View source for 2006 AFL Grand Final

{{Short description|Grand final of the 2006 Australian Football League season}}
{{Further|2006 AFL finals series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox Australian rules football grand final
| competition   = AFL
| year          = 2006
| image         = 2006 AFL Grand Final Logo.jpg
| ground_image  = [[File:Afl grand final.jpg|300px]]
| caption       = Pre-match entertainment before the game. Giant banners were unfurled featuring the colours and emblems of all 16 clubs of the [[2006 AFL season|2006 AFL Premiership season]].
| home          = [[File:Sydney Football Club colours.svg|50px]]<br/>{{AFL Syd}}
| home_abbr     = WCE
| home_image    = 
| away          = [[File:West Coast Football Club colours (2005-2011 away).svg|50px]]<br/>{{AFL|WC}} 
| away_abbr     = SYD
| away_image    = 
| home_qtr1     = 4.2 (26)
| home_qtr2     = 8.7 (55)
| home_qtr3     = 10.10 (70)
| home_qtr4     = 12.13 (85)
| away_qtr1     = 1.4 (10)
| away_qtr2     = 4.6 (30)
| away_qtr3     = 8.11 (59)
| away_qtr4     = 12.12 (84)
| home_score    = 12.12 (84)
| away_score    = 12.13 (85)
| date          = 30 September 2006
| stadium       = [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]]
| attendance    = 97,431 
| favourite     = {{AFL|WC}}
| umpire        = [[Michael Vozzo]] (2), [[Brett Allen (umpire)|Brett Allen]] (10), [[Darren Goldspink]] (32)
| coin_toss     = [[West Coast Eagles|West Coast]]
| kick_end      = City End
| prematch      = [[Brian Mannix]], [[John Paul Young]], [[Sean Kelly (Australian musician)|Sean Kelly]], [[Daryl Braithwaite]], [[Shane Howard]] and [[Irene Cara]] 
| anthem        = Brian Mannix, John Paul Young, Daryl Braithwaite and Shane Howard
| halftime      =
| postmatch     =
| norm_smith    = [[Andrew Embley]] ({{AFL|WC}})
| jock_mchale   = [[John Worsfold]]
| hall_of_fame  =  
| network       = [[Network 10]]
| announcers    = [[Stephen Quartermain]] (Host)<br>[[Anthony Hudson (commentator)|Anthony Hudson]] (Commentator)<br>[[Robert Walls]] (Expert Commentator)<br>[[Malcolm Blight]] (Expert Commentator)<br>[[Neil Cordy]] (Boundary Rider)<br>[[Tim Gossage]] (Boundary Rider)
| last          = 2005
| next          = 2007
}}

The '''2006 AFL Grand Final''' was an [[Australian rules football]] game contested between the [[Sydney Swans]] and [[West Coast Eagles]], held at the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]] in [[Melbourne]] on 30 September 2006. It was the 110th annual [[AFL Grand Final|grand final]] 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 [[2006 AFL season]]. The match, attended by 97,431 spectators, was won by West Coast by a thrilling one point, earning the club its third premiership.

==Background==
{{Main|2006 AFL season}}
{{further|2006 AFL Finals Series}}
This was the second consecutive year that these two teams played in the premiership decider, with the Swans having won the [[2005 AFL Grand Final]] by a margin of 4 points. At the conclusion of the [[home and away season]], West Coast had finished first on the AFL ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses, winning the [[McClelland Trophy]]. Sydney had finished fourth with 14 wins and 8 losses.

In the week leading up to the grand final, [[Sydney Swans|Sydney's]] [[Adam Goodes]] was awarded the [[Brownlow Medal]].

==Pre-match entertainment==
Prior to the match, at 10:00&nbsp;a.m. the [[TAC Cup]] grand final was played.

The [[Red Berets]] parachuted into the MCG delivering the match balls, followed by a team warm up and the beginning of pre-match entertainment. The entertainment included a performance of the song "[[Flashdance (What A Feeling)]]", performed by [[Irene Cara]],
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060426171548/http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=aflfocus] as well as appearances from [[Brian Mannix]], [[John Paul Young]], [[Daryl Braithwaite]] and [[Shane Howard]] (lead singer of [[Goanna (band)|Goanna]]). The [[medley (music)|medley]] of songs they performed included "Solid Rock", [[Yesterday's Hero (John Paul Young song)|Yesterday's Hero]]", "[[The Horses]]", "Everybody Wants to Work" and "[[I Hear Motion]]".

==Match summary==
[[File:Sydney swans supporters at the 2006 afl grand final.jpg|thumb|275px|right|The Sydney cheer squad celebrate a goal]]
West Coast started the better, and outplayed the Swans in the first half and led by a convincing 25 points at half time. The Swans fought back in the third quarter and the margin was just 11 points at 3/4 time. Goodes goaled within the first 15&nbsp;seconds of the last quarter and the margin was suddenly less than a kick. It was goal-for-goal in one of the most intense final quarters of modern grand final history, with West Coast hanging on by a single point to win its first premiership since 1994 and avenge its heartbreaking 4-point loss to the Swans in the previous year's grand final.

It was the fifth consecutive match between the two teams to be decided by less than a goal, and the first grand final to be decided by a point since St Kilda defeated Collingwood in the [[1966 VFL Grand Final]]. The match has been labelled as a 'classic'.<ref>[[Jim Main]], ''Aussie Rules: For Dummies'' (2nd edition, 2008) p 10.</ref>

===Grand Final Sprint===
The [[AFL Grand Final Sprint|Grand Final Sprint]], which had heats ran before the pre-match entertainment and the final ran during the half-time break, was won by Carlton's [[Brendan Fevola]]. The 2006 Grand Final saw the first use of handicaps during the sprint.

== Norm Smith Medal ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Norm Smith Medal Voting Tally
!Position
!Player
!Club
!Total Votes
!Vote Summary
|-
|1st (winner)
|[[Andrew Embley]]
|[[West Coast Eagles]]
|10
|3,3,3,1
|-
|2nd
|[[Brett Kirk]]
|[[Sydney Swans]]
|8
|2,2,2,2
|-
|3rd
|[[Dean Cox]]
|[[West Coast Eagles]]
|6
|3,1,1,1
|-
|4th
|[[Daniel Kerr]]
|[[West Coast Eagles]]
|3
|3
|-
|5th
|[[Tadhg Kennelly]]
|[[Sydney Swans]]
|2
|2
|-
|6th
|[[Beau Waters]]
|[[West Coast Eagles]]
|1
|1
|}
[[Andrew Embley]] was awarded the [[Norm Smith Medal]] for being judged the best player afield. He recorded 26 disposals, 6 marks, and 2 goals. Also polling votes were [[Brett Kirk]] (27 disposals and 9 tackles), [[Dean Cox]] (20 disposals and 34 hitouts), [[Daniel Kerr]] (20 disposals and 5 tackles), [[Tadhg Kennelly]] (21 disposals), and [[Beau Waters]] (26 disposals and 10 marks).

The voters and their choices were as follows:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Andrew Embley Wins Norn Smith Medal|url=https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/andrew-embley-wins-norn-smith-medal.272676/|access-date=2020-07-26|website=BigFooty|date=30 September 2006 |language=en-US}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!''Voter''
!'' Role''
!''3 Votes''
!''2 Votes''
!''1 Vote''
|-
![[Rohan Connolly]]
![[The Age]]
|Andrew Embley
|Brett Kirk
|Dean Cox
|-
![[Mark Maclure]]
![[ABC Radio Grandstand|ABC]]
|Daniel Kerr
|Brett Kirk
|Dean Cox
|-
!Jenny McAsey
![[The Australian]]
|Andrew Embley
|Brett Kirk
|Dean Cox
|-
![[Mike Sheahan]]
![[Herald Sun]]
|Andrew Embley
|Tadhg Kennelly
|Beau Waters
|-
![[Ray Wilson (Australian rules footballer)|Ray Wilson]]
![[The West Australian]]
|Dean Cox
|Brett Kirk
|Andrew Embley
|}

==Match scoring records==
The 2006 grand final placed Sydney vs West Coast games further in the VFL/AFL record books for closeness, with the five most recent margins up to and including this game standing at 4, 4, 2, 1 and 1. With 12 points' total difference across five games, Sydney vs West Coast comprehensively beat the previous five-game record of 19 points, set by Hawthorn versus Collingwood in 1958–60. They also became the seventh pair of teams in VFL/AFL history (and the second in 2006 after Geelong vs Western Bulldogs) to contest two consecutive one-point games.

These records were further improved in the grand final rematch in Round 1, 2007, which was again decided by a single point, giving the pair the record for four games, five games and six games (5 points, 9 points and 13 points, respectively),{{Clarify|reason=How can a 1-point game go from 9 points to 13 in a single game?|date=December 2022}}{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} and positioning them equal second for three games behind Brisbane vs Port Adelaide (2 points, 1997–98) and Hawthorn vs Footscray (3 points, 1956–57).

The 2006 grand final also marked the fourth time in VFL/AFL history that consecutive games between two teams were decided by the same total scores, with both the qualifying final and the grand final decided by 85–84. This previously occurred between South Melbourne vs Melbourne (1904-05), St Kilda vs Collingwood (1913–14) and Melbourne vs Richmond (1954–55). On none of the four occasions have the goals and behinds tallies been identical (Sydney outscored West Coast by 13.7 (85) &ndash; 12.12 (84) in the qualifying final, whilst West Coast pipped Sydney by 12.13 (85) &ndash; 12.12 (84) in 2006).

== Scorecard ==

{{AFLGameDetailed
| title           = Grand final
| date            = Saturday, September 30 (2:40 pm)
| home team       = {{AFL Syd}}
| home Q1         = 1.4 (10)
| home Q2         = 4.6 (30)
| home Q3         = 8.11 (59)
| home final      = 12.12 (84)
| home goals      = [[Michael O'Loughlin|O'Loughlin]], [[Nick Davis (footballer)|Davis]] '''3''' <br>[[Ben Mathews|Mathews]], [[Lewis Roberts-Thomson|Roberts-Thomson]], [[Adam Goodes|Goodes]], [[Adam Schneider|Schneider]], [[Ryan O'Keefe|O'Keefe]], [[Nick Malceski|Malceski]] '''1'''
| home best       = [[Nic Fosdike|Fosdike]], [[Ted Richards|Richards]], [[Tadhg Kennelly|Kennelly]], [[Michael O'Loughlin|O'Loughlin]], [[Jarrad McVeigh|McVeigh]], [[Brett Kirk|Kirk]], [[Adam Goodes|Goodes]]
| home injuries   = [[Luke Ablett|Ablett]] (shoulder)
| home reports    = Nil
| winner          = A
| away team       = {{AFL WC}}
| away Q1         = 4.2 (26)
| away Q2         = 8.7 (55)
| away Q3         = 10.10 (70)
| away final      = 12.13 (85)
| away goals      = '''3''' [[Quinten Lynch|Lynch]]<br>'''2''' [[Andrew Embley|Embley]], [[Ashley Hansen|Hansen]], [[Ben Cousins|Cousins]]<br>'''1''' [[Chris Judd|Judd]], [[Steven Armstrong|Armstrong]], [[Adam Hunter (footballer)|Hunter]]
| away best       = [[Andrew Embley|Embley]], [[Daniel Chick|Chick]], [[Chris Judd|Judd]], [[Darren Glass|Glass]], [[Quinten Lynch|Lynch]], [[Adam Selwood|Selwood]], [[Michael Braun (footballer)|Braun]], [[Dean Cox|Cox]], [[Ben Cousins|Cousins]], [[Daniel Kerr|Kerr]]
| away injuries   = Nil
| away reports    = Nil
| venue           = [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
| crowd           = 97,431
| report          = 
| umpires         = [[Michael Vozzo|Vozzo]], [[Brett Allen|Allen]], [[Darren Goldspink|Goldspink]]
| BOG award       = [[Norm Smith Medal]]
| BOG winner      = [[Andrew Embley]] ({{AFL WC}})
| broadcast       = [[Network 10]]
| anthem          = [[Brian Mannix]], [[John Paul Young]], [[Daryl Braithwaite]] and [[Shane Howard]]
| notes           =
}}

==Post-match presentation==
The post-match presentation was carried out by [[Craig Willis]]. The [[Jock McHale Medal]] was presented by former [[St Kilda Football Club|St. Kilda]] and [[Hawthorn Football Club|Hawthorn]] Premiership coach [[Allan Jeans]] to the 2006 Premiership coach [[John Worsfold]].  The Norm Smith Medal was presented by former Essendon player and 1984 winner [[Billy Duckworth]] to 2006 winner [[Andrew Embley]]. The premiership cup was presented by former West Coast Eagle two-time premiership player [[Glen Jakovich]].

==International telecasts==
The following television networks covered the event.

* '''[[Papua New Guinea]]''' – [[EM TV]], [[Australia Network]] (live)
* '''New Zealand''' – [[SKY Sport 1 (NZ)]] (live)
* '''[[Southeast Asia]]''' – [[Australia Network]] (live)
* '''Middle East''' – [[Australia Network]].  '''[[Israel]]''' – [[Fox Sports Israel]]
* '''[[Indian subcontinent]]''' – [[Australia Network]]
* '''North America''' – '''United States''' – [[Setanta Sports North America]] (live), [[MHz Worldview]] (delayed).
* '''Canada''' – [[Fox Sports World Canada]] (live). See also [[Australian Football Association of North America]].
* '''United Kingdom''' – [[Sky UK|British Sky Broadcasting]] (live)
* '''Ireland''' – [[TG4]] (delayed)
* '''Spain''' – [[Canal+ Spain]]

==Grand final week==

===Brownlow Medal===
{{Main|2006 Brownlow Medal}}
The 2006 Charles Brownlow Medal Presentation was held at the Palladium at [[Crown Melbourne|Crown Casino]], [[Melbourne]], on 25 September 2006. The Charles Brownlow Medal is awarded to the "Best and Fairest" AFL Player of the year. It is selected by a 3–2–1 voting system awarded by the umpires of each match for the whole year (excluding finals and pre-season). The winner of the 2006 Brownlow Medal was [[Adam Goodes]], the Sydney Swans utility who was playing in the grand final later that week. It was his second and final Brownlow Medal of his career.

{| class="wikitable"  style="margin:0 auto; margin:auto;"
|+ '''2006 Charles Brownlow Medal Results'''
! style="background:#dfd;"| Place
! style="background:#dfd;"| Player
! style="background:#dfd;"| Votes
|-
| 1st
| [[Adam Goodes]]
| 26
|-
| 2nd
| [[Scott West]]
| 23
|-
| 3rd<ref>[[Daniel Kerr]] was ineligible for 3rd place, even though he polled 22 votes, due to suspension.</ref>
| [[Chris Judd]]
| 21
|}

===Grand final parade===
The [[AFL Grand Final#Grand final parade|grand final parade]] took place on Friday 29 September 2006 and commenced on [[St Kilda Road]], and ending at [[Spring Street, Melbourne|Spring Street]]. The crowd was officially estimated at fifty thousand people.
[[File:Crowds at afl grand final parade.jpg|thumb|650px|center|Some of people who lined the streets of Melbourne for the 2006 AFL Grand Final parade]]

== Teams ==
{| width=92% |
|-
|{{Australian rules football kit
 | pattern_b  = _swans19h
 | pattern_sh = _whitesides
 | pattern_so = _hoops_red
 | body       = ffffff
 | shorts     = ff0000
 | socks      = ffffff
 | title      = Sydney
}}
|{{Australian rules football kit
 | pattern_b  = _wceagles19h
 | pattern_sh = _goldsides
 | pattern_so = _goldtop
 | body       = 062EE2
 | shorts     = 062EE2
 | socks      = 062EE2
 | title      = West Coast
}}
|}
{|
| valign="top" |
{{Aussie rules team | title = {{AFL Syd}} 
| backpocket1 = 9 [[Nick Malceski]]
| fullback = 21 [[Leo Barry]]
| backpocket2 = 25 [[Ted Richards]]
| halfbackflank1 = 6 [[Craig Bolton]]
| centrehalfback = 30 [[Lewis Roberts-Thomson]]
| halfbackflank2 = 17 [[Tadhg Kennelly]]
| wing1 = 20 [[Luke Ablett]]
| centre = 31 [[Brett Kirk]] (c)
| wing2 = 32 [[Amon Buchanan]]
| halfforwardflank1 = 24 [[Jude Bolton]]
| centrehalfforward = 19 [[Michael O'Loughlin]]
| halfforwardflank2 = 5 [[Ryan O'Keefe]]
| forwardpocket1 = 4 [[Ben Mathews]]
| fullforward = 1 [[Barry Hall]]
| forwardpocket2 = 13 [[Adam Schneider]]
| ruck = 16 [[Darren Jolly]]
| ruckrover = 37 [[Adam Goodes]]
| rover = 3 [[Jarrad McVeigh]]
| interchange1 = 2 [[Nick Davis (footballer)|Nick Davis]]
| interchange2 = 26 [[Sean Dempster]]
| interchange3 = 15 [[Stephen Doyle (footballer)|Stephen Doyle]]
| interchange4 = 12 [[Nic Fosdike]]
| interchange5 =
| interchange6 =
| coach = [[Paul Roos (Australian rules footballer)|Paul Roos]]
}}
| valign="top" |
{{Aussie rules team | title = {{AFL|WC}} 
| backpocket1 = 37 [[Adam Selwood]]
| fullback = 23 [[Darren Glass]]
| backpocket2 = 44 [[David Wirrpanda]]
| halfbackflank1 = 38 [[Brett Jones (footballer)|Brett Jones]]
| centrehalfback = 39 [[Adam Hunter (footballer)|Adam Hunter]]
| halfbackflank2 = 8 [[Beau Waters]]
| wing1 = 10 [[Michael Braun (footballer)|Michael Braun]]
| centre = 9 [[Ben Cousins]]
| wing2 = 32 [[Andrew Embley]]
| halfforwardflank1 = 17 [[Daniel Chick]]
| centrehalfforward = 29 [[Ashley Hansen]]
| halfforwardflank2 = 5 [[Tyson Stenglein]]
| forwardpocket1 = 7 [[Chad Fletcher]]
| fullforward = 21 [[Quinten Lynch]]
| forwardpocket2 = 18 [[Rowan Jones]]
| ruck = 20 [[Dean Cox (Australian footballer)|Dean Cox]]
| ruckrover = 3 [[Chris Judd]] (c)
| rover = 4 [[Daniel Kerr]]
| interchange1 = 35 [[Steven Armstrong]]
| interchange2 = 6 [[Drew Banfield]]
| interchange3 = 26 [[Sam Butler (footballer, born 1986)|Sam Butler]]
| interchange4 = 14 [[Mark Seaby]]
| interchange5 =
| interchange6 =
| coach = [[John Worsfold]]
}}
|}

===List===
{|style="width:100%;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"
| style="width:40%; text-align:center;"|'''{{AFL Syd}}'''
| style="width:20%; text-align:center;"|'''2006 AFL Grand Final'''
| style="width:40%; text-align:center;"|'''{{AFL|WC}}'''
|-
| style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|(12.12)
| style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|'''84 – 85'''
| style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|(12.13)
|}

{|style="width:100%;"
| style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;" |
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; margin:auto;"
|-
! text style="width:100px; text-align:left;"|Position
! text style="width:180px; text-align:left;"|Player
! text style="width:60px; text-align:center;"|{{tooltip|Poss.|Possessions}}
! text style="width:60px; text-align:center;"|Goals
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Forward||[[Adam Schneider]]||text style="text-align:center;"|14||text style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
||[[Barry Hall]]||text style="text-align:center;"|12||
|-
||[[Nic Fosdike]]||text style="text-align:center;"|20||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Half-Forward||[[Ryan O'Keefe]]||text style="text-align:center;"|15||text style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
||[[Michael O'Loughlin]]||text style="text-align:center;"|10||text style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
||[[Jude Bolton]]||text style="text-align:center;"|10||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Centre||[[Amon Buchanan]]||text style="text-align:center;"|15||
|-
||[[Brett Kirk]]||text style="text-align:center;"|27||
|-
||[[Luke Ablett]]||text style="text-align:center;"|5||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Half-Back||[[Tadhg Kennelly]]||text style="text-align:center;"|21||
|-
||[[Lewis Roberts-Thomson]]||text style="text-align:center;"|8||text style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
||[[Craig Bolton]]||text style="text-align:center;"|10||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Back||[[Ted Richards]]||text style="text-align:center;"|17||
|-
||[[Leo Barry]]||text style="text-align:center;"|11||
|-
||[[Nick Malceski]]||text style="text-align:center;"|10||text style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|{{rh}}|Rover||[[Jarrad McVeigh]]||text style="text-align:center;"|9||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="2"|Follower||[[Darren Jolly]]||text style="text-align:center;"|5||
|-
||[[Adam Goodes]]||text style="text-align:center;"|22||text style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="4"|Interchange||[[Ben Mathews]]||text style="text-align:center;"|10||text style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
||[[Nick Davis (footballer)|Nick Davis]]||text style="text-align:center;"|11||text style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
||[[Sean Dempster]]||text style="text-align:center;"|7||
|-
||[[Stephen Doyle (footballer)|Stephen Doyle]]||text style="text-align:center;"|6||
|-
! colspan="4" |
|-
|{{rh}}|Coach:||colspan="3"|[[Paul Roos (Australian rules footballer)|Paul Roos]]
|}

|  style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; margin:auto;"
|-
! text style="width:100px; text-align:left;"|Position
! text style="width:180px; text-align:left;"|Player
! text style="width:60px; text-align:center;"|{{tooltip|Poss.|Possessions}}
! text style="width:60px; text-align:center;"|Goals
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Forward||[[Steven Armstrong]]||text style="text-align:center;"|8||text style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
||[[Quinten Lynch]]||text style="text-align:center;"|11||text style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
||[[Mark Seaby]]||text style="text-align:center;"|2||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Half-Forward||[[Daniel Chick]]||text style="text-align:center;"|10||
|-
||[[Ashley Hansen]]||text style="text-align:center;"|11||text style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
||[[Tyson Stenglein]]||text style="text-align:center;"|23||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Centre||[[Andrew Embley]]||text style="text-align:center;"|26||text style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
||[[Ben Cousins]]||text style="text-align:center;"|18||text style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
||[[Michael Braun (footballer)|Michael Braun]]||text style="text-align:center;"|22||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Half-Back||[[Beau Waters]]||text style="text-align:center;"|26||
|-
||[[Adam Hunter (footballer)|Adam Hunter]]||text style="text-align:center;"|22||text style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
||[[Brett Jones (footballer)|Brett Jones]]||text style="text-align:center;"|16||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="3"|Back||[[David Wirrpanda]]||text style="text-align:center;"|13||
|-
||[[Darren Glass]]||text style="text-align:center;"|10||
|-
||[[Adam Selwood]]||text style="text-align:center;"|26||
|-
|{{rh}}|Rover||[[Daniel Kerr]]||text style="text-align:center;"|20||
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="2"|Follower||[[Dean Cox (Australian footballer)|Dean Cox]]||text style="text-align:center;"|20||
|-
||[[Chris Judd]]||text style="text-align:center;"|28||text style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|{{rh}} rowspan="4"|Interchange||[[Drew Banfield]]||text style="text-align:center;"|9||
|-
||[[Sam Butler (footballer, born 1986)|Sam Butler]]||text style="text-align:center;"|14||
|-
||[[Chad Fletcher]]||text style="text-align:center;"|25||
|-
||[[Rowan Jones]]||text style="text-align:center;"|13||
|-
! colspan="4" |
|-
|{{rh}}|Coach:||colspan="3"|[[John Worsfold]]
|}
|}

== Aftermath ==
West Coast's premiership victory was the eighth time in ten years, and the sixth consecutive year dating back to [[2001 AFL Grand Final|2001]], that a non-Victorian club had won the premiership, prompting then-AFL CEO [[Andrew Demetriou]] order an investigation into the under-performance of the Victorian clubs in the competition; to that point of time in history, {{AFL Ess}} was the last Victorian club to win a flag, in [[2000 AFL Grand Final|2000]], and {{AFL Col}} was the last Victorian club to play in a grand final, in [[2003 AFL Grand Final|2003]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/nsw/demetriou-victorian-clubs-need-help-ng-8e41746da1ae0a78102cf3ad6261be8d|title=Demetriou: Victorian clubs need help|publisher=PerthNow|first1=Jon|last1=Ralph|first2=Kelvin|last2=Healey|work=News Corp Australia|date=27 May 2007|accessdate=6 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-05-27/interstate-afl-dominance-leads-to-investigation/2560448|title=Interstate AFL dominance leads to investigation|publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] ([[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]])|date=27 May 2007|accessdate=6 October 2023}}</ref> This trend was changed, and in the seventeen ensuing seasons since, only two non-Victorian clubs &ndash; {{AFL Syd}} in [[2012 AFL Grand Final|2012]] and West Coast in [[2018 AFL Grand Final|2018]] &ndash; won the premiership.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/1226487/remember-when-2012-grand-final|title=Remember when .. 2012 Grand Final|publisher=Sydney Swans|first=Peter|last=Blucher|date=22 September 2022|accessdate=6 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-29/eagles-snatch-epic-grand-final-win-over-magpies/10320770|title=AFL grand final: West Coast beats Collingwood by five points at the MCG in classic decider|publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] ([[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]])|first=Andrew|last=McGarry|date=29 September 2018|accessdate=6 October 2023}}</ref> It was not until [[2024 AFL Grand Final|2024]] that two non-Victorian clubs again met in a grand final.

== See also ==
* [[2006 AFL finals series]]
* [[2006 AFL season]]

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{reflist}}

{{2006 West Coast Eagles premiership players}}
{{Sydney Swans}}
{{West Coast Eagles}}
{{2006 AFL season}}
{{Australian Football League}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Afl Grand Final}}
[[Category:VFL/AFL Grand Finals]]
[[Category:2006 Australian Football League season|Grand Final]]
[[Category:West Coast Eagles]]
[[Category:Sydney Swans]]