View source for 2000 AFL Grand Final

{{Short description|Grand final of the 2000 Australian Football League season}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox Australian rules football grand final
| competition   = AFL
| year          = 2000
| image         = 2000 AFL Grand Final Logo.png
| ground_image  = MCG99.jpg
| caption       = The [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]], where the 2000 AFL Grand Final took place
| home          = [[File:Essendon Football Club colours.svg|50px]]<br/>{{AFL Ess}} 
| home_abbr     = ESS
| home_image    =
| away          = [[File:Melbourne Football Club Colours.svg|50px]]<br/>{{AFL Mel}}
| away_abbr     = MEL
| away_image    = 
| home_qtr1     = 4.8 (32)
| home_qtr2     = 10.16 (76)
| home_qtr3     = 16.17 (113) 
| home_qtr4     = 19.21 (135)
| away_qtr1     = 3.3 (21)
| away_qtr2     = 5.5 (35)
| away_qtr3     = 8.8 (56)
| away_qtr4     = 11.9 (75)
| home_score    = 19.21 (135)
| away_score    = 11.9 (75)
| date          = 2 September 2000
| stadium       = [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]]
| attendance    = 96,249
| favourite     = {{AFL Ess}}
| umpire        = [[Darren Goldspink]] (32), [[Brett Allen (umpire)|Brett Allen]] (10), [[Hayden Kennedy]] (7)
| coin_toss     = [[David Neitz]], [[Melbourne Football Club|Melbourne]]
| kick_end      = City End
| prematch      = The Idea of North, Trish Delaney-Brown, Megan Corson, Andrew Piper and Nick Begie
| anthem        = [[Bachelor Girl]]
| halftime      =
| postmatch     = Mike Brady, Russell Morris and Rick Price
| norm_smith    = [[James Hird]] ({{AFL Ess}})
| jock_mchale   = [[Kevin Sheedy (Australian footballer)|Kevin Sheedy]] ({{AFL Ess}})
| hall_of_fame  = 
| network       = [[Seven Network]]
| announcers    = [[Bruce McAvaney]] (host and commentator)<br>[[Sandy Roberts]] (commentator)<br>[[Jason Dunstall]] (expert commentator)<br>[[Gerard Healy]] (expert commentator)<br>[[Malcolm Blight]] (expert commentator)<br>[[Tony Lockett]] (boundary rider)<br>[[Anthony Hudson (commentator)|Anthony Hudson]] (boundary rider)<br>[[Robert DiPierdomenico]] (boundary rider)
| last          = 1999
| next          = 2001
}}

The '''2000 AFL Grand Final''' was an [[Australian rules football]] game contested between the [[Essendon Football Club]] and the [[Melbourne Football Club]], held at the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]] in [[Melbourne]] on 2 September 2000 rather than in its usual last Saturday of September date to avoid conflicting with the [[2000 Summer Olympics]] in Sydney. It was the 104th annual [[AFL Grand Final|grand final]] (counting replays) of the [[Australian Football League]] (formerly the Victorian Football League),<ref>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.</ref> staged to determine the [[List of AFL premiers|premiers]] for the [[2000 AFL season]]. The match, attended by 96,249 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 60 points. It was Essendon's 16th premiership, drawing the club equal for the most VFL/AFL premierships.

==Background==
{{Main|2000 AFL season}}
{{further|2000 AFL finals series}}
This was Essendon's first appearance in a grand final since winning the [[1993 AFL Grand Final]], whilst it was Melbourne's first since losing the [[1988 VFL Grand Final]] by a then record margin of 96 points.

In the previous week's preliminary finals, Essendon defeated Carlton by 45 points, while Melbourne defeated North Melbourne by 50 points. The following Monday saw Melbourne's [[Shane Woewodin]] awarded the [[Brownlow Medal]] with 24 votes, ahead of [[Western Bulldogs]] midfielder [[Scott West]] and Adelaide midfielder [[Andrew McLeod]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Gruber|first=James|title=Surprise Brownlow medal winner (AM transcript)|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s168651.htm|publisher=ABC|access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref>

Essendon won the most home-and-away games (21) and total games (24) in a single season in the history of the VFL/AFL, breaking the records set by Carlton in 1995 (20 and 23, respectively), and they broke Collingwood's 1929 record when it won its first twenty games; if the pre-season cup is included, Essendon won 30 games out of 31; all of these records still stand. In 2008, [[Geelong Football Club|Geelong]] won 21 of 22 games in the home-and-away season to equal that record, but they lost the grand final. Essendon's grand final win was the last by a Victorian side until Geelong won in [[2007 AFL Grand Final|2007]].

==Match summary==
{{Expand section|Scant on details. Mention specific plays, quarterly reports, details, etc.|date=July 2023}}
Melbourne captain [[David Neitz]] won the toss and chose to kick towards the City/Members end of the MCG in the opening quarter. The first score of the game went to Melbourne. Neitz, from a very tight angle near the behind post on the Members side of the goals, kicked the ball into the far goal post resulting in one point.

It was only a short time after the first score of the game that [[James Hird]] kicked the first goal of the game for Essendon. Melbourne's first goal was kicked by [[Stephen Powell]].

The Bombers never looked threatened from after quarter time and comfortably won its record-equaling 16th premiership by 60 points after arguably the most dominant season in VFL/AFL history.

One downside for the Bombers was an incident in which Melbourne's [[Troy Simmonds]] was hit high by Essendon's [[Michael Long (footballer)|Michael Long]], resulting in a 25-man brawl. Simmonds was taken from the field on a stretcher; nine players were reported on ten offences by the umpires. Whilst this incident may not have influenced the final result, it was indicative of the nature of football Kevin Sheedy had instilled un the team., as Brad Green also suffered a throat injury off the ball.

Hird was awarded the [[Norm Smith Medal]] for being judged the best player afield. [[Paul Barnard]] and [[Matthew Lloyd]] each kicked four goals for the Bombers.

Essendon's triumph would be the last by any Victorian team until the [[2007 AFL Grand Final]] when [[Geelong Football Club|Geelong]] won its first premiership in 44 years.

The National Anthem was sung by Tania Doko of [[Bachelor Girl]].
{{-}}
==Teams==
{| width="92%" |
|-
|{{Australian rules football kit
 | pattern_b  = _redrightsash 
 | pattern_sh = _redsides  
 | pattern_so = _hoops_black 
 | body       = 000000 
 | shorts     = 000000 
 | socks      = FF0000 
 | title      = Essendon 
}}
|{{Australian rules football kit
 | pattern_b  = _red_v_top
 | pattern_sh = _redsides 
 | pattern_so =  
 | body       = 061A33  
 | shorts     = ffffff
 | socks      = ff0000
 | title      = Melbourne 
}}
|}
{|
| valign="top" |
{{Aussie rules team | title = {{AFL Ess}} 
| backpocket1 = 1 [[Mark Johnson (footballer)|Mark Johnson]]
| fullback = 31 [[Dustin Fletcher]] 
| backpocket2 = 6 [[Sean Wellman]]
| halfbackflank1 = 11 [[Damien Hardwick]] 
| centrehalfback = 21 [[Dean Wallis]]
| halfbackflank2 = 7 [[Dean Solomon]]  
| wing1 = 26 [[Chris Heffernan]] 
| centre = 24 [[Joe Misiti]]
| wing2 = 33 [[Blake Caracella]] 
| halfforwardflank1 = 2 [[Mark Mercuri]]
| centrehalfforward = 25 [[Scott Lucas (footballer)|Scott Lucas]]
| halfforwardflank2 = 5 [[James Hird]] (c)
| forwardpocket1 = 9 [[Adam Ramanauskas]]
| fullforward = 18 [[Matthew Lloyd]] 
| forwardpocket2 = 13 [[Michael Long (footballer)|Michael Long]] 
| ruck = 22 [[John Barnes (Australian footballer)|John Barnes]]
| ruckrover = 32 [[Justin Blumfield]]
| rover = 14 [[Jason Johnson (Australian rules footballer)|Jason Johnson]]
| interchange1 = 8 [[Darren Bewick]]
| interchange2 = 16 [[Paul Barnard]]
| interchange3 = 27 [[Steven Alessio]]
| interchange4 = 29 [[Gary Moorcroft]]
| interchange5 = 
| interchange6 = 
| coach = [[Kevin Sheedy (Australian footballer)|Kevin Sheedy]]
}}
| valign="top" |
{{Aussie rules team | title = {{AFL Mel}}
| backpocket1 = 26 [[Daniel Ward (footballer)|Daniel Ward]]
| fullback = 27 [[Anthony Ingerson]]
| backpocket2 = 44 [[Alistair Nicholson]]
| halfbackflank1 = 42 [[Peter Walsh (footballer)|Peter Walsh]]
| centrehalfback = 28 [[Matthew Collins (Australian footballer)|Matthew Collins]]
| halfbackflank2 = 21 [[Steven Febey]]
| wing1 = 13 [[Adem Yze]]
| centre = 22 [[Shane Woewodin]]
| wing2 = 35 [[Anthony McDonald (Australian rules footballer)|Anthony McDonald]]
| halfforwardflank1 = 18 [[Brad Green (footballer)|Brad Green]] 
| centrehalfforward = 5 [[David Schwarz (footballer)|David Schwarz]]
| halfforwardflank2 = 7 [[Stephen Powell]]
| forwardpocket1 = 24 [[Russell Robertson]]
| fullforward = 9 [[David Neitz]] (c)
| forwardpocket2 = 33 [[Jeff Farmer (footballer)|Jeff Farmer]]
| ruck = 34 [[Jeff White (Australian footballer)|Jeff White]]
| ruckrover = 43 [[Guy Rigoni]]
| rover = 36 [[Andrew Leoncelli]]
| interchange1 = 4 [[Brent Grgic]]
| interchange2 = 16 [[Travis Johnstone]]
| interchange3 = 47 [[Ben Beams]]
| interchange4 = 46 [[Troy Simmonds]]
| interchange5 = 
| interchange6 = 
| coach = [[Neale Daniher]]}}
|}

==Scorecard==
 {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan="5"|'''{{AFL Ess}}''' vs {{AFL Mel}}
|-
!Team
! Q1
! Q2
! Q3
! Final
|-
|'''{{AFL Ess}}'''
|4.8 (32)
|10.16 (76)
|16.17 (113)
|'''19.21 (135)'''
|-
|{{AFL Mel}}
|3.3 (21)
|5.5 (35)
|8.8 (56)
|11.9 (75)
|-
! colspan="5"|
|-
! colspan="2"|Venue:
| colspan="3"|[[Melbourne Cricket Ground]], [[Melbourne]]
|-
! colspan="2"|Date:
| colspan="3"|2 September 2000
|-
! colspan="2"|Attendance:
| colspan="3"|96,249
|-
! colspan="2"|Umpires:
| colspan="3"|[[Darren Goldspink]] (32), [[Brett Allen (umpire)|Brett Allen]] (10), [[Hayden Kennedy]] (7)
|-
! rowspan="2"|Goal scorers:
| '''[[Essendon Football Club|Essendon]]'''
| colspan="3"|'''4:''' [[Paul Barnard]], [[Matthew Lloyd]]. '''3:''' [[Blake Caracella]]. '''2:''' [[James Hird]]. '''1:''' [[Gary Moorcroft]], [[Mark Mercuri]], [[Michael Long (footballer)|Michael Long]], [[Justin Blumfield]], [[Darren Bewick]], [[Steven Alessio]]
|-
| [[Melbourne Football Club|Melbourne]]
| colspan="3"|'''3:''' [[Jeff Farmer (footballer)|Jeff Farmer]], [[Stephen Powell]]. '''2:''' [[David Neitz]], [[Russell Robertson]]. '''1:''' [[Brad Green (footballer)|Brad Green]]
|-
! rowspan="2"|Best:
| '''[[Essendon Football Club|Essendon]]'''
| colspan="3"|Hird, Barnes, Caracella, Misiti, Wallis
|-
| [[Melbourne Football Club|Melbourne]]
| colspan="3"|White, Powell, Johnstone, Neitz, Walsh
|-
! colspan="2"|Reports:
| colspan="3"|'''Essendon:''' Wallis (striking), Long (rough play), Dustin Fletcher (striking) '''Melbourne:''' Brent Grgic (striking)
|-
! colspan="2"|Injuries:
| colspan="3"|'''Melbourne:''' Simmonds (concussion), Green (fractured larynx)
|-
! colspan="5"|
|-
! colspan="2"|Coin toss winner: 	
| colspan="3"|[[David Neitz]], [[Melbourne Football Club|Melbourne]]
|-
! colspan="2"|[[Norm Smith Medal]]:
| colspan="3"|[[James Hird]], [[Essendon Football Club|Essendon]]
|-
! colspan="2"|Australian television broadcaster:
| colspan="3"|[[Seven Network]]
|-
! colspan="2"|[[Advance Australia Fair|National Anthem]]:
| colspan="3"|[[Bachelor Girl]]
|-
|}

== See also ==
* [[2000 AFL season]]
* [[1948 VFL Grand Final]]
* [[1957 VFL Grand Final]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2000/051120000902.html Match Stats]

==Notes==
*{{cite book| first=Jim |last=Main | year=2001 |publisher=Pennon Publishing |isbn= 1-877029-00-9 |title=More than a century of AFL Grand Finals}}

==External links==
*[http://www.afl.com.au AFL Website]

{{2000 Essendon premiership players}}
{{Essendon Football Club}}
{{Melbourne Football Club}}
{{2000 AFL season}}
{{Australian Football League}}

[[Category:VFL/AFL Grand Finals]]
[[Category:2000 Australian Football League season]]
[[Category:2000 in Australian rules football|Afl Grand Final, 2000]]
[[Category:Essendon Football Club]]
[[Category:Melbourne Football Club]]