The 1989 VFL season was the 93rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition and administrative body in Victoria and, by reason of it featuring clubs from New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, the de facto highest level senior competition in Australia. The season featured fourteen clubs, ran from 31 March until 30 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.
| 1989 VFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 14 |
| Premiers | Hawthorn 8th premiership |
| Minor premiers | Hawthorn 7th minor premiership |
| pre-season cup | Melbourne 1st pre-season cup win |
| Brownlow Medallist | Paul Couch (Geelong) |
| Coleman Medallist | Jason Dunstall (Hawthorn) |
| Attendance | |
| Matches played | 160 |
| Total attendance | 3,581,822 (22,386 per match) |
| Highest | 94,796 (Grand Final, Hawthorn vs. Geelong) |
The premiership was won by the Hawthorn Football Club for the eighth time and second time consecutively, after it defeated Geelong by six points in the 1989 VFL Grand Final.
Night series
| 1989 Night Series Grand Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geelong | def. by | Melbourne | |||
| 3.2 (20) 6.6 (42) 9.7 (61) 9.13 (67) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 2.5 (17) 4.7 (31) 5.11 (41) 10.16 (76) | |||
Home-and-away season
Round 1
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
| (P) | Premiers |
| Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawthorn (P) | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 2678 | 1748 | 153.2 | 76 |
| 2 | Essendon | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2240 | 1705 | 131.4 | 68 |
| 3 | Geelong | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2916 | 1987 | 146.8 | 64 |
| 4 | Melbourne | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 1876 | 1944 | 96.5 | 56 |
| 5 | Collingwood | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2216 | 1964 | 112.8 | 52 |
| 6 | Fitzroy | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2069 | 2125 | 97.4 | 48 |
| 7 | Sydney | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1959 | 1958 | 100.1 | 44 |
| 8 | Carlton | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 1921 | 2079 | 92.4 | 38 |
| 9 | North Melbourne | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2061 | 2301 | 89.6 | 36 |
| 10 | Brisbane Bears | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 1792 | 2274 | 78.8 | 32 |
| 11 | West Coast | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1948 | 2247 | 86.7 | 28 |
| 12 | St Kilda | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 2108 | 2502 | 84.3 | 28 |
| 13 | Footscray | 22 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 1614 | 1855 | 87.0 | 26 |
| 14 | Richmond | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 1725 | 2434 | 70.9 | 20 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 94.6
Source: AFL Tables
Finals series
Finals week 1
| Elimination Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 9 September (2:30 pm) | Melbourne 17.9 (111) | def. | Collingwood 13.10 (88) | VFL Park (crowd: 63062) | Report |
| Qualifying Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 10 September (2:30 pm) | Essendon 24.13 (157) | def. | Geelong 11.15 (81) | MCG (crowd: 75861) | Report |
Finals week 2
| Semi-finals | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF1: Sunday, 17 September (2:30 pm) | Geelong 22.21 (153) | def. | Melbourne 12.18 (90) | MCG (crowd: 69082) | Report |
| SF2: Saturday, 16 September (2:30 pm) | Hawthorn 16.16 (112) | def. | Essendon 11.10 (76) | VFL Park (crowd: 66003) | Report |
Preliminary final
| Preliminary final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 23 September (2:30 pm) | Essendon 10.10 (70) | def. by | Geelong 24.20 (164) | VFL Park (crowd: 67,892) | Report |
Grand final
| Grand final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 30 September (2:50 pm) | Hawthorn 21.18 (144) | def. | Geelong 21.12 (138) | MCG (crowd: 94,796) | Report |
| |||||
Season notes
- Following their Round 1 match in the reserves competition, both St Kilda and Brisbane Bears were found to have fielded unregistered players: the VFL fined both clubs and ordered that they receive zero premiership points for the match.[1]
- In Round 6, Geelong's losing score of 25.13 (163) against Hawthorn remains the highest losing score in VFL/AFL history.
- The Tribunal was given extra authority when trial by video was introduced in Round 6. Fitzroy's Michael Conlan and Collingwood's Doug Barwick became the first League players charged by the Commission on video evidence and both were suspended by the Tribunal.[2]
- The wettest Melbourne winter since 1952[3] saw horrible conditions between Rounds 11 and 13 that produced several unusually low scores:
- in Round 11 on the Saturday before the Queen's Birthday, Fitzroy's score of 1.8 (14) was the lowest since Footscray kicked an identical score against Geelong in 1965, and the first single goal score since Carlton's 1.11 (17) on Anzac Day of 1968.
- on the same day, Brad Hardie kicked 3.4 (22) – with all three goals coming in the first fifteen minutes – of only 3.8 (26) scored by the Bears, this being the first time a player had kicked all his team's goals (based on a qualification of a team total of three or more goals) since Alex Ruscuklic on the same weekend of 1967.[4]
- in Round 13, Essendon and Footscray played the lowest scoring game since the 1927 Grand Final, with the teams combining for only 6.15 (51) on a muddy Windy Hill.
- Geelong set a record for the most points scored in the home-and-away season, 2916. Footscray's season aggregate score of 1614 points was the lowest since 1972.
Awards
- The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Tim Watson of Essendon.
- The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Gary Ablett of Geelong.
- The Under 19's Grand Final won by Richmond against North Melbourne*
- The Reserves Grand Final won by Fitzroy against Geelong.[5]
- The Seniors Grand Final won by Hawthorn against Geelong.
- The Under 19's Grand Final was played at VFL Park the week after Under 19's Preliminary Final Replay and the Reserves Grand Final and Seniors Grand Final were played at the MCG
References
- Stephen Rodgers: Every Game Ever Played VFL/AFL Results 1897–1991 3rd Edition 1992. Penguin Books Australia ISBN 0-670-90526-7.
Sources
- 1989 VFL season at AFL Tables
- 1989 VFL season at Australian Football
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