2000 AFL Grand Final

{{Short description|Grand final of the 2000 Australian Football League season}}

{{Infobox Australian rules football grand final

| competition = AFL

| year = 2000

| image = 2000 AFL Grand Final Logo.png

| ground_image = MCG99.jpg

| caption = The Melbourne Cricket Ground, where the 2000 AFL Grand Final took place

| home = 50px
{{AFL Ess}}

| home_abbr = ESS

| home_image =

| away = 50px
{{AFL Mel}}

| away_abbr = MEL

| away_image =

| home_qtr1 = 4.8 (32)

| home_qtr2 = 10.16 (76)

| home_qtr3 = 16.17 (113)

| home_qtr4 = 19.21 (135)

| away_qtr1 = 3.3 (21)

| away_qtr2 = 5.5 (35)

| away_qtr3 = 8.8 (56)

| away_qtr4 = 11.9 (75)

| home_score = 19.21 (135)

| away_score = 11.9 (75)

| date = 2 September 2000

| stadium = Melbourne Cricket Ground

| attendance = 96,249

| favourite = {{AFL Ess}}

| umpire = Darren Goldspink (32), Brett Allen (10), Hayden Kennedy (7)

| coin_toss = David Neitz, Melbourne

| kick_end = City End

| prematch = The Idea of North, Trish Delaney-Brown, Megan Corson, Andrew Piper and Nick Begie

| anthem = Bachelor Girl

| halftime =

| postmatch = Mike Brady, Russell Morris and Rick Price

| norm_smith = James Hird ({{AFL Ess}})

| jock_mchale = Kevin Sheedy ({{AFL Ess}})

| hall_of_fame =

| network = Seven Network

| announcers = Bruce McAvaney (host and commentator)
Sandy Roberts (commentator)
Jason Dunstall (expert commentator)
Gerard Healy (expert commentator)
Malcolm Blight (expert commentator)
Tony Lockett (boundary rider)
Anthony Hudson (boundary rider)
Robert DiPierdomenico (boundary rider)

| last = 1999

| next = 2001

}}

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 rather than in its usual last Saturday of September date to avoid conflicting with the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. It was the 104th annual grand final (counting replays) of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League),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. 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. It was Essendon's 16th premiership, drawing the club equal for the most VFL/AFL premierships.

Background

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 by a then record margin of 96 points.

In the previous week's preliminary finals, Essendon defeated Carlton 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.{{cite web|last=Gruber|first=James|title=Surprise Brownlow medal winner (AM transcript)|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s168651.htm|publisher=ABC|access-date=12 September 2010}}

Essendon won the most home-and-away games (21) and total games (24) in a single season in the history of the VFL/AFL, breaking the records set by Carlton in 1995 (20 and 23, respectively), and they broke Collingwood's 1929 record when it won its first twenty games; if the pre-season cup is included, Essendon won 30 games out of 31; all of these records still stand. In 2008, Geelong won 21 of 22 games in the home-and-away season to equal that record, but they lost the grand final. Essendon's grand final win was the last by a Victorian side until Geelong won in 2007.

Match summary

{{Expand section|Scant on details. Mention specific plays, quarterly reports, details, etc.|date=July 2023}}

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 after quarter time and comfortably won its record-equaling 16th premiership by 60 points after arguably the most dominant season 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. Whilst this incident may not have influenced the final result, it was indicative of the nature of football Kevin Sheedy had instilled un the team., as Brad Green also suffered a throat injury off the ball.

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.

The National Anthem was sung by Tania Doko of Bachelor Girl.

Teams

width="92%" |

{{Australian rules football kit

| pattern_b = _redrightsash

| pattern_sh = _redsides

| pattern_so = _hoops_black

| body = 000000

| shorts = 000000

| socks = FF0000

| title = Essendon

}}

|{{Australian rules football kit

| pattern_b = _red_v_top

| pattern_sh = _redsides

| pattern_so =

| body = 061A33

| shorts = ffffff

| socks = ff0000

| title = Melbourne

}}

valign="top" |

{{Aussie rules team | title = {{AFL Ess}}

| backpocket1 = 1 Mark Johnson

| fullback = 31 Dustin Fletcher

| backpocket2 = 6 Sean Wellman

| halfbackflank1 = 11 Damien Hardwick

| centrehalfback = 21 Dean Wallis

| halfbackflank2 = 7 Dean Solomon

| wing1 = 26 Chris Heffernan

| centre = 24 Joe Misiti

| wing2 = 33 Blake Caracella

| halfforwardflank1 = 2 Mark Mercuri

| centrehalfforward = 25 Scott Lucas

| halfforwardflank2 = 5 James Hird (c)

| forwardpocket1 = 9 Adam Ramanauskas

| fullforward = 18 Matthew Lloyd

| forwardpocket2 = 13 Michael Long

| ruck = 22 John Barnes

| ruckrover = 32 Justin Blumfield

| rover = 14 Jason Johnson

| interchange1 = 8 Darren Bewick

| interchange2 = 16 Paul Barnard

| interchange3 = 27 Steven Alessio

| interchange4 = 29 Gary Moorcroft

| interchange5 =

| interchange6 =

| coach = Kevin Sheedy

}}

| valign="top" |

{{Aussie rules team | title = {{AFL Mel}}

| backpocket1 = 26 Daniel Ward

| fullback = 27 Anthony Ingerson

| backpocket2 = 44 Alistair Nicholson

| halfbackflank1 = 42 Peter Walsh

| centrehalfback = 28 Matthew Collins

| halfbackflank2 = 21 Steven Febey

| wing1 = 13 Adem Yze

| centre = 22 Shane Woewodin

| wing2 = 35 Anthony McDonald

| halfforwardflank1 = 18 Brad Green

| centrehalfforward = 5 David Schwarz

| halfforwardflank2 = 7 Stephen Powell

| forwardpocket1 = 24 Russell Robertson

| fullforward = 9 David Neitz (c)

| forwardpocket2 = 33 Jeff Farmer

| ruck = 34 Jeff White

| ruckrover = 43 Guy Rigoni

| rover = 36 Andrew Leoncelli

| interchange1 = 4 Brent Grgic

| interchange2 = 16 Travis Johnstone

| interchange3 = 47 Ben Beams

| interchange4 = 46 Troy Simmonds

| interchange5 =

| interchange6 =

| coach = Neale Daniher}}

Scorecard

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
colspan="5"\|{{AFL Ess}} vs {{AFL Mel}}
Team ! Q1 ! Q2 ! Q3 ! Final
{{AFL Ess}} \|4.8 (32) \|10.16 (76) \|16.17 (113) \|19.21 (135)
{{AFL Mel}} \|3.3 (21) \|5.5 (35) \|8.8 (56) \|11.9 (75)
colspan="5"\|
colspan="2"\|Venue: \| colspan="3"\|Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
colspan="2"\|Date: \| colspan="3"\|2 September 2000
colspan="2"\|Attendance: \| colspan="3"\|96,249
colspan="2"\|Umpires: \| colspan="3"\|Darren Goldspink (32), Brett Allen (10), Hayden Kennedy (7)
rowspan="2"\|Goal scorers: \| Essendon \| colspan="3"\|4: Paul Barnard, Matthew Lloyd. 3: Blake Caracella. 2: James Hird. 1: Gary Moorcroft, Mark Mercuri, Michael Long, Justin Blumfield, Darren Bewick, Steven Alessio
Melbourne \| colspan="3"\|3: Jeff Farmer, Stephen Powell. 2: David Neitz, Russell Robertson. 1: Brad Green
rowspan="2"\|Best: \| Essendon \| colspan="3"\|Hird, Barnes, Caracella, Misiti, Wallis
Melbourne \| colspan="3"\|White, Powell, Johnstone, Neitz, Walsh
colspan="2"\|Reports: \| colspan="3"\|Essendon: Wallis (striking), Long (rough play), Dustin Fletcher (striking) Melbourne: Brent Grgic (striking)
colspan="2"\|Injuries: \| colspan="3"\|Melbourne: Simmonds (concussion), Green (fractured larynx)
colspan="5"\|
colspan="2"\|Coin toss winner: \| colspan="3"\|David Neitz, Melbourne
colspan="2"\|Norm Smith Medal: \| colspan="3"\|James Hird, Essendon
colspan="2"\|Australian television broadcaster: \| colspan="3"\|Seven Network
colspan="2"\|National Anthem: \| colspan="3"\|Bachelor Girl

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

colspan="5"|{{AFL Ess}} vs {{AFL Mel}}

Team

! Q1

! Q2

! Q3

! Final

{{AFL Ess}}

|4.8 (32)

|10.16 (76)

|16.17 (113)

|19.21 (135)