1997 AFL season

1997 AFL premiership season
1997 AFL premiership season
Teams	16
Premiers	Adelaide; (1st premiership)
Minor premiers	St Kilda; (2nd minor premiership)
Pre-season cup	Carlton; (1st pre-season cup win)
Matches played	185
Attendance	6,402,997 (34,611 per match)
Highest attendance	99,645 (Grand Final, Adelaide vs. St Kilda)
Leading goalkicker	Tony Modra (Adelaide)
Brownlow Medallist	Robert Harvey (St Kilda)
Wooden spooners	Melbourne; (10th wooden spoon)

The 1997 Australian Football League season was the 101st season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 8th under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989.

This season is notable for the admission of the Port Adelaide Football Club, and the merger of the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy to form the Brisbane Lions. Before the start of the 1997 season, Footscray changed its name to the Western Bulldogs. The sixteen team format of this season remained in place until 2011, when the Gold Coast Suns joined the league.

1997 is also notable for being one of the most evenly contested seasons in the AFL's recent history. With five rounds remaining, only three wins separated first placed Geelong (11 wins) and 13th placed Hawthorn (8 wins). St Kilda won the minor premiership with 15 wins and 7 losses; however, the competition was won by Adelaide who had come fourth after the minor round with 13 wins and 9 losses. This was the first instance of a side winning four consecutive finals matches to claim the Premiership. The Western Bulldogs would also accomplish this feat in 2016.

Premiership 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

1997 AFL ladder
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	St Kilda	22	15	7	0	2294	1918	119.6	60	Finals
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

Source: AFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

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

Source:

Finals series

Week one


	Qualifying finals
QF1: Sunday, 7 September (2:30 pm)	Adelaide 14.15 (99)	def.	West Coast 9.12 (66)	Football Park (crowd: 43,761)	Report
QF2: Saturday, 6 September (7:25 pm)	Western Bulldogs 18.11 (119)	def.	Sydney 12.12 (84)	MCG (crowd: 62,432)	Report
QF3: Sunday, 7 September (7:00 pm)	Geelong 9.7 (61)	def. by	North Melbourne 11.13 (79)	MCG (crowd: 55,561)	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

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

Week three


	Preliminary finals
PF2: Friday, 20 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


	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. Malcolm Blight won his first Jock McHale Medal after three losing Grand finals with Geelong.

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 game at Whitten Oval was played.
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.[2] 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.

References

"Eight of the longest AFL suspensions". Zero Hanger. 7 August 2018.
Warner, Michael; Ralph, Jon; Wade, Nick (4 July 2015). "Cats game cancelled". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 30 October 2015.

External Links

"1997 AFL Season results". AFL Tables.

Australian Football League
Clubs	Adelaide Brisbane Lions Carlton Collingwood Essendon Fremantle Geelong Gold Coast Greater Western Sydney Hawthorn Melbourne North Melbourne Port Adelaide Richmond St Kilda Sydney West Coast Western Bulldogs
Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Grand finals	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Venues	Adelaide Oval Bellerive Oval Carrara Stadium Docklands Stadium Eureka Stadium The Gabba Jiangwan Stadium Kardinia Park Manuka Oval Marrara Oval Melbourne Cricket Ground Perth Stadium Riverway Stadium Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Showground Stadium Traeger Park York Park
Awards	AFL Coaches Association awards AFL Players Association awards AFL Rising Star All-Australian team Brownlow Medal (winners) Coleman Medal Goal of the Year Leigh Matthews Trophy Mark of the Year Norm Smith Medal
Major recurring events	AFL Draft AFL finals series AFL Grand Final Anzac Day Eve match Anzac Day match Dreamtime at the 'G Easter Monday clash E. J. Whitten Legends Game Len Hall Tribute game Opening game QClash Queen's Birthday match Showdown Sydney Derby Western Derby
Second-tier and junior competitions	AFL Under 18 Championships NAB League North East Australian Football League South Australian National Football League Victorian Football League West Australian Football League
Former clubs	Brisbane Bears Fitzroy University
Related articles	AFL Coaches Association AFL Commission AFL Players Association AFL Record AFL Umpires Association AFL Women's AFLX Carlton salary cap breach Current coaches Essendon supplements saga Games records Goal with first kick Goalkicking records Grand final location debate History Individual match awards International Rules Series Kennett curse Melbourne tanking scandal Minor premiers Premiers Premiership captains/coaches Premiership/grand final statistics Proposed clubs Tasmanian AFL bid Records Reserves affiliations Rivalries Television shows Victorian bias Video games Wooden spoons 200-game players for one club
Known as the Victorian Football League from 1897–1989; no grand finals were held in 1897 and 1924