2000 AFL Grand Final

The 2000 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and the Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 2 September 2000. It was the 104th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League,^[1] staged to determine the premiers for the 2000 AFL season. The match, attended by 96,249 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 60 points, marking that club's 16th premiership victory.

Background

Main article: 2000 AFL season

Further information: 2000 AFL finals series

This was Essendon's first appearance in a Grand Final since winning the 1993 AFL Grand Final, whilst it was Melbourne's first since losing the 1988 VFL Grand Final. Essendon had completed the best home and away season in modern history, winning 21 of 22 matches, an AFL record (which would be equaled by Geelong in the 2008 season), winning their second successive McClelland Trophy. Melbourne finished the home and away season third with 14 wins and 8 losses.

In the previous week's Preliminary Finals, Essendon defeated an injury depleted Carlton who were missing Craig Bradley, Stephen Silvagni, and Anthony Koutoufides by 45 points, while Melbourne defeated North Melbourne by 50 points. The following Monday saw Melbourne's Shane Woewodin awarded the Brownlow Medal with 24 votes, ahead of Western Bulldogs midfielder Scott West and Adelaide midfielder Andrew McLeod.^[2]

Match summary

Melbourne captain David Neitz won the toss and chose to kick towards the City/Members end of the MCG in the opening quarter. The first score of the game went to Melbourne. Neitz, from a very tight angle near the behind post on the Members side of the goals, kicked the ball into the far goal post resulting in one point.

It was only a short time after the first score of the game that James Hird kicked the first goal of the game for Essendon. Melbourne's first goal was kicked by Stephen Powell.

The Bombers never looked threatened from quarter time and comfortably won its record-equaling 16th premiership by 60 points, after one of the most dominant seasons in VFL/AFL history.

One downside for the Bombers was an incident in which Melbourne's Troy Simmonds was hit high by Essendon's Michael Long, resulting in a 25-man brawl. Simmonds was taken from the field on a stretcher; nine players were reported on ten offences by the umpires.

Hird was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for being judged the best player afield. Paul Barnard and Matthew Lloyd each kicked four goals for the Bombers.

Essendon's triumph would be the last by any Victorian team until the 2007 AFL Grand Final when Geelong won its first premiership in 44 years and was the last win by Melbourne-based club until Hawthorn's victory in the 2008 AFL Grand Final.

On this day the National Anthem was sang by Tania Doko of Bachelor Girl.

Teams

Essendon
B:	1 Mark Johnson	31 Dustin Fletcher	6 Sean Wellman
HB:	11 Damien Hardwick	21 Dean Wallis	7 Dean Solomon
C:	26 Chris Heffernan	24 Joe Misiti	33 Blake Caracella
HF:	2 Mark Mercuri	25 Scott Lucas	5 James Hird (c)
F:	9 Adam Ramanauskas	18 Matthew Lloyd	13 Michael Long
Foll:	22 John Barnes	32 Justin Blumfield	14 Jason Johnson
Int:	8 Darren Bewick	16 Paul Barnard	27 Steven Alessio
	29 Gary Moorcroft
Coach:	Kevin Sheedy

Melbourne
B:	26 Daniel Ward	27 Anthony Ingerson	44 Alistair Nicholson
HB:	42 Peter Walsh	28 Matthew Collins	21 Steven Febey
C:	13 Adem Yze	22 Shane Woewodin	35 Anthony McDonald
HF:	18 Brad Green	5 David Schwarz	7 Stephen Powell
F:	24 Russell Robertson	9 David Neitz (c)	33 Jeff Farmer
Foll:	34 Jeff White	43 Guy Rigoni	36 Andrew Leoncelli
Int:	4 Brent Grgic	16 Travis Johnstone	47 Ben Beams
	46 Troy Simmonds
Coach:	Neale Daniher

Scorecard

Essendon vs Melbourne
Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Final
Essendon	4.8 (32)	10.16 (76)	16.17 (113)	19.21 (135)
Melbourne	3.3 (21)	5.5 (35)	8.8 (56)	11.9 (75)

Venue:		Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Date:		2 September 2000
Attendance:		96,249
Umpires:		Darren Goldspink (32), Brett Allen (10), Hayden Kennedy (7)
Goal scorers:	Essendon	4: Paul Barnard, Matthew Lloyd. 3: Blake Caracella. 2: James Hird. 1: Gary Moorcroft, Mark Mercuri, Michael Long, Justin Blumfield, Darren Bewick, Steven Alessio
Goal scorers:	Melbourne	3: Jeff Farmer, Stephen Powell. 2: David Neitz, Russell Robertson. 1: Brad Green
Best:	Essendon	Hird, Barnes, Caracella, Misiti, Wallis
Best:	Melbourne	White, Powell, Johnstone, Neitz, Walsh
Reports:
Injuries:		Melbourne: Simmonds (concussion)

Coin toss winner:		David Neitz, Melbourne
Norm Smith Medal:		James Hird, Essendon
Australian television broadcaster:		Seven Network
National Anthem:		Bachelor Girl

References

↑ 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.
↑ Gruber, James. "Surprise Brownlow medal winner (AM transcript)". ABC. Retrieved 12 September 2010.

Match Stats

Notes

Main, Jim (2001). More than a century of AFL Grand Finals. Pennon Publishing. ISBN 1-877029-00-9.

External links

AFL Website

Victorian/Australian Football League Grand Finals

VFL Grand Finals	1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

AFL Grand Finals	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Essendon Football Club 2000 AFL Premiers

Essendon 19.21 (135) defeated Melbourne 11.9 (75), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Captain: 5. Hird 1. M. Johnson 2. Mercuri 6. Wellman 7. Solomon 8. Bewick 9. Ramanauskas 11. Hardwick 13. Long 14. J. Johnson 16. Barnard 18. Lloyd 21. Wallis 22. Barnes 24. Misiti 25. Lucas 26. Heffernan 27. Alessio 29. Moorcroft 31. Fletcher 32. Blumfield 33. Caracella

Coach: Sheedy

Essendon Football Club

History Premierships & Records Players Captains Coaches Awards W. S. Crichton Medal Leading Goalkickers Captain: Jobe Watson Coach: John Worsfold Nickname: Bombers

Home grounds	East Melbourne Cricket Ground (1897–1921) Windy Hill (1922–91) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–present) Docklands Stadium (2000–present)

Premierships (16)	1897 1901 1911 1912 1923 1924 1942 1946 1949 1950 1962 1965 1984 1985 1993 2000

Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Related articles	Anzac Day clash Carlton–Essendon AFL rivalry Dreamtime at the 'G Archer–Hird Medal Line in the sand match Round 16, 2001 comeback vs. North Melbourne Supplements controversy

Melbourne Football Club

History Club honours Current squad Players Coaches Captains Honour board Awards Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal Leading goalkickers Captain: Nathan Jones Coach: Paul Roos Nickname: Demons

Home grounds	Melbourne Cricket Ground (1859–1915; 1919–41; 1946–present) Friendly Societies' Ground (1885–90) Motordrome (1932) Punt Road Oval (1942–46)

Premierships (12)	1900 1926 1939 1940 1941 1948 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1964

Seasons (156)	1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Related articles	Casey Scorpions (current VFL-affiliate) Queen's Birthday clash Sandringham Football Club (former VFL-affiliate) 2009 tanking controversy

Melbourne did not field a team from 1916–18 due to the First World War

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