1999 AFL season

1999 AFL premiership season
Teams16
PremiersKangaroos
4th premiership
Minor premiersEssendon
15th minor premiership
Pre-season cupHawthorn
3rd pre-season cup win
Brownlow MedallistShane Crawford (Hawthorn)
Coleman MedallistScott Cummings (West Coast)
Attendance
Matches played185
Total attendance6,243,586 (33,749 per match)
Highest94,228 (Grand Final, Kangaroos vs. Carlton)

The 1999 AFL season was the 103rd 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, ran from 25 March until 25 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

The premiership was won by the Kangaroos (North Melbourne) for the fourth time, after it defeated Carlton by 35 points in the 1999 AFL Grand Final.[1]

AFL Draft

See 1999 AFL Draft.

Ansett Australia Cup

Hawthorn defeated Port Adelaide 12.11 (83) to 5.6 (36).

Home-and-away season

Round 1

Round 1
Thursday, 25 March (7:40 pm) Essendon 16.14 (110) def. Carlton 9.17 (71) Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 71,501)
Friday, 26 March (7:40 pm) Geelong 22.9 (141) def. Kangaroos 21.9 (135) Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 33,674)
Saturday, 27 March (2:10 pm) Melbourne 14.20 (104) def. Richmond 13.9 (87) Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 47,620)
Saturday, 27 March (7:10 pm) Adelaide 12.6 (78) def. by Western Bulldogs 13.13 (91) Football Park (crowd: 39,135)
Saturday, 27 March (7:40 pm) Brisbane Lions 23.14 (152) def. St Kilda 10.3 (63) The Gabba (crowd: 20,172)
Sunday, 28 March (2:10 pm) Collingwood 8.11 (59) def. by Hawthorn 10.14 (74) Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 48,620)
Sunday, 28 March (2:10 pm) Sydney 12.14 (86) def. by Port Adelaide 17.13 (115) Sydney Cricket Ground (crowd: 28,264)
Sunday, 28 March (2:10 pm) Fremantle 13.20 (98) def. by West Coast 15.12 (102) Subiaco Oval (crowd: 32,680)

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Note: Tony Lockett kicked 9 Goals To break VFL/AFL All Time Goals Record by Player

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 Essendon 22 18 4 0 2400 1905 126.0 72
2 Kangaroos (P) 22 17 5 0 2463 2129 115.7 68
3 Brisbane Lions 22 16 6 0 2422 1671 144.9 64
4 Western Bulldogs 22 15 6 1 2363 1993 118.6 62
5 West Coast 22 12 10 0 2068 1937 106.8 48
6 Carlton 22 12 10 0 2088 2028 103.0 48
7 Port Adelaide 22 12 10 0 1851 2054 90.1 48
8 Sydney 22 11 11 0 2184 2128 102.6 44
9 Hawthorn 22 10 11 1 1858 1943 95.6 42
10 St Kilda 22 10 12 0 1978 2021 97.9 40
11 Geelong 22 10 12 0 2328 2454 94.9 40
12 Richmond 22 9 13 0 1977 2170 91.1 36
13 Adelaide 22 8 14 0 1903 2232 85.3 32
14 Melbourne 22 6 16 0 1850 2293 80.7 24
15 Fremantle 22 5 17 0 1981 2403 82.4 20
16 Collingwood 22 4 18 0 1973 2326 84.8 16

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 95.7
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
Essendon481212162020202428323640444448525660646872
Kangaroos004481216202428323640444448485256606468
Brisbane Lions4448121620202424282832323640444852566064
Western Bulldogs44448812162024263030343842464650545862
West Coast481216202424283232323640444444444848484848
Carlton04812121216162024242424283232364044444848
Port Adelaide481212121212161616202024283236404040444848
Sydney00044812161620242828283232363636404444
Hawthorn448881212121216182222222222222630343842
St Kilda044881216202428282828323232363636363640
Geelong481216202020202020202020202424242832363640
Richmond0448888121616162024242832323232323236
Adelaide0488121616161616162020242424283232323232
Melbourne4448121216161616202024242424242424242424
Fremantle0000004448121212121620202020202020
Collingwood00000004444488812121216161616
Source:

Finals series

Qualifying Finals

Semi-finals

Note: West Coast Eagles played its "home" final at the MCG despite being ranked above Carlton 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 MCG.

Preliminary Finals

Grand Final

Match attendance

Team Hosted Average Highest Lowest Total Last Season +/-
Essendon 11 57,309 73,118 35,273 630,399 54,894 + 2414
Richmond 11 40,533 59,458 28,217 445,863 44,307 - 3774
Adelaide 11 39,393 45,615 33,398 433,324 41,245 - 1852
Collingwood 11 39,126 56,129 19,441 430,386 49,399 - 10,273
Carlton 11 35,037 70,506 19,100 385,403 32,634 + 2403
Hawthorn 11 34,863 72,130 13,941 383,490 32,173 + 2690
St Kilda 11 33,182 46,880 20,131 365,006 36,231 - 3049
Melbourne 11 31,955 51,722 18,679 351,504 40,085 - 8130
Port Adelaide 11 31,269 42,669 25,753 343,963 31,799 - 530
West Coast Eagles 11 30,868 36,763 24,696 339,549 34,199 - 3331
Sydney 11 30,539 41,280 24,629 335,930 31,549 - 1010
Kangaroos 11 25,890 48,383 10,676 284,786 35,791 - 9901
Geelong 11 24,840 42,272 17,234 273,242 28,371 - 3531
Western Bulldogs 11 24,023 44,683 13,513 264,254 23,832 + 191
Fremantle 11 23,972 32,680 17,620 263,689 23,104 + 868
Brisbane Lions 11 21,890 24,989 17,665 240,791 16,675 + 5215
Totals 176 32,793 73,118 10,676 5,771,579 34,768 - 1975
Venue Hosted Average Highest Lowest Total Last Year +/-
MCG 58 42,370 73,118 16,429 2,457,440 47,585 - 5215
Football Park 22 35,331 45,615 25,753 777,287 36,522 - 1191
Waverley Park 21 33,558 72,130 13,941 704,719 34,549 - 991
Subiaco Oval 16 28,506 36,763 17,620 456,096 29,800 - 1294
SCG 15 26,767 41,280 10,676 401,506 31,549 - 4782
WACA 6 24,524 26,126 22,987 147,142 25,590 - 1066
Victoria Park 2 21,967 24,493 19,441 43,934 23,241 - 1274
Shell Stadium 9 21,922 27,417 17,234 197,296 23,307 - 1385
GABBA 11 21,890 24,989 17,665 240,791 16,675 + 5215
Optus Oval 16 21,586 31,189 13,513 345,368 21,874 - 289
Totals 176 32,793 73,118 10,676 5,771,579 34,768 - 1975

Awards

See also

Notes

  • Richmond and Adelaide played in torrential and stormy conditions at Football Park in Round 9. Under new laws that were introduced following the power outage which interrupted a game at Waverley Park in 1996, the captains met in the centre to decide whether to call the game off at three quarter time (accepting the progress score as final), due to the thunder and lightning having put out two light towers during half time. At that stage, Adelaide led by a point, but the captains agreed to carry on with the game. Richmond ended up winning by 11 points.
  • Two rounds later, Richmond once again played in heavy and unrelenting rain at Football Park, this time against Port Adelaide. Port Adelaide won by the score of 4.8 (32) to 3.12 (30). It was Port Adelaide's lowest score, and remained as such until 2010, giving them the unique distinction during that period of time of having recorded a victory with their lowest score.
  • In round 10, Sydney's Tony Lockett kicked his 1300th career goal, breaking Gordon Coventry's 62-year standing record of 1299 career goals. Lockett still holds the record as of 2024.
  • Brisbane's half-time score of 21.5 (131) against Fremantle in round 20 set the new and enduring record for the highest half-time score in VFL/AFL history.
  • In their Round 12 game, Hawthorn trailed St Kilda by 63 points early in the second quarter before recovering to win by thirteen points. This set a new record for the largest ever comeback in a VFL/AFL game, a record which would stand until 2001.
  • The start of the Round 22 game between Richmond and Carlton at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was delayed by about half an hour after the scoreboard at the city end caught fire ten minutes before the scheduled bounce down. Players returned to the rooms, and much of the Ponsford Stand was evacuated onto the playing arena.
  • Collingwood lost 13 games in a row following on from the end of the previous season. They finally won against Fremantle in Round 8.
  • Port Adelaide's percentage of 90.12 remains the worst of any team in VFL/AFL history which qualified a team for the finals (excluding the seasons affected by World War I).
  • Waverley Park and Victoria Park both hosted their last senior AFL games in Round 22 – their absence would be replaced the following year by Colonial Stadium.

References

  1. ^ McCamish, Scott (25 September 1999). "1999 Grand Final Report". Australian Football Association of North America. Archived from the original on 18 July 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2023.

Sources