2006 AFL season

2006 AFL premiership season
Teams	16
Premiers	West Coast (3rd premiership)
Minor premiers	West Coast (3rd minor premiership)
Pre-season cup	Geelong (1st pre-season cup win)
Matches played	185
Attendance	6,736,234 (36,412 per match)
Highest attendance	97,431 (Grand Final, West Coast vs. Sydney)
Coleman Medallist	Brendan Fevola (Carlton)
Brownlow Medallist	Adam Goodes (Sydney)
← 2005 2007 →

The 2006 Australian Football League season was the 110th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.

West Coast defeated defending premiers Sydney in the Grand Final to win their third premiership, in what was the first Grand Final since 1966 to be decided by one point.

Preseason competition

	Week One									Week Two									Semifinals									Final
		Brisbane Lions	1	8	13	70
		Essendon	1	8	12	69					Brisbane Lions	0	12	9	81
		Western Bulldogs	1	7	12	63					Melbourne	0	13	12	90
		Melbourne	0	9	15	69														Melbourne	1	5	5	44
		Hawthorn	1	11	10	85														Adelaide	1	16	21	129
		Richmond	0	11	9	75					Hawthorn	1	7	7	58
		Adelaide	2	16	13	127					Adelaide	2	7	11	71
		Port Adelaide	0	8	7	55																							Adelaide	1	10	15	84
		Kangaroos	1	8	11	68																							Geelong	3	10	5	92
		Sydney	0	5	7	37					Kangaroos	1	8	3	60
		Carlton	1	8	13	70					Geelong	1	10	17	86
		Geelong	0	15	8	98														Geelong	3	10	14	101
		Collingwood	2	8	8	74														Fremantle	1	10	12	81
		St. Kilda	1	9	10	73					Collingwood	2	10	6	84
		West Coast	1	7	14	65					Fremantle	0	15	10	100
		Fremantle	1	18	10	127

Geelong 3.10.5 (92) defeated Adelaide 1.10.15 (84) in the 2006 NAB Cup Final. The game was held at AAMI Stadium, with an attendance of 30,707.

Premiership season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

This round was marketed as Rivalry Round

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

This round was marketed as Green Shirt Round, to acknowledge the contribution of new and inexperienced umpires in junior competitions.^[1]

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

• Fremantle Football Club had its 100 Win

Round 16

• This round was marketed as Heritage Round

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Ladder

2006 AFL Ladder
	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	West Coast (P)	22	17	5	0	2257	1874	120.44	68
2	Adelaide	22	16	6	0	2331	1640	142.13	64
3	Fremantle	22	15	7	0	2079	1893	109.83	60
4	Sydney	22	14	8	0	2098	1630	128.71	56
5	Collingwood	22	14	8	0	2345	1965	119.34	56
6	St Kilda	22	14	8	0	2074	1752	118.38	56
7	Melbourne	22	13	8	1	2146	1957	109.66	54
8	Western Bulldogs	22	13	9	0	2311	2173	106.35	52
9	Richmond	22	11	11	0	1934	2245	86.15	44
10	Geelong	22	10	11	1	1982	2002	99.00	42
11	Hawthorn	22	9	13	0	1834	2140	85.70	36
12	Port Adelaide	22	8	14	0	1911	2151	88.84	32
13	Brisbane Lions	22	7	15	0	1844	2239	82.36	28
14	Kangaroos	22	7	15	0	1754	2167	80.94	28
15	Essendon	22	3	18	1	2021	2469	81.86	14
16	Carlton	22	3	18	1	1791	2415	74.16	14
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points for, PA = Points against

Ladder progression

• 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	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
1	West Coast	4	8	12	16	20	20	24	28	32	36	40	40	40	44	48	48	52	56	60	64	64	68
2	Adelaide	4	4	8	12	16	20	24	24	28	32	36	40	44	48	52	56	56	60	60	60	60	64
3	Fremantle	0	4	8	8	12	16	16	20	20	24	24	24	24	28	32	36	40	44	48	52	56	60
4	Sydney	0	0	4	4	8	12	16	20	24	28	28	28	32	32	32	36	40	44	48	48	52	56
5	Collingwood	0	4	8	12	16	20	20	24	28	32	32	36	36	36	36	40	44	44	44	48	52	56
6	St Kilda	0	4	8	8	8	12	12	16	20	20	24	24	28	32	36	40	44	44	48	48	52	56
7	Melbourne	0	0	0	4	8	12	16	20	20	24	28	32	36	40	44	44	48	48	48	52	54	54
8	Western Bulldogs	4	8	12	16	16	16	20	20	20	24	28	32	36	36	40	40	40	44	44	48	48	52
9	Richmond	0	0	0	4	8	12	12	16	20	20	24	24	28	32	32	32	32	32	36	40	44	44
10	Geelong	4	8	8	8	8	8	12	12	12	12	16	20	20	24	28	32	32	36	36	40	42	42
11	Hawthorn	4	4	8	12	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	24	28	32	36
12	Port Adelaide	0	4	4	8	8	8	8	8	12	16	20	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	28	28	32	32
13	Brisbane Lions	0	4	4	4	4	4	8	12	16	16	16	16	20	20	24	28	28	28	28	28	28	28
14	Kangaroos	4	4	4	4	4	8	8	8	8	8	8	12	16	20	20	20	24	28	28	28	28	28
15	Essendon	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	10	10	14	14	14	14
16	Carlton	4	4	4	4	4	4	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	14	14	14	14	14

Finals

	Qualifying / Elimination finals					Semi-finals						Preliminary finals				Grand final
		QF1: Sep 9, Subiaco Oval
	1	West Coast	12.12 (84)
	4	Sydney	13.7 (85)			SF1: Sep 16, Subiaco Oval
						West Coast	16.17 (113)
		EF1: Sep 10, MCG				Western Bulldogs	5.9 (39)					PF1: Sep 22, Telstra Stadium
	5	Collingwood	11.14 (80)									Sydney	19.13 (127)
	8	Western Bulldogs	18.13 (121)									Fremantle	14.8 (92)			GF: Sep 30, MCG
																Sydney	12.12 (84)
		EF2: Sep 8, MCG										PF2: Sep 23, AAMI Stadium				West Coast	12.13 (85)
	6	St Kilda	10.12 (72)									Adelaide	11.9 (75)
	7	Melbourne	13.12 (90)			SF2: Sep 15, Subiaco Oval						West Coast	11.19 (85)
						Fremantle	14.18 (102)
		QF2: Sep 9, AAMI Stadium				Melbourne	11.8 (74)
	2	Adelaide	10.16 (76)
	3	Fremantle	7.4 (46)

Qualifying and Elimination Finals

Semi finals

Week 3 (Preliminary Finals)

	Preliminary Finals
Friday, 22 September (8:00 pm)	Sydney 19.13 (127)	def.	Fremantle 14.8 (92)	Telstra Stadium (crowd: 61,373)	Report
Saturday, 23 September (3:00 pm)	Adelaide 11.9 (75)	def. by	West Coast 11.19 (85)	AAMI Stadium (crowd: 50,514)	Report
This was the first time a Victorian team failed to reach the preliminary finals, with all four preliminary finalists teams from other states.

Week 4 (Grand Final)

	Grand Final
Saturday, 30 September 2:30pm	Sydney	def. by	West Coast	MCG (Crowd: 97,431)	Report
	1.4 (10) 4.6 (30) 8.11 (59) 12.12 (84)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	4.2 (26) 8.7 (55) 10.10 (70) 12.13 (85)	Umpires: M Vozzo , B Allen , D Goldspink Norm Smith Medal: Andrew Embley (West Coast) Television broadcast: Network Ten National anthem: Brian Mannix, John Paul Young, Daryl Braithwaite and Shane Howard
M O'Loughlin, N Davis 3 B Matthews, L Roberts-Thomson, A Goodes, A Schneider, R O'Keefe, N Malceski 1		Goals	Q Lynch 3 A Embley, A Hansen, B Cousins 2 C Judd, S Armstrong, A Hunter 1
N Fosdike, T Richards T Kennelly, M O'Loughlin, J McVeigh, B Kirk, A Goodes		Best	A Embley, D Chick, C Judd, D Glass, Q Lynch, A Selwood, M Braun, D Cox, D Kerr
L Ablett		Injuries	Nil
Nil		Reports	Nil

Awards

• The Brownlow Medal was awarded 25 September 2006 to Adam Goodes from Sydney, for the AFL's best and fairest player.
• The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Chris Judd from West Coast as the AFLPA's most valuable player.
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to Brendan Fevola from Carlton.
• The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Andrew Embley from West Coast as the player best afield in the 2006 AFL Grand Final.
• The AFL Rising Star award goes to Danyle Pearce from Port Adelaide.
• The McClelland Trophy was awarded to West Coast for finishing on top of the ladder after the regular season.
• The Wooden Spoon was "awarded" to Carlton for finishing 16th on the AFL ladder for the second straight year under Denis Pagan.
• The 2006 All-Australian Team has been announced, with 10 debutants and Brad Johnson named as captain.
• The AFL Mark of the Year was awarded to Brad Ottens from Geelong for his mark in Round 5.
• The AFL Goal of the Year was awarded to Eddie Betts from Carlton for his goal in Round 21.

Best and Fairests

Adelaide: Simon Goodwin Brisbane: Simon Black Carlton: Lance Whitnall Collingwood: Alan Didak Essendon: Scott Lucas Fremantle: Matthew Pavlich Geelong: Paul Chapman Hawthorn: Sam Mitchell

Kangaroos: Brady Rawlings Melbourne: James McDonald Port Adelaide: Brendon Lade Richmond: Kane Johnson St. Kilda: Nick Riewoldt Sydney: Adam Goodes West Coast: Chris Judd Western Bulldogs: Brad Johnson

^[2]

Notable events

• The Melbourne Cricket Ground was unavailable until Round 5, due to its use as the main athletics stadium at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
• Matthew Lloyd, in only his third game as Essendon captain, injured his hamstring against the Western Bulldogs, ending his season. This marked the Bulldogs' first victory over Essendon since inflicting their only defeat of the 2000 season. Despite a first round victory over reigning premiers Sydney, in which Lloyd kicked eight goals on Leo Barry,^[3][4] Essendon would suffer its worst season since 1933, winning only three games and just avoiding the wooden spoon to Carlton on percentage.^[5]
• In Round 5, Fremantle and St Kilda's game ended in controversy after the final siren was not heard by umpires, with the extra time allowing St Kilda to level the scores – the result was changed by the AFL commission later in the week on the basis that the timekeeper had failed to perform his duties.
• Richmond suffered three 100-point losses in season 2006, against the Western Bulldogs in round 1 (115 points), Sydney in round 7 (118 points) and St Kilda in round 17 (103 points).
• A struggling Richmond team defeated league-leaders Adelaide in Round 8 in an often-discussed game. To counteract Adelaide's strong flood, Richmond slowly built up a lead by patiently controlling the football without ever kicking to a contest, a move described as both boring and brilliant. In the final quarter, Adelaide were forced to switch to man-on-man tactics, almost erasing the deficit, but falling three points short. In executing this plan, Richmond took 181 marks, which is the highest amount ever (recorded since 1987).
• In Round 8, Brendan Fevola became the first player to kick all of his team's goals in a game since Mark Arceri in 1991 (also while playing for Carlton, kicking their only goal). Of Carlton's 4.10 (34), Fevola contributed 4.5 (29), Simon Wiggins scored two behinds, and three behinds were rushed. He also became the first player in 41 years to win a Coleman Medal from the wooden spoon winning side.
• St Kilda broke two long winning droughts at the SCG and the Gabba by beating Sydney and Brisbane in rounds 11 and 22 respectively. The latter match was Michael Voss' final game for the Lions.
• For the first time in VFL/AFL history, four non-Victorian teams filled the top four.
• Bottom teams Essendon and Carlton had a draw in Round 16, 2006. Carlton's Eddie Betts scored the match-tying goal with under one minute remaining to deny Essendon what would have been just their second win for the season. Essendon would eventually achieve that the following week. This match was dubbed the "Bryce Gibbs Cup", named after young Glenelg midfielder Bryce Gibbs who was expected to be, and ultimately was, drafted with the first pick at the end of the year, by the media as both teams were firmly rooted to the bottom of the ladder leading into their match.
• In the second Qualifying Final, Sydney beat minor premiers West Coast by a solitary point, the final scores reading 85 to 84. When the teams met again in the Grand Final, the final scores were also 85 to 84, but it was West Coast that claimed the victory.
• Rohan Smith and Scott West each played their 300th games for the Western Bulldogs in the club's 74-point defeat to West Coast in the semi final. For Smith, this was his final AFL game.

Player changes

Debuts

Retirements

Name	Date of Birth	Club	Round Retired	Career Games	Career Goals	Reason
Justin Leppitsch	10 October 1975	Brisbane Lions	Round 10	227	194	Back-related calf injury[6]
Gavin Wanganeen	18 June 1973	Port Adelaide	Round 10	300	202	Injured knee[7]
Paul Williams	3 April 1973	Sydney	Round 14	306	307	Fractured shoulder[8]
Blake Caracella	15 March 1977	Collingwood	Round 17	187	218	Fractured spinal cord/vertebrae[9]
Peter Riccardi	17 December 1972	Geelong	Round 19	288	286	Hamstring injury[10]
Josh Francou	7 August 1974	Port Adelaide	Round 20	156	72	Long-term knee injury[11]
Jade Rawlings	9 October 1977	Kangaroos	Round 21	148	96	Long-term knee injury[12]
Dean Rioli	20 May 1978	Essendon	Round 20	100	91	Hamstring, wrist an knee injuries[13]

End of season

John Barker[14] Hawthorn Mark Chaffey[14] Richmond Barnaby French[14] Carlton Saverio Rocca [14] Kangaroos Jarrad Schofield [15]Fremantle Brad Scott[14] Brisbane Lions Greg Stafford[14] Richmond

Chad Morrison[14] – Collingwood Adam Kingsley[14] – Port Adelaide Stephen Powell[14] – St Kilda Justin Peckett[14] – St Kilda Michael Voss – Brisbane Lions (Due to being contracted till the end of the 2007 AFL Season he was still on the list until the end of the 2007 season)[16] Rohan Smith[14] – Western Bulldogs Drew Banfield[17] – West Coast

Club captains

Club	Captain(s)	Vice Captain(s)/Leadership Group
Adelaide	Mark Ricciuto	Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards, Nathan Bassett and Brett Burton[18]
Brisbane Lions	Simon Black, Jonathan Brown, Chris Johnson, Nigel Lappin, Luke Power
Carlton	Lance Whitnall[19]	Nick Stevens,[20] Kade Simpson (interim)
Collingwood	Nathan Buckley	James Clement (Vice Captain), Josh Fraser (deputy VC), Ben Johnson (deputy VC)
Essendon	David Hille	Mark McVeigh (VC), Andrew Welsh, Scott Lucas, Dustin Fletcher
Fremantle	Matthew Pavlich	Josh Carr
Geelong	Tom Harley	Cameron Ling, Cameron Mooney (deputy)
Hawthorn	Richard Vandenberg[21]	Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell
Kangaroos	Adam Simpson	Brent Harvey
Melbourne	David Neitz[22]	Cameron Bruce, Brad Green, Brock McLean, James McDonald
Port Adelaide	Warren Tredrea	Shaun Burgoyne, Brendon Lade, Michael Wilson, Chad Cornes
Richmond	Kane Johnson	Nathan Brown, Joel Bowden (deputy)
St Kilda	Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt
Sydney	Leo Barry, Barry Hall, Brett Kirk
West Coast	Chris Judd	Andrew Embley, Darren Glass, Dean Cox
Western Bulldogs	Brad Johnson[23]	Scott West, Robert Murphy, Daniel Cross and Daniel Giansiracusa

Sackings/Delistings

Jayden Attard – Brisbane Lions Matthew Ball – Hawthorn Matthew Bishop – Port Adelaide Luke Forsyth – Brisbane Lions Ben Hart – Adelaide Clark Keating – Brisbane Lions Andrew Kellaway – Richmond

Troy Makepeace – Kangaroos Marty Pask – Brisbane Lions Justin Perkins – Kangaroos Mark Powell – Kangaroos Cameron Thurley – Kangaroos

Trades

See also

• 2006 AFL finals series
• 2006 Australian football code crowds
• List of 2006 AFL debuts
• Collingwood Magpies 2006 Season
• Sydney Swans 2006 Season
• List of Australian Football League premiers

References

• 2006 season results – AFL Tables

1. Burgan, Matt (24 May 2006). "Benefits to flow from Green Shirt".
2. 2006b&f.html
3. Seven controversial moments of Essendon champ and Hall of Fame inductee Matthew Lloyd, Herald Sun, 5 June 2013
4. Bombers upset Swans - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
5. Bulldogs earn gritty win, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 1 September 2006
6. "Leppitsch retires from AFL due to injury". The Sydney Morning Herald. June 5, 2006.
7. Shiell, Alan (7 June 2006). "LWanganeen signs-off".
8. Hinds, Richard (12 July 2006). "End of the road for brave Swan". The Sydney Morning Herald.
9. "Caracella forced to retire from AFL". The Age (Melbourne). 2 August 2006.
10. "Riccardi's end sums up Cats' season". 15 August 2006.
11. "Francou calls it a day". 23 August 2006.
12. "Jade Rawlings announces retirement". 22 August 2006.
13. Wu, Andrew (27 August 2006). "One last cameo for Rioli".
14. Boulton, Martin (17 September 2006). "Lion Keating one of many looking for fresh pasture". The Sunday Age. p. 9.
15. Black, Keith (29 Aug 2006). "Veteran Hangs Up Boots".
16. Connolly, Steve (7 October 2006). "Voss best ever, says Matthews". The Courier-Mail.
17. Lavell, Steven (7 October 2006). "Banfield signs off".
18. "Crows stick with Roo, but who's next?". sportsaustralia.com. 9 January 2007. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
19. "Whitnall confirmed as Blues captain". sportsaustralia.com. 21 February 2007. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
20. "Experiments key for Carlton". ABC Sport. 12 March 2007. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
21. "2007 preview: Hawthorn". AFL.com.au. 5 March 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
22. "Neitz to skipper Demons again". Australian Broadcasting Corporation .au. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
23. Spits, Scott (6 December 2006). "Johnson top Dog in 2007". The Age (Melbourne). Retrieved 23 August 2012.