1996 AFL premiership season
Teams16
PremiersNorth Melbourne
3rd premiership
Minor premiersSydney
7th minor premiership
Pre-season cupSt Kilda
1st pre-season cup win
Brownlow MedallistJames Hird (Essendon)
Michael Voss (Brisbane Bears)
Coleman MedallistTony Lockett (Sydney)
Attendance
Matches played185
Total attendance5,694,921 (30,783 per match)
Highest93,102 (Grand Final, North Melbourne vs. Sydney)

The 1996 AFL season was the 100th 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 and ran from 29 March until 28 September. It comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs, as well as several celebrations of the league's centenary.

The premiership was won by the North Melbourne Football Club for the third time, after it defeated Sydney by 43 points in the 1996 AFL Grand Final.

AFL Draft

See 1996 AFL Draft.

Lightning Premiership

In the 1996 AFL Lightning Premiership final, Essendon defeated the Brisbane Bears 6.2 (38) to 2.9 (21) at Waverley Park.

Ansett Australia Cup

In the 1996 Ansett Australia Cup final, St Kilda defeated Carlton 20.10 (130) to 10.12 (72) at Waverley Park.

Home-and-away season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Note: The opening four matches of this round replicated the opening round of the inaugural 1897 VFL season, with Essendon and Geelong playing each other on the day of the 99th anniversary.

Round 8

Note: Ben Hart took the mark of the year in Adelaide's win over St Kilda.
Note: Fitzroy's victory was the last win they had in the AFL before departing.

Round 9

Round 10

NOTE: St Kilda vs Essendon match on Saturday night was disrupted by a power failure during the third quarter, resulting the match being completed the following week on the Tuesday night with 2 12-minutes halves.

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Note: Last game of Fitzroy Lions before merger with Brisbane Bears to become Brisbane Lions.

Ladder

(P)Premiers
Qualified for finals
# Team P W L D PF PA  % Pts
1Sydney22165121521737123.966
2North Melbourne (P)22166025261982127.464
3Brisbane Bears22156121741731125.662
4West Coast22157022011758125.260
5Carlton22157021161909110.860
6Essendon22147122092023109.258
7Geelong22138123532047114.954
8Hawthorn22111011893192198.546
9Richmond221111022821944117.444
10St Kilda221012020532033101.040
11Collingwood22913022032142102.836
12Adelaide2281402233232796.032
13Fremantle2271501830198392.328
14Melbourne2271501743246370.828
15Footscray2251611654213977.322
16Fitzroy2212101452293549.54

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 94.0
Source: AFL Tables

Progression by round

  Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
  Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
  Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Sydney0048121418182226303438424650505458626266
North Melbourne (P)481212162020242832323640444448525656606064
Brisbane Bears48812162024282830303434343842465054586262
West Coast Eagles44444812162024283236404448485252566060
Carlton48812162024242832364040404444485252525660
Essendon448881014182226303034383842424246505458
Geelong48812161616202426303438383842424650505454
Hawthorn4446666101014182222263034343438384246
Richmond048881216161616202428283232363636404444
St Kilda000481216161616161620242424283236363640
Collingwood0448121616161616161616162024282828283236
Adelaide481216161620242424242424282828323232323232
Fremantle0488121212121616161616161616202024242428
Melbourne0044444448121216202020202024282828
Footscray004666661010101010101414141818222222
Fitzroy0000000444444444444444
Source:

Finals

Qualifying Finals

Note: The SCG match was the Swans' first finals win since the 1945 second semi-final, when they were known as South Melbourne. This is the longest period for any club in VFL/AFL history without winning a final.

Semi-finals

Note: West Coast Eagles played its home final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground despite being ranked above Essendon, due to the agreement then in place with the Melbourne Cricket Club that at least one game each week of the finals be played at the ground.

Preliminary Finals

Note: Last game of Brisbane Bears before merger with Fitzroy Lions to become Brisbane Lions.

Note: Tony Lockett kicked a behind after the siren to send the Swans to the grand final for the first time since South Melbourne's last appearance in 1945.

Note: Essendon became the first team in VFL/AFL history to lose two finals in the same season by one point.

Grand Final

Attendance

TeamHostedAverageHighestLowestTotal
Essendon1149,52687,54915,794544,789
Collingwood1144,72371,66321,126491,953
Adelaide1139,42845,26631,880433,713
Richmond1138,62461,74017,157424,859
Carlton1135,89170,15215,277394,802
North Melbourne1134,62768,53715,453380,899
West Coast1132,44840,08522,044356,932
Melbourne1130,31563,1968747333,465
St Kilda1127,13743,92513,824298,512
Geelong1125,16150,07417,538276,775
Sydney1124,57444,04710,965270,309
Hawthorn1123,62438,26314,286259,868
Fremantle1122,47333,04117,513247,204
Brisbane1118,08821,64414,222198,968
Footscray1118,07336,7667677198,800
Fitzroy11948213,4975083104,300
Totals17629,63787,54950835,216,148
VenueHostedAverageHighestLowestTotal
MCG5146,11487,54915,4942351,808
Football Park1139,42845,26631,880433,713
Subiaco Oval1628,28940,08517,513452,616
Waverley Park2425,54543,92513,824613,079
WACA625,25331,41119,360151,520
SCG1124,57444,04710,965270,309
Victoria Park423,58126,45921,12694,322
Kardinia Park1022,67027,65917,538226,701
Gabba1118,08821,64414,222198,968
Optus Oval1715,64121,6746469265,892
Whitten Oval1510,48216,8045083157,224
Totals17629,63787,54950835,216,148

Awards

Notes

  • North Melbourne's Corey McKernan received the same number of Brownlow Medal votes as the joint-winners James Hird and Michael Voss, but was ineligible to receive a medal as McKernan was suspended for one match during the season for kneeing. McKernan went on to win the AFL Players Association MVP, which is not subject to the same eligibility criteria.
  • The Round 10 game between St Kilda and Essendon was interrupted at the twenty-minute mark of the third quarter when Waverley Park lost power, causing the floodlights to go off. The remaining 24 minutes was played three nights later on Tuesday, 11 June.[1]
    • Subsequently, the AFL introduced contingencies that a game could be abandoned, with the progress result accepted as final at any point beyond half time, at the agreement of the captains when (a) any unexpected incident delays a game by half an hour, or (b) if dangerous weather conditions, most typically lightning, prevail.
  • Footscray's 1996 season became the subject of the sports film, Year of the Dogs, which was released theatrically the following year.
    • After their round 17 loss to Collingwood, caretaker coach Terry Wallace infamously sprayed the players during his post-match address.[2]
  • North Melbourne received a special gold-coloured premiership cup, instead of the typical silver, to signify what the AFL had represented as its Centenary Season throughout 1996. (Note: 1996 was the VFL/AFL's hundredth season, which by strictest definition is not the same as the centenary year, which would have been in 1997).
  • As well as breaking a 51 year grand final appearance drought, Sydney would also break a 51 year finals win drought, with the qualifying final vs Hawthorn being their first finals win since the 1945 season (as South Melbourne).
  • The season is perhaps best remembered for its preliminary final between minor premiers Sydney and sixth-placed Essendon. With scores level on 10.9 (69), Sydney's Tony Lockett scored a behind with a kick after the siren to win the game, and sent the Swans into their first Grand Final since 1945.
    • Lockett had been under an injury cloud with a groin problem during the preceding week, and there was some doubt whether he would play.

References

  1. ↑ Tuesday night blockbuster set for 2018 fixture - AFL.com.au
  2. ↑ Sherwood, Anthony (1 October 2016). "This Epic 1996 Coach Spray Is All The Motivation The Bulldogs Need". HuffPost. Retrieved 9 October 2018.

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.