon Football Club. Of Lithuanian descent, Ramanauskas was selected at no. 12 in the 1998 AFL Draft and was mainly a defender or midfielder. In 2000 ...
, but there were key differences which led to Richmond's request being rejected by the AFL and a majority of rival clubs on 15 December. Although Richmond had maintained throughout the previous week that it would draft Cousins only if its request to put Polak on the rookie list was granted, they selected Cousins anyway with their only selection in the pre-season draft. Josh Carr's return to was another major player move.


NAB Cup


Premiership season


Round 1


Round 2


Round 3


Round 4


Round 5


Round 6


Round 7


Round 8


Round 9


Round 10


Round 11


Round 12


Round 13


Round 14


Round 15


Round 16


Round 17


Round 18


Round 19


Round 20


Round 21


Round 22


Season notes

* missed the finals, become the first reigning premier to do so since in 1999. *In the final round, defeated by 24 points; the win gave the Bulldogs a 0.31% percentage advantage over Collingwood, placing the Bulldogs third and the Magpies fourth. Had Brad Johnson not scored a goal in the final minute, Collingwood would have finished third.


Win/loss table

Bold – Home game


Ladder


Ladder progression


Finals series


Week one


Week two


Week three


Week four


Awards

*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 ...
was awarded to Gary Ablett, Jr. of Geelong, who polled 30 votes during the home and away season. *The
AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...
was awarded to
Daniel Rich Daniel Rich (born 7 June 1990) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited with the seventh overall selection in the 2008 national draft. Early life ...
of 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 ...
, who received the maximum 45 votes. *The
Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer ...
was awarded to Brendan Fevola of Carlton, who kicked 86 goals during the home and away season. *The
Wooden Spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...
was "awarded" to
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 ...
for the second year in a row. Melbourne finished the season in last place on the ladder after 22 rounds, with just 4 wins. *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 ...
was awarded to St Kilda for finishing 1st on the ladder during the premiership season. *The AFL Players Association Awards were as follows: **The
Leigh Matthews Trophy The Leigh Matthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. It is named in honour of Leigh Matthews, who won the first MVP award in 1982, when the league was st ...
was awarded to Gary Ablett, Jr. from Geelong for being the Most Valuable Player for the third year in a row. **The Robert Rose Award went to
Joel Selwood Joel Anthony Selwood (born 26 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was a quadruple premiership player, a six-time All-Australian, and a three-ti ...
from Geelong for being the Most Courageous Player throughout the premiership season. **The Best Captain award went to Jonathan Brown of the for the second time, after winning the award in 2007. **The Best First-Year Player award was won by
Daniel Rich Daniel Rich (born 7 June 1990) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited with the seventh overall selection in the 2008 national draft. Early life ...
from the . Rich blitzed the competition, receiving 463 votes, and the runner-up receiving just 45.


Best and fairest


AFL Rising Star

The 2009 award was won by
Daniel Rich Daniel Rich (born 7 June 1990) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited with the seventh overall selection in the 2008 national draft. Early life ...
from the .


Goal of the Year

The Australian Football League celebrates the best
goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...
of the season through the annual Goal of the Year competition. From 2009 onwards, the commercial name for the award is the '' AFL Stores Goal of the Year''. Nominations * Round 1 –
Shannon Hurn Shannon William Hurn (born 4 September 1987) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). From South Australia, he excelled at both cricket and football at junior level, and at one ...
(West Coast) * Round 2 –
Jason Winderlich Jason Winderlich (born 10 October 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). AFL career Originally from Thorpdale, Victoria, he was drafte ...
(Essendon) * Round 3 – Taylor Walker (Adelaide) * Round 4 –
Ryan Houlihan Ryan Houlihan (born 21 January 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played 12 seasons and 201 games for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 2000 to 2011. Background Ryan is the third of four bro ...
(Carlton) * Round 5 – Gary Ablett, Jr. (Geelong) * Round 6 –
Drew Petrie Drew Petrie (born 15 October 1982) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He came out of retirement in 2017 to pla ...
(North Melbourne) * Round 7 –
Cyril Rioli Cyril Rioli (born 14 July 1989) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League. Rioli was a member of four premiership teams and the Norm Smith Medallist from the 2015 ...
(Hawthorn) – WinnerBurton, Rioli win mark and goal of the year
afl.com.au. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
* Round 8 – Michael Osborne (Hawthorn) * Round 9 – Stephen Milne (St. Kilda) * Round 10 – Mark LeCras (West Coast) * Round 11 –
David Rodan David Rodan (born 8 October 1983) is an Australian rules football goal umpire and a retired professional footballer who played for the Richmond Tigers, Port Adelaide Power and the Melbourne Demons. Of Tongan heritage, Rodan is the first Fij ...
(Port Adelaide) * Round 12 –
David Rodan David Rodan (born 8 October 1983) is an Australian rules football goal umpire and a retired professional footballer who played for the Richmond Tigers, Port Adelaide Power and the Melbourne Demons. Of Tongan heritage, Rodan is the first Fij ...
(Port Adelaide) * Round 13 –
Nic Naitanui Nicholas Mark Naitanui (; born 4 May 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was born in Sydney to Fijian parents, and his family moved to Perth, Western Austra ...
(West Coast) * Round 14 – Dale Thomas (Collingwood) * Round 15 – Brendan Fevola (Carlton) * Round 16 –
David Rodan David Rodan (born 8 October 1983) is an Australian rules football goal umpire and a retired professional footballer who played for the Richmond Tigers, Port Adelaide Power and the Melbourne Demons. Of Tongan heritage, Rodan is the first Fij ...
(Port Adelaide) * Round 17 –
Lance Franklin Lance Franklin (born 30 January 1987), also known as Buddy Franklin, is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from ...
(Hawthorn) * Round 18 – Leon Davis (Collingwood) * Round 19 –
Adam Schneider Adam Schneider (born 12 May 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans and St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently the assistant coach of the Greater Weste ...
(St Kilda) * Round 20 – Liam Jurrah (Melbourne) * Round 21 –
Brad Dick Brad Dick (born 25 July 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A small, speedy wingman from Western Australia, Dick was ...
(Collingwood) * Round 22 –
Shannon Byrnes Shannon Byrnes (born 7 April 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who last played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) after a ten-year career with the Geelong Football Club. He is currently a dev ...
(Geelong)


Mark of the Year

The Australian Football League celebrates the best
mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...
of the season through the annual
Mark of the Year The annual Australian Football League Mark of the Year competition (currently also known as the Four'N Twenty AFL Mark of the Year) is a sporting award that celebrates each season's best mark. A mark is the action of a player cleanly catchin ...
competition. From 2009 onwards, the commercial name for the award is the ''
Hungry Jack's Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd. is an Australian fast food franchise of the Burger King Corporation. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Competitive Foods Australia, a privately held company owned by Jack Cowin. Hungry Jack's owns and operates or sub- ...
Mark of the Year''. Nominations * Round 1 –
Simon Wiggins Simon Wiggins (born 11 September 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited as the number 15 draft pick in the 2000 AFL Draft from Glenorchy. He made his debut for the C ...
(Carlton) * Round 2 – Jay Schulz (Richmond) * Round 3 –
Matthew Lloyd Matthew James Lloyd (born 16 April 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A highly decorated full-forward, Lloyd's AFL's honours include ...
(Essendon) * Round 4 – Tom Logan (Port Adelaide) * Round 5 – Tom Hawkins (Geelong) * Round 6 –
Joel Selwood Joel Anthony Selwood (born 26 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was a quadruple premiership player, a six-time All-Australian, and a three-ti ...
(Geelong) * Round 7 –
Patrick Ryder Patrick Ryder (born 14 March 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the , and St Kilda Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Ryder was noted for his speed, agility and leap for someone of his size and it ...
(Essendon) * Round 8 –
Paul Bevan Paul Bevan (born 27 September 1984) is an Australian rules football player with the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League (AFL). Having grown up in Sydney, playing for Western Suburbs Magpies AFC in the Sydney AFL and the NSW/ AC ...
(Sydney) * Round 9 – Heath Grundy (Sydney) * Round 10 – David Mundy (Fremantle) * Round 11 –
Kurt Tippett Kurt Anthony Tippett (born 8 May 1987) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans. He also played for the Adelaide Football Club between 2007 and 2012. Tippett represented Queensland in under-18 basketb ...
(Adelaide) * Round 12 –
Nic Naitanui Nicholas Mark Naitanui (; born 4 May 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was born in Sydney to Fijian parents, and his family moved to Perth, Western Austra ...
(West Coast) * Round 13 – Josh Hill (Western Bulldogs) * Round 14 –
Darren Glass Darren Glass (born 14 May 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played as a full-back for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Northam, Western Australia, he attended Carine Senior High Sc ...
(West Coast) * Round 15 – Jayden Post (Richmond) * Round 16 – Liam Jurrah (Melbourne) * Round 17 – Brendan Fevola (Carlton) * Round 18 –
Jimmy Bartel James Ross Bartel (born 4 December 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A utility, tall and weighing , Bartel contributed as a midfielder, forward, an ...
(Geelong) * Round 19 –
Quinten Lynch Quinten Peter Lynch (born 24 January 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Collingwood Football Club and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Grass Patch, a rural farming co ...
(West Coast) * Round 20 –
Lewis Roberts-Thomson Lewis Roberts-Thomson (born 8 September 1983 in Sydney) is a former Australian Rules Football player, who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League. He has been colloquially known to fans and commentators as either "LRT" or ...
(Sydney) * Round 21 – Max Rooke (Geelong) * Round 22 –
Brett Burton Brett Burton (born 4 May 1978) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League. He was picked up at Pick 16 in the 1998 AFL Draft by the Adelaide Football Club. He is noted for his spectacular high m ...
(Adelaide) – Winner


AFL Army Award

The Australian Football League, with the support of the
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...
, recognises players who produce an act or acts of bravery or selflessness to promote the cause of his team during a game. Each week three players and what they did are made available on the AFL Army Award website for supporters to vote on. The player with the highest percentage of the vote is the AFL Army Award nominee for that round. Nominations ''For the full list of round-by-round nominees, see
2009 AFL Army Award : ''For main article please see: AFL Army Award'' The Australian Football League celebrates the best act of selflessness or one percenter of the season through the annual AFL Army Award competition. The 2009 winner was Tom Hawkins of for his " ...
. * Round 1 – James Kelly (Geelong) * Round 2 – Campbell Brown (Hawthorn) * Round 3 –
Luke Ball Luke Patrick Ball (born 25 May 1984) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the and football clubs in the Australian Football League. From 2003 to 2009 he played 142 games for the St Kilda Football Club whe ...
(St Kilda) * Round 4 –
Ricky Dyson Ricky Dyson (born 28 September 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from the Epping Football Club, and drafted at number 44 in ...
(Essendon) * Round 5 –
Lenny Hayes Lenny Hayes (born 14 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1999 to 2014. He is currently an assistant coach at the St Kilda Fo ...
(St Kilda) * Round 6 – Martin Mattner (Sydney) * Round 7 – Bryce Gibbs (Carlton) * Round 8 –
Barry Hall Barry Hall (born 8 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club, Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is considered to be one of the be ...
(Sydney) * Round 9 – Matt White (Richmond) * Round 10 –
Travis Varcoe Travis Varcoe (born 10 April 1988) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the Geelong Football Club from 2006 to 2014 and for the Collingwood Football Club from 2015 to 2020. He currently ...
(Geelong) * Round 11 –
Scott McMahon Scott McMahon (born 2 June 1986) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). McMahon played for Woodville-West Torrens Football Club in the S ...
(North Melbourne) * Round 12 – Brad Green (Melbourne) * Round 13 –
Patrick Dangerfield Patrick Dangerfield (born 5 April 1990) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Adelaide Football Club. Drafted by Adelaide in 2007, Dangerfi ...
(Adelaide) * Round 14 –
Ryan Griffen Ryan Leigh Griffen (born 27 July 1986) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs and the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). Griffen was born in Goolwa, a South Australi ...
(Western Bulldogs) * Round 15 –
Nathan Eagleton Nathan Eagleton (born 10 November 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Eagleton played junior level footb ...
(Western Bulldogs) * Round 16 –
Jacob Surjan Jacob Adam Surjan (born 15 August 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He currently serves as the senior coach at the North Adelaid ...
(PA Adelaide) * Round 17 –
Cameron Mooney Cameron Mooney (born 26 September 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne and Geelong Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). A forward, tall and weighing , Mooney is renowned for hi ...
(Geelong) * Round 18 –
Aaron Davey Aaron Davey (born 10 June 1983) is a professional Australian rules football player of Indigenous Australian heritage. He played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) until he retired from the club at the ...
(Melbourne) * Round 19 –
Brett Kirk Brett Kirk (born 25 October 1976) is a former Australian rules football player of the Sydney Swans and was the AFL's International Ambassador. Kirk is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Sydney Swans. AFL career Kirk grew up in Al ...
(Sydney) * Round 20 – Stephen Milne (St Kilda) * Round 21 – Max Rooke (Geelong) * Round 22 – Tom Hawkins (Geelong) – Winner


Club leadership


Umpiring and rule changes

Two rule changes were introduced into the regular season *If a player is not 'under pressure' and deliberately rushes a behind would be penalised by a
free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
at the spot that the ball was rushed; *If a player tackles an opponent after he disposes of the ball, preventing him from taking further part in the play, then a free kick and 50m penalty is paid. Umpires were also encouraged to recall a centre bounce if it is offline, throwing it up the second time. Players contacting umpires continued to be an issue with several players fined for making contact with umpires as they retreated from ball-ups. In related offences, Collingwood's
Heath Shaw Heath Shaw (born 27 November 1985) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). Heath grew up in Diamond Creek and played jun ...
was suspended for one week after touching an umpire's shoulder, and Hawthorn president
Jeff Kennett Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is a former Australian politician who was the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, and currently a media commentator. He was previously the president of the Hawthorn Football Club, serving ...
was fined $5000 after criticising the umpires on radio.Smith, Patrick (20 April 2009
Umpires cop it from all sides
/ref>


Coach changes


See also

*
2009 Australian football code crowds Australia is home to four professional football codes. This is a comprehensive list of crowd figures for Australian football codes in 2009. It includes several different competitions and matches from Australian rules football, rugby league, f ...


References


External links


AFL official website
{{Australian Football League Australian Football League seasons AFL season