2007 AFL Grand Final

The 2007 AFL Grand Final was the 111th VFL/AFL Grand Final and was contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Port Adelaide Football Club on September 29, 2007 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The end margin was 119 points, the biggest margin in AFL Grand Final History. The victory ended Geelong's 44 year premiership drought.

Lead-Up

At the conclusion of the home and away season, Geelong had finished first on the AFL ladder with 18 wins, 4 losses, and a percentage of 152.76. Port Adelaide, three wins behind Geelong, had finished second with 15 wins, 7 losses, and a percentage of 113.54. Geelong had lost only one game since Round 5: a five point loss to Port Adelaide at Skilled Stadium in Round 21.

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 tightly fought contest with the Magpies by 5 points in front of a crowd of 98,002, a higher attendance than the actual grand final.

Port Adelaide had hosted reigning premiers West Coast at AAMI Stadium in their qualifying final, winning by three points. 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.

This was the first time that Geelong had qualified for a Grand Final since 1995, whilst Port Adelaide had most recently contested a Grand Final just three years prior in 2004.

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 last quarter. Key forwards Cam 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 1988. It ended a 44-year premiership drought for the Cats, whose last flag came in 1963, the club having lost five Grand Finals since. It was also the first premiership won by a team from Victoria since Essendon's 2000 victory.

Result

See also

• 2007 AFL season
• 2007 AFL Finals Series

References

• Match stats at AFL Tables
• AFL Website