Best and worst grand finals of all time

[Freomaniac]

The first 3 quarters of the 2011 grand final was incredible football. 2 of the best the best teams to go head to head in a grand final slugging it out while still keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
Doesn't get talked about nearly as much as it should because only one team showed up for the last quarter and it blew out to 6 goals

I agree with this.

The 1st 3 quarters of the grand final was entertaining as a neutral. I did want Geelong to win that one.

Cats had a 1 goal lead at 3 quarter time.

Cats kicked 5 or 6 goals to Collingwoods one.

Had the last quarter still been tight in the 1st half of that final quarter and cats still kicked 5 or 6 goals in the last 8-10 minutes, it would be more fondly liked as a neutral

 

[Freomaniac]

Always liked 1997 when Jarman went crazy the last qtr
2011 highly skilled game of football

Worst
2013 Hawks v Freo which was ugly spectacle
2019 which was a tedious affair

2013 grand final was bad.... mainly due to a lack of a defining highlight in a grand final.

At least it was close. That's the only positive thing about it

 

[Blackhawk42]

2013 grand final was bad.... mainly due to a lack of a defining highlight in a grand final.

At least it was close. That's the only positive thing about it

Doesn't seem like much, but in context it was massive. The wind was swirling all day and set shots appeared difficult. Nobody has looked likely from a long way out.
Freo were charging in the third quarter and the first 10 minutes of the final term were going to decide the game.

An effortless bomb from 55 just didn't feel possible at that moment.

 

[CrowToon]

119 will always live on

 

[Big_Birdy]

2011 highest quality.

2018/2010 highest drama and memorable moments. Also good quality.

2019/2022 most boring blowouts. Winners at top of game.

2013 most boring that was sort of close. Low standard.

2005 lowest quality of game that ended close.

1999/2000 most boring overall. Just nothing games where a great side beat up on a weaker one (although Melbourne 2000 better team than Carlton 99). These games get no discussion whatsoever.

 

[Pistol Night]

2007 was so bad everyone seems to have forgotten about it.
Hopefully this week is closer than 119 points.

Best I’ve seen was probably 2009. Absolute belter ultimately decided by the bounce of a ball.

Bounce of a ball off a golapost?

 

[Percel]

2011 highest quality.

2018/2010 highest drama and memorable moments. Also good quality.

2019/2022 most boring blowouts. Winners at top of game.

2013 most boring that was sort of close. Low standard.

2005 lowest quality of game that ended close.

1999/2000 most boring overall. Just nothing games where a great side beat up on a weaker one (although Melbourne 2000 better team than Carlton 99). These games get no discussion whatsoever.

99 was terrible, and I'm a fan.

 

[Pistol Night]

99 was terrible, and I'm a fan.

My word it was. I picked Peter Bell in a drinking game and the campaigner went beast mode and stitched me up

 

[Partridge]

2007 was so bad everyone seems to have forgotten about it.
Hopefully this week is closer than 119 points.

Best I’ve seen was probably 2009. Absolute belter ultimately decided by the bounce of a ball.

No it wasn't. St.Kilda led at three quarter time and kicked 0 goals in the last quarter while we kicked 3. You're not unlucky if can't even score a goal.

 

[Big_Birdy]

99 was terrible, and I'm a fan.

I cannot remember a single kick or moment from that game.

 

[Freomaniac]

Doesn't seem like much, but in context it was massive. The wind was swirling all day and set shots appeared difficult. Nobody has looked likely from a long way out.
Freo were charging in the third quarter and the first 10 minutes of the final term were going to decide the game.

An effortless bomb from 55 just didn't feel possible at that moment.

That's your personal opinion. I'm talking about iconic grand final moments. You are a hawks fan.

Go look at the grand final highlights from 1983-89. Dead certain you can find iconic memorable moments. Such as Dermott Brereton on the opening minutes in 1989.

Iconic grand final moments in the 1990s would be like Peter Matera gut running on a wing and kicking a goal from 50 metres out or Darren Jarman and his 5 goals in the final quarter in the 1997 AFL Grand final.

 

[HairyO]

What were the best and worst grand finals you have watched and of all time

For me best it would be 2005/06 Sydney-West Coast epics and 2012 which I enjoyed as a neutral fan. Worst would be 2019/2022. Just wish we were there instead of GWS/Sydney both of which were non-events

I rate 2005 as the worst Ive seen and Ive been watching since the late 1970s.

The Swans game style made for a terrible watch. Lowest score ever in a grand final despite perfect weather. Killing the ball at every opportunity isnt putting the best skills on display.

Best, Im sure Im biased, but 1989. A truly epic grand final.

 

[Blackhawk42]

That's your personal opinion. I'm talking about iconic grand final moments. You are a hawks fan.

Go look at the grand final highlights from 1983-89. Dead certain you can find iconic memorable moments. Such as Dermott Brereton on the opening minutes in 1989.

Iconic grand final moments in the 1990s would be like Peter Matera gut running on a wing and kicking a goal from 50 metres out or Darren Jarman and his 5 goals in the final quarter in the 1997 AFL Grand final.

Of course. Each game was a 'moment', but some just don't stack up to genuine iconic moments such as the ones you mentioned.

I thought 2017 was similar actually. The most iconic moment was Jack Reiwoldt signing with The Killers.

Last year was completely bereft of anything memorable as well.

 

[Pistol Night]

Of course. Each game was a 'moment', but some just don't stack up to genuine iconic moments such as the ones you mentioned.

I thought 2017 was similar actually. The most iconic moment was Jack Reiwoldt signing with The Killers.

Last year was completely bereft of anything memorable as well.

Jezza putting his medal on a cow when he was pissed was my highlight

 

[Blackhawk42]

Jezza putting his medal on a cow when he was pissed was my highlight

Yeah and that came after the game concluded. Best thing we can say about it really.

I'd also see a similar suggestion that the Sunday Footy Show live from Jarryd Roughead's house after every Hawthorn premiership was the highlight of those years.

Although, nothing tops Gary Rohan kicking it straight to Luke Hodge who sealed the game half way through the second quarter in 2014.

 

[JackFlash]

I won't go too far back, it might upset the millennials...but there were some stinkers in the '80s
Best:
1989
2009
2010 (draw)
2011
2018

Worst:
1980
1988
2005
2006
2019

 

[emuboy]

Everyone says how good 2009 was, but apart from the scores being close I thought it was a terrible standard game. St Kilda were on top for most of the first three and a half quarters, but their unattractive and defensive style of play couldn't put Geelong away. Then with the door still ajar despite having played so badly, the Cats finally woke up in the last 10 minutes and grabbed the Grand Final.

I would rate 2017 as the worst grand final I have ever seen; it just seemed to display every aspect of the terrible standard of football increasingly blighting the game in the 2010s and which was at its worst that year.

The most inexplicable one-sided grand final I would say was last year's Geelong vs. Sydney walkover. Other thrashings on Grand Final day can be more readily explained, but how Sydney played so badly in 2022 despite being such a good consistent team all year was so strange. Geelong were the best team of the year, but it was a very old Cats team with a poor finals record over several seasons and definitely beatable especially by a side as good and determined as the Swans. Yet from the opening bounce Sydney were never in the game, and the Cats won by 81 points. Only the shockingly bad half-time 'entertainment' was worse than the Swans.

In 2014 Sydney's terrible performance against Hawthorn - the Hawks smashing the Swans by 63-points in a very one-sided Grand Final which Sydney went into as inexplicably hot favorites - could be explained. The build-up made it sound like all the Swans had to do was go onto the MCG and kick the ball around for 2 hours and the premiership was theirs, and perhaps some of the players believed their own publicity - and were caught out with no Plan B when the Hawks ambushed them.

 

[Dee Train]

1999 was pretty ordinary from memory. 09 an 10 were epic. Obviously 2021 was the greatest grand final for me.

 

[kranky al]

My word it was. I picked Peter Bell in a drinking game and the campaigner went beast mode and stitched me up

I picked embley in 06, far out it gets hard to ping ya mates when you are that shitfaced that your focus keeps going in and out, I swear after half time I got stitched up rotten - no way he got 50 more possessions.

 

[Percel]

I cannot remember a single kick or moment from that game.

Exactly, it was such a letdown for footy after the previous weeks match for the blue. That should have been the grand final.

 

[BigVic]

1995 and 2022 were similar games. Both games were touted as a classic and many fans expected a close game only for the #1 seeded team to win easily. Carlton and Geelong were warm favourites by the bookies having dominant seasons.

 

[PhatBoy]

Everyone says how good 2009 was, but apart from the scores being close I thought it was a terrible standard game. St Kilda were on top for most of the first three and a half quarters, but their unattractive and defensive style of play couldn't put Geelong away. Then with the door still ajar despite having played so badly, the Cats finally woke up in the last 10 minutes and grabbed the Grand Final.

I would rate 2017 as the worst grand final I have ever seen; it just seemed to display every aspect of the terrible standard of football increasingly blighting the game in the 2010s and which was at its worst that year.

The most inexplicable one-sided grand final I would say was last year's Geelong vs. Sydney walkover. Other thrashings on Grand Final day can be more readily explained, but how Sydney played so badly in 2022 despite being such a good consistent team all year was so strange. Geelong were the best team of the year, but it was a very old Cats team with a poor finals record over several seasons and definitely beatable especially by a side as good and determined as the Swans. Yet from the opening bounce Sydney were never in the game, and the Cats won by 81 points. Only the shockingly bad half-time 'entertainment' was worse than the Swans.

In 2014 Sydney's terrible performance against Hawthorn - the Hawks smashing the Swans by 63-points in a very one-sided Grand Final which Sydney went into as inexplicably hot favorites - could be explained. The build-up made it sound like all the Swans had to do was go onto the MCG and kick the ball around for 2 hours and the premiership was theirs, and perhaps some of the players believed their own publicity - and were caught out with no Plan B when the Hawks ambushed them.

2009 tackle count was 116-98

For context, 2005 which is the other ‘close but the quality of football gets debated’ grand final of the last 20 years, the two teams combined had 5 more tackles in total than St Kilda managed on their own.

The only reason there was an absence of ‘skilful footy’ in 2009 was the sheer level of intensity that both sides played with. It’s probably the most high pressure game I’ve ever seen and no player had time to be clean

 

[Blackhawk42]

2009 tackle count was 116-98

For context, 2005 which is the other ‘close but the quality of football gets debated’ grand final of the last 20 years, the two teams combined had 5 more tackles in total than St Kilda managed on their own.

The only reason there was an absence of ‘skilful footy’ in 2009 was the sheer level of intensity that both sides played with. It’s probably the most high pressure game I’ve ever seen and no player had time to be clean

It also bucketed down didn't it?

 

[Blackhawk42]

1999 was pretty ordinary from memory. 09 an 10 were epic. Obviously 2021 was the greatest grand final for me.

There was a little bit of 2011 about the 2021 Grand Final that nobody talks about.

Bulldogs were 3 goals up half way through the third quarter. Then the most dominant and pure finals footy of all time just swallows everything up. At 3 quarter time we knew the result that was coming, but it happened so quickly it was almost hard to process.

For 3 quarters we saw fast paced footy full of momentum swings, with two of the best players in the game (Bont and Petracca) proving why they are a cut above most footballers in the AFL.

If that game had been played in daylight at the MCG in front of 100 000 spectators it would be far more memorable. One of those games where the final margin didn't automatically make it a poor Grand Final.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

2013 is not only the worst Grand Final, it’s one of the worst games off all time period. Such a shame we had to choke the QF at home.

At least the blow outs had the winning teams playing amazing football.