1997 AFL season

For the 1997 season of the Arena Football League, see 1997 Arena Football League season.
1997 AFL premiership season
Teams16
PremiersAdelaide
1st premiership
Minor premiersSt Kilda
2nd minor premiership
Pre-season cupCarlton
1st pre-season cup win
Brownlow MedallistRobert Harvey (St Kilda)
26 votes
Leading goalkickerTony Modra (Adelaide)
84 goals
Attendance
Matches played185
Total attendance6,403,814 (34,615 per match)
Highest (H&A)83,247 (round 5, Essendon vs. Collingwood)
Highest (finals)99,645 (Grand Final, Adelaide vs. St Kilda)

The 1997 AFL season was the 101st 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 ran from 27 March until 27 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

Before the season, the Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) was admitted to the league, increasing the South Australian membership to two clubs. Foundation club Fitzroy, which had gone into administration in 1996, merged with the Brisbane Bears to form a new Queensland-based team known as the Brisbane Lions. The Footscray Football Club changed its name to the Western Bulldogs. With these changes, the league's size remained at sixteen clubs.

The premiership was won by the Adelaide Football Club for the first time, after it defeated St Kilda by 31 points in the 1997 AFL Grand Final.

Home-and-away season

Round 1

Round 1
Thursday, 27 March (7:40 pm) North Melbourne 7.13 (55) def. by Melbourne 10.10 (70) MCG (crowd: 35,802) Report
Saturday, 29 March (2:10 pm) Collingwood 26.10 (166) def. Port Adelaide 13.9 (87) MCG (crowd: 51,883) Report
Saturday, 29 March (2:10 pm) Western Bulldogs 11.10 (76) def. by Fremantle 10.20 (80) Optus Oval (crowd: 8,664) Report
Saturday, 29 March (7:40 pm) St Kilda 10.11 (71) def. by Hawthorn 11.11 (77) Waverley Park (crowd: 35,732) Report
Saturday, 29 March (6:40 pm) West Coast 12.6 (78) def. Sydney 5.7 (37) Subiaco Oval (crowd: 29,965) Report
Sunday, 30 March (1:40 pm) Adelaide 20.12 (132) def. Brisbane Lions 14.12 (96) Football Park (crowd: 36,602) Report
Sunday, 30 March (2:10 pm) Richmond 15.14 (104) def. Geelong 13.17 (95) MCG (crowd: 48,358) Report
Monday, 31 March (2:10 pm) Essendon 16.10 (106) def. Carlton 15.9 (99) MCG (crowd: 82,363) Report
  • Port Adelaide endured a disappointing AFL debut at the MCG in front of over 50,000 spectators, with Collingwood jumping out to a 22-point lead at quarter time and extending the lead at each change to run out comfortable 79-point winners. Speedy midfielder Paul Williams was considered best-on-ground with 30 touches and 4 goals, while Nathan Buckley (who won a Magarey with Port in the SANFL) racked up 23 kicks and Saverio Rocca made the most of limited opportunities to kick six goals. For Port, Donald Dickie (26 touches), Fabian Francis (20 touches, 2 goals) and eventual Rising Star winner Michael Wilson were among Port's better players.
  • The Easter Monday clash between Essendon and Carlton is best remembered not for its close finish but for what happened after the game. The ongoing feud between Sean Denham and Greg Williams (which had stemmed from the 1993 Grand final) had reached a critical point, with both players engaged in a heated argument before umpire Andrew Coates tried to intervene, only to be pushed away by Williams. Despite the innocuous nature of the contact, the AFL Tribunal suspended Williams for nine matches.[1] The incident was one of football's major talking points that year, leading to a Supreme Court battle between Carlton and the AFL, and eventually the establishment of the AFL Appeals Board.

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Ladder

(P) Premiers
Qualified for finals
# Team P W L D PF PA % Pts
1 St Kilda 22 15 7 0 2294 1918 119.6 60
2 Geelong 22 15 7 0 2111 1791 117.9 60
3 Western Bulldogs 22 14 8 0 2100 2062 101.8 56
4 Adelaide (P) 22 13 9 0 2151 1769 121.6 52
5 West Coast 22 13 9 0 1969 1770 111.2 52
6 Sydney 22 12 10 0 2093 1801 116.2 48
7 North Melbourne 22 12 10 0 2051 1835 111.8 48
8 Brisbane Lions 22 10 11 1 2076 1973 105.2 42
9 Port Adelaide 22 10 11 1 1852 2017 91.8 42
10 Collingwood 22 10 12 0 2138 1919 111.4 40
11 Carlton 22 10 12 0 1978 2045 96.7 40
12 Fremantle 22 10 12 0 1748 1902 91.9 40
13 Richmond 22 10 12 0 1883 2253 83.6 40
14 Essendon 22 9 13 0 2004 2170 92.4 36
15 Hawthorn 22 8 14 0 1873 2144 87.4 32
16 Melbourne 22 4 18 0 1477 2429 60.8 16

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 90.3
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
St Kilda00444812162020242828323236404448525660
Geelong0448121620242428282832364044444848525660
Western Bulldogs04812121620202428323236404040404044485256
Adelaide44448812162024282828323636404448485252
West Coast44812161620202424242828283232364044484852
Sydney004881212121616202428283236404444484848
North Melbourne044481212161620242828282832364044444848
Brisbane Lions044888881216162024283236364040424242
Port Adelaide0048121616162024242832323236404040424242
Collingwood4888121620242424242424242828323232363640
Carlton00488812162020242428282832323236364040
Fremantle4888121216202020202424282832363640404040
Richmond48812121212161616202020202424242828323640
Essendon481212121616161616161620242424242428283236
Hawthorn4488121212121216202428323232323232323232
Melbourne444444444888881212121212121216
Source:

Finals series

Week one

Qualifying finals
QF2: Saturday, 6 September (2:30 pm) Western Bulldogs 18.11 (119) def. Sydney 12.12 (84) MCG (crowd: 62,432) Report
QF1: Sunday, 7 September (2:30 pm) Adelaide 14.15 (99) def. West Coast 9.12 (66) Football Park (crowd: 43,761) Report
QF4: Sunday, 7 September (2:30 pm) St Kilda 20.15 (135) def. Brisbane Lions 13.11 (89) Waverley Park (crowd: 50,035) Report
QF3: Sunday, 7 September (7:00 pm) Geelong 9.7 (61) def. by North Melbourne 11.13 (79) MCG (crowd: 55,561) Report
  • The St Kilda versus Brisbane Lions finals match was the last ever finals match to be played at Waverley Park.
  • The Adelaide versus West Coast match was originally scheduled as a night match on Saturday, but to avoid a television conflict with the funeral of Princess Diana, the game was rescheduled as a Sunday afternoon fixture.

Week two

Semi-finals
SF1: Saturday, 13 September (2:30 pm) North Melbourne 15.8 (98) def. West Coast 12.13 (85) MCG (crowd: 55,781) Report
SF2: Saturday, 13 September (7:45 pm) Adelaide 11.10 (76) def. Geelong 9.14 (68) Football Park (crowd: 46,319) Report

The Adelaide versus Geelong semi final was notable due to an incident in the third quarter, when a clear forward 50 mark to Geelong's Leigh Colbert was not awarded by field umpire Grant Vernon, denying Geelong a crucial shot at goal. This incident was later confirmed as a significant error by the AFL umpiring association, and Grant Vernon was not selected to umpire in any remaining 1997 finals matches as a result. [2]

Week three

Preliminary finals
PF2: Friday, 19 September (7:45 pm) St Kilda 15.14 (104) def. North Melbourne 11.7 (73) MCG (crowd: 77,531) Report
PF1: Saturday, 20 September (2:30 pm) Western Bulldogs 13.13 (91) def. by Adelaide 12.21 (93) MCG (crowd: 70,088) Report

Week four

Main article: 1997 AFL Grand Final
Grand final
Saturday, 27 September (2:45 pm) St Kilda 13.16 (94) def. by Adelaide 19.11 (125) MCG (crowd: 99,645) Report
  • This was the first appearance in a grand final for Adelaide.

Attendance

Team Hosted Average Highest Lowest Total Last Season +/-
Essendon 11 52,848 83,271 25,636 581,330 49,526 + 3322
Collingwood 11 48,708 78,704 23,433 535,789 44,723 + 3985
Adelaide 11 40,173 47,256 36,297 441,905 39,428 + 745
Port Adelaide 11 35,829 45,498 31,757 394,115 11,017* + 24812*
Sydney 11 35,818 46,168 23,598 393,999 24,574 + 11244
St Kilda 11 35,232 54,699 17,752 387,553 27,137 + 8095
Richmond 11 34,515 58,812 15,461 379,670 38,624 - 4109
Carlton 11 33,634 61,650 18,187 369,972 35,891 - 2257
West Coast 11 32,582 39,294 21,164 358,401 32,448 + 134
North Melbourne 11 32,520 54,901 13,056 357,725 34,627 - 2107
Hawthorn 11 32,380 51,494 15,939 356,179 23,624 + 8756
Geelong 11 28,324 65,228 16,467 311,567 25,161 + 3163
Melbourne 11 27,714 61,138 13,392 304,853 30,315 - 2601
Fremantle 11 21,982 39,711 14,721 241,801 22,473 - 491
Brisbane Lions 11 19,550 21,348 17,123 215,051 N/A N/A
Western Bulldogs 11 19,335 35,438 8664 212,681 18,073 + 1262
Totals 176 33,197 83,271 8664 5842,591 29,637 + 3560
Venue Hosted Average Highest Lowest Total Last Season +/-
MCG 53 43,488 83,271 13,392 2,304,865 46,114 - 2626
Football Park 22 38,001 47,256 31,757 836,020 39,428 - 1427
SCG 11 35,818 46,168 23,598 393,999 24,574 + 11,244
Waverley Park 22 33,806 54,699 15,939 743,732 25,545 + 8261
Subiaco Oval 17 28,371 39,711 14,721 482,310 28,289 + 82
Whitten Oval 1 26,704 26,704 26,704 26,704 10,482 + 16,222
Victoria Park 3 24,473 25,323 23,433 73,419 23,581 + 892
WACA 5 23,578 29,838 18,198 117,892 25,253 - 1675
Kardinia Park 9 21,269 24,099 16,467 191,417 22,670 - 1401
Optus Oval 22 20,781 34,922 8664 457,182 15,641 + 5140
Gabba 11 19,550 21,348 17,123 215,051 18,088 + 1462
Totals 176 33,197 83,271 8664 5842,591 29,637 + 3560

Notable events

  • The last AFL regular season game at Whitten Oval was played in Round 21, with hosts the Western Bulldogs defeating West Coast by 18 points.[3]
  • St Kilda finished on top of the ladder (prior to the finals) to claim the minor premiership, despite losing 7 matches in the home and away season. No team before or since has finished on top with that many losses, which highlights the evenness of the 1997 season. St Kilda would also play in their first preliminary final since 1972 and reach their first grand final since 1971.
  • The first qualifying final between Adelaide and West Coast was rescheduled from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon to allow the Seven Network to screen the funeral of Princess Diana live across Australia.[4] This meant that it was played at the same time as the fourth qualifying final between minor premiers St Kilda and the Brisbane Lions, who were competing in their first season as a merged entity. The game is also notable for being the first ever final between two non-Victorian teams.
  • Gary Ablett Sr., arguably one of the games best and most well known players, officially announced his retirement during the Preliminary Final weekend. Ablett failed to play a game in 1997 due to a knee injury.

References

  1. ^ "Eight of the longest AFL suspensions". Zero Hanger. 7 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Colbert non-screamer cruelled Cats in AFL".
  3. ^ "'It was the perfect send-off': Last game at Whitten Oval". Western Bulldogss. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  4. ^ Warner, Michael; Ralph, Jon; Wade, Nick (4 July 2015). "Cats game cancelled". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 30 October 2015.

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.