2007 AFL Grand Final

2007 AFL Grand Final
Players in action during the first quarter of the game. Geelong would hold the lead for all four quarters of the game.
Geelong Port Adelaide 24.19 (163) 6.8 (44)
1 2 3 4 GEEL 5.7 (37) 11.13 (79) 18.17 (125) 24.19 (163) PORT 2.2 (14) 4.3 (27) 5.5 (35) 6.8 (44)
Date	29 September 2007
Stadium	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Attendance	97,302
Umpires	Stephen McBurney (3), Shane McInerney (30), Scott McLaren (11)
Coin toss won by	Geelong
Kicked toward	City end
Ceremonies
Pre-match entertainment	Natalie Bassingthwaighte, JET
National anthem	Natalie Bassingthwaighte
Accolades
Norm Smith Medallist	Steve Johnson (Geelong)
Jock McHale Medallist	Mark Thompson (Geelong)
Broadcast in Australia
Network	Network Ten
Commentators	Anthony Hudson (Host) Tim Lane (Commentator) Michael Voss (Expert Commentator) Robert Walls (Expert Commentator) Corey Wingard (Boundary Rider - Adelaide) Andrew Maher (Boundary Rider)
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The 2007 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Port Adelaide Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 2007. It was the 111th annual Grand Final of the VFL/AFL,^[1] staged to determine the premiers for the 2007 AFL season. The match, attended by 97,302 spectators, was won by Geelong by a margin of 119 points, the biggest in VFL/AFL Grand Final history. The victory marked Geelong's seventh premiership win, and ended its 44-year premiership drought.

Background

2007 Brownlow Medal-winner Jimmy Bartel of Geelong (2008)

Geelong entered the season after finishing 10th in 2006. Geelong was the best performing side of the home and away season, finishing 12 points clear of second-placed Port Adelaide, with an 18–4 record and a percentage of 152.76, thus winning the McClelland Trophy. Geelong had lost only one game since Round 5: by five points to Port Adelaide at Skilled Stadium in Round 21 when Dominic Cassisi goaled with 3 seconds remaining. The grand final was Geelong's first appearance in a premiership decider since losing the 1995 Grand Final. Geelong defeated the Kangaroos in their qualifying final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by 106 points, earning them a second week bye, before they met the Collingwood Magpies in a preliminary final showdown at the MCG. Geelong won a tight contest with the Magpies by 5 points in front of a crowd of 98,002.

Port Adelaide, having finished 12th the previous season, rose an amazing 10 places to become 2nd on the ladder in 2007, with a 15–7 record and a percentage of 113.54. Port Adelaide had hosted reigning premiers West Coast Eagles at AAMI Stadium in their qualifying final, winning by three points after trailing all night. Having also earned a second week bye, they proceeded to the third week and hosted the Kangaroos in a preliminary final at AAMI Stadium, winning by 87 points. The 2007 AFL Grand Final was Port Adelaide's first since winning the 2004 Grand Final.

This was the first Grand Final fought between two teams that missed the finals the previous year since 1997.

Match summary

The Cats outscored the Port Adelaide Power 5.7 to 2.2 in the opening term, before kicking five goals in the first 12 minutes of the second quarter to build a 52-point lead. Geelong excelled in their defence - which had been the best in the competition all season - keeping the Power to their lowest score of the year. The backlines, led by Matthew Scarlett at fullback, repeatedly turned defence into attack, rushing the ball forward to support the forward line. Half-forwards Paul Chapman and Steve Johnson kicked four goals each and set up numerous others. Johnson was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best-on-ground in the Grand Final after the Cats’ triumph. Chapman's day included a sensational high mark over Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea during the third quarter. Key forwards Cameron Mooney (five goals) and Nathan Ablett (three) also performed strongly. Power players Kane Cornes and Domenic Cassisi performed reasonably well against Geelong stars Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett, Jr. respectively; however, Geelong was still able to dominate the midfield with Joel Corey, James Kelly, Joel Selwood and Cameron Ling all making solid contributions and Brad Ottens and Steven King both performing strongly in the ruck.

The match ended with Geelong winning by the score of 24.19 (163) to 6.8 (44), recording the greatest winning margin in AFL Grand Final history, 119 points. This broke the previous record of 96 points set by Hawthorn against Melbourne in the 1988 VFL Grand Final; it was also, at the time, Port Adelaide's heaviest defeat in an AFL match (this record was surpassed in 2011). Geelong's 417 disposals was also a Grand Final Record. Meanwhile, Port Adelaide became the only finals side in history to have more handballs than kicks. Geelong scored 17.10 from Port Adelaide turnovers, while the Power scored just 1.2 from the Cats'.

The Cats' win ended a 44-year premiership drought for the club. The last flag had come in 1963, and since then the club had lost five Grand Finals. It was also the first premiership won by a team from Victoria since Essendon's 2000 victory. MCC Chairman Nickolas Daskalou was quoted "Half the MCC members departed long before three quarter time" in what was seen as the most one sided Grand Final in history.

Scorecard

Geelong vs Port Adelaide
Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Final
Geelong	5.7 (37)	11.13 (79)	18.17 (125)	24.19 (163)
Port Adelaide	2.2 (14)	4.3 (27)	5.5 (35)	6.8 (44)
Venue:		Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Date:		29 September 2007 – 2:30 pm AEST
Attendance:		97,302
Umpires:		Stephen McBurney (3), Shane McInerney (30), Scott McLaren (11)
Goal scorers:	Geelong	5: Mooney 4: Chapman, S. Johnson 3: N. Ablett 2: Bartel 1: Ottens, Byrnes, G. Ablett, Rooke, Ling, Mackie.
	Port Adelaide	2: Tredrea, S. Burgoyne 1: C. Cornes, Logan.
Best:	Geelong	S. Johnson, Chapman, Scarlett, King, Ottens, Mooney, Corey, Enright, Bartel.
	Port Adelaide	Tredrea, P. Burgoyne, K. Cornes.
Reports:		nil
Injuries:		nil
Coin toss winner:		Geelong
Norm Smith Medal:		Steve Johnson, Geelong
Australian television broadcaster:		Network Ten
National Anthem:		Natalie Bassingthwaighte

Teams

Geelong B: 2 Tom Harley (c) 30 Matthew Scarlett 8 Josh Hunt HB: 4 Andrew Mackie 39 Darren Milburn 40 David Wojcinski C: 11 Joel Corey 3 Jimmy Bartel 44 Corey Enright HF: 20 Steve Johnson 21 Cameron Mooney 14 Joel Selwood F: 35 Paul Chapman 23 Nathan Ablett 27 Mathew Stokes Foll: 6 Brad Ottens 45 Cameron Ling 29 Gary Ablett Jr. Int: 1 Steven King 17 Shannon Byrnes 9 James Kelly 33 Max Rooke Coach: Mark Thompson

Port Adelaide B: 36 Michael Pettigrew 28 Toby Thurstans 9 Jacob Surjan HB: 25 Domenic Cassisi 30 Troy Chaplin 7 Peter Burgoyne C: 3 Steven Salopek 18 Kane Cornes 15 David Rodan HF: 4 Daniel Motlop 1 Warren Tredrea (c) 16 Danyle Pearce F: 5 Brendon Lade 39 Justin Westhoff 33 Brett Ebert Foll: 20 Dean Brogan 35 Chad Cornes 8 Shaun Burgoyne Int: 10 Travis Boak 23 Brad Symes 44 Tom Logan 2 Darryl Wakelin Coach: Mark Williams

See also

• 2007 AFL season
• 2007 AFL Finals Series

References

1. 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.

• Match stats at AFL Tables
• AFL Website