2013 AFL Grand Final
| 2013 AFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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View of the Melbourne Cricket Ground moments after gates opened for the 2013 AFL Grand Final. | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 28 September 2013, 2:30pm | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 100,007 | |||||||||||||||
| Umpires | Brett Rosebury, Simon Meredith, Matthew Nicholls | |||||||||||||||
| Coin toss won by | Fremantle | |||||||||||||||
| Kicked toward | City End | |||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | ||||||||||||||||
| Pre-match entertainment | Birds of Tokyo | |||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Tina Arena | |||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Hunters and Collectors | |||||||||||||||
| Post-match entertainment | Hunters and Collectors, Birds of Tokyo | |||||||||||||||
| Accolades | ||||||||||||||||
| Norm Smith Medallist | Brian Lake | |||||||||||||||
| Jock McHale Medallist | Alastair Clarkson | |||||||||||||||
| Broadcast in Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Network | Seven Network | |||||||||||||||
| Commentators | Bruce McAvaney and Dennis Cometti | |||||||||||||||
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The 2013 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between Hawthorn Football Club and Fremantle Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 28 September 2013. It was the 117th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League),[1] staged to determine the premiers for the 2013 AFL season. The match, attended by 100,007 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 15 points, marking the club's eleventh VFL/AFL premiership victory. Hawthorn's Brian Lake was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.
Background
Hawthorn entered the 2013 season having lost the 2012 Grand Final to Sydney, and for most of the season was seen as the favourites for the premiership.[2] After losing to Geelong in Round 1, Hawthorn compiled a 12-match winning streak, until this streak was ended with another loss to Geelong in Round 15. The club's only other loss came against Richmond in Round 19, and it finished with a record of 19–3 to win the minor premiership for the second consecutive year. They defeated Sydney in the qualifying final by 54 points and earned a week off. They ended an 11-match losing streak against Geelong (dating back to 2008) to win by five points in the preliminary final. The match was Hawthorn's third Grand Final appearance in six years.
Fremantle entered the 2013 season having come off a semi-final loss to Adelaide in the previous year's finals series. After winning their first two matches of the season by 28 points, the Dockers lost back-to-back matches against Essendon and Hawthorn to be 2–2 after Round 4 – this was the only time they lost consecutive matches during the season. Fremantle recorded its largest ever victory when they defeated Greater Western Sydney in Round 20, then, with a finals berth guaranteed, Ross Lyon rested half of his regular side ahead of its final regular season match against St Kilda; the result was a 71-point defeat, which marked the worst defeat in Lyon's coaching career. The team finished third at the end of the home-and-away season, and compiled a club-best record of 16–5–1. They defeated Geelong by 15 points in the first week of the finals, earning a week off and a home preliminary final. Fremantle defeated the reigning premiers, Sydney, by 25 points in the preliminary final. The match was Fremantle's first Grand Final in its history.
The two teams met once during the regular season, in Round 4 at Aurora Stadium; Hawthorn won by 42 points.
Media Coverage
The match was televised by the Seven Network. The primary match commentary was provided by Bruce McAvaney and Dennis Cometti.
Pre-match entertainment
Two Australian bands, Birds of Tokyo and Hunters & Collectors performed before the game and at half time, respectively. The Australian national anthem was sung by Tina Arena.[3]
Match summary
First quarter
Fremantle won the coin toss and chose to kick towards the City End of the MCG in the first quarter. However, it was Hawthorn who got off to a good start, with Jack Gunston kicking the first goal before Lance Franklin kicked the Hawks' second after Luke McPharlin gave away a 50-metre penalty. Meanwhile, Fremantle were held goalless in the opening quarter with Nathan Fyfe missing two set shots at goal.
Second quarter
Hawthorn kicked another two goals before Tendai Mzungu kicked the Dockers' first goal midway through the second quarter. Another goal to the Hawks saw them enter half-time 23 points ahead; Fremantle's first half score of 1.6 (12) was the lowest in a Grand Final since 1960.[4]
Third quarter
After failing to capitalise on their chances in the first half, Fremantle kicked five goals in the third quarter, to twice get to within three points of the Hawks. Jarryd Roughead kicked two goals for the quarter and Jack Gunston his fourth, as Hawthorn entered the three-quarter-time break ten points ahead.[5]
Final quarter
Hawthorn led by ten points at the start of the quarter and did most of the attacking. Isaac Smith, Luke Breust and Bradley Hill all kicked goals for Hawthorn as they stretched their lead to 31 points, before two late goals to Fremantle reduced the final margin to 15 points.[6]
Overall report
Hawthorn led the match from start to finish, applying pressure on the Dockers when it mattered the most. Fremantle were unable to capitalise on any of the chances they had in the first half, especially with Nathan Fyfe putting two set shots out on the full, another certain goal being touched on the line and Matthew Pavlich spraying a shot at goal nearing half-time.
2013 remains the only time the Fremantle Dockers have appeared in an AFL Grand Final since joining the league in 1995 (and hence the closest they have come to an AFL Premiership). Two years later in 2015, Fremantle won the minor premiership for finishing on top of the AFL ladder at the end of the home & away season, but they failed to convert that achievement into another Grand Final appearance, losing to Hawthorn in the Preliminary Final.[6]
Norm Smith Medal
Brian Lake took ten marks of which seven were intercept marks to repel the Dockers attack. He took two crucial marks in the final quarter which sealed his Norm Smith Medal win.[7]
Teams
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- Umpires
The umpiring panel for the Grand Final comprised nine match day umpires and three emergencies. Among the umpires were four grand final debutants: field umpire Mathew Nicholls, boundary umpires Michael Marantelli and Michael Saunders, and goal umpire Adam Wojcik.[8]
| Position | Umpire 1 | Umpire 2 | Umpire 3 | Umpire 4 | Emergency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field: | 8 Brett Rosebury (6) | 15 Mathew Nicholls (1) | 21 Simon Meredith (2) | 9 Matt Stevic | ||
| Boundary: | Nathan Doig (2) | Robert Haala (2) | Michael Marantelli (1) | Michael Saunders (1) | Matthew Tomkins | |
| Goal: | Luke Walker (5) | Adam Wojcik (1) | Chris Appleton |
Numbers in brackets represent the number of Grand Finals umpired; this number includes 2013 and does not include times selected as an emergency umpire.
Scorecard
| Grand Final | |||||
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| Saturday, 28 September (2:30 pm) | Hawthorn | def. | Fremantle |  MCG (crowd: 100,007) |
Report |
| 2.3 (15) 5.5 (35) 8.8 (56) 11.11 (77) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
0.3 (3) 1.6 (12) 6.10 (46) 8.14 (62) |
Umpires: Brett Rosebury, Mathew Nicholls, Simon Meredith Norm Smith Medal: Brian Lake Television broadcast: Seven Network National anthem: Tina Arena | ||
| Gunston 4 Roughead 2 Franklin, Rioli, Smith, Breust, Hill 1 |
Goals | 3 Pavlich 2 Walters 1 Mzungu, Mayne, Pearce | |||
| Lake, Gunston, Lewis, Rioli, Hodge, Birchall | Best | Mundy, Fyfe, Crowley, Johnson, Barlow | |||
| Nil | Injuries | Nil | |||
| Lake - Striking; Rioli - Rough conduct | Reports | Suban - Misconduct | |||
Tribunal
The following Monday, the Match Review Panel adjudicated on two offences incurred by Hawthorn's Brian Lake and Cyril Rioli, both of which carried the double points loading of due to being incurred during a Grand Final. The third offence of misconduct against Fremantle's Nick Suban was referred directly to the Tribunal for assessment, which determined the incident was improper but not grievous. Suban pleaded guilty to the incident and apologized for what he felt to be an accident.
| Player | Charge | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Suban, Fremantle | Unreasonable and unnecessary contact to the face of Sam Mitchell, Hawthorn, in the 1st Quarter.[9] | Referred to the Tribunal. Suban pleaded guilty; suspended one match.[10] |
| Cyril Rioli, Hawthorn | Rough conduct (chicken-wing tackle) against Michael Barlow, Fremantle, in the 3rd Quarter.[9] | Pled guilty; suspended one match.[11] |
| Brian Lake, Hawthorn | Striking Michael Walters, Fremantle, in the 3rd Quarter.[9] | Pled guilty; suspended three matches.[11] |
See also
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2013 AFL Grand Final. |
- ↑ In 1897 and 1924 there were no Grand Finals and instead the premier was decided by a finals play-off. In 1948, 1977 and 2010, there were Grand Final replays after initial draws.
- ↑ Landsberger, Sam (2012-09-29). "Hawthorn opens the 2013 premiership market favourite". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
- ↑ Bartley, Patrick (2 September 2013). "AFL grand final 2013 entertainment headlined by local acts". Sydney Morning Herald]].
- ↑ "AFL grand final 2013: Hawthorn v Fremantle as it happened". ABC.net. 28 September 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ↑ "Hawthorn v Fremantle: AFL grand final – as it happened". The Guardian. 28 September 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
- 1 2 What we learnt from the 2013 AFL Grand Final, The Roar, 29 September 2013
- ↑ "2013 Grand Final as it happened". AFL.com. 28 September 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ↑ Julia Gauci (24 September 2013). "AFL announces Grand Final umpires". Australian Football League Umpires Association. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- 1 2 3 David Schout (30 September 2013). "Hawk heroes handed bans". Australian Football League.
- ↑ "Fremantle's Nick Suban to miss one AFL game after grand final gouge on Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell". 1 October 2013.
- 1 2 Mark Macgugan (2 October 2013). "Lake, Rioli to miss start of next season". Australian Football League.