AFL Grand Final Grand Final Win-Loss Records

[GC2015]

Interesting to see which clubs perform well and which clubs don't when they qualify for the GF. Wasn't expecting Melbourne to top the list - I thought Hawthorn would definitely have the best winning percentage in GFs. Perhaps surprisingly (from my perspective at least), more than half of the non-Vic teams sit equal or above 50% win-loss records in the GF. So the non-Vic teams do tend to perform when they qualify for the biggest game of the year.

Club	Premierships	Runners-up	Win Percentage
Melbourne	13	5	72.2%
Hawthorn	13	6	68.4%
Adelaide	2	1	66.6%
Brisbane	4	2	66.6%
Fitzroy	8	5	61.5%
West Coast	4	3	57.1%
Carlton	16	13	55.1
Essendon	16*	14	53.3%
Richmond	13	12**	52.0%
Bulldogs	2	2	50.0%
Geelong	10	10**	50.0%
Port Adelaide	1	1	50.0%
North Melbourne	4	5	44.4%
Collingwood	16	27	37.2%
South Melb/Sydney	5	14	26.3%
St Kilda	1	6	14.2%
Fremantle	0	1	0%
GWS	0	1	0%
Gold Coast	0	0	TBD

* 2 of Essendon's 16 premierships were won via a top 4 round robin finals series in 1897 & 1924.
** 1 runners-up performance for Richmond and Geelong was completed under a top 4 round robin finals series in 1897 & 1924.

 

[Cyclops]

Melbourne grabbed most of their flags in the Smith/Barrassi era, with a lot of MCG Grand Finals.

Fantastic effort but it did help to gave a home Grand Final.

These days all the MCG tenants have that when playing non tenants, which is sad. I'm very proud of our 2023 flag, but I have to admit that Brisbane 2024 flag was "worth " more. Much much harder for them to win.

 

[Colonial]

 

[hawkman]

Interesting to see which clubs perform well and which clubs don't when they qualify for the GF. Wasn't expecting Melbourne to top the list - I thought Hawthorn would definitely have the best winning percentage in GFs. Perhaps surprisingly (from my perspective at least), more than half of the non-Vic teams sit equal or above 50% win-loss records in the GF. So the non-Vic teams do tend to perform when they qualify for the biggest game of the year.

Club	Premierships	Runners-up	Total GFs	Win Percentage
Melbourne	13	5	18	72.2%
Hawthorn	13	6	19	68.4%
Adelaide	2	1	3	66.6%
Brisbane	4	2	6	66.6%
Fitzroy	8	5	13	61.5%
West Coast	4	3	7	57.1%
Carlton	16	13	29	55.1
Essendon	16	14	30	53.3%
Richmond	13	12	25	52.0%
Bulldogs	2	2	4	50.0%
Geelong	10	10	20	50.0%
Port Adelaide	1	1	2	50.0%
North Melbourne	4	5	9	44.4%
Collingwood	16	27	43	37.2%
South Melb/Sydney	5	14	19	26.3%
St Kilda	1	6	7	14.2%
Fremantle	0	1	1	0%
GWS	0	1	1	0%
Gold Coast	0	0	0	TBD

Essendon only have 14 Grand Final wins. They won 2 flags in round robin tournaments

 

[The King!]

I remember just dreaming of us making a grand final… sick of losing them.


Hawthorn fans have had a good life.

 

[GC2015]

Melbourne grabbed most of their flags in the Smith/Barrassi era, with a lot of MCG Grand Finals.

Fantastic effort but it did help to gave a home Grand Final.

These days all the MCG tenants have that when playing non tenants, which is sad. I'm very proud of our 2023 flag, but I have to admit that Brisbane 2024 flag was "worth " more. Much much harder for them to win.

I'm impressed that as a Collingwood supporter you're willing to admit Melbourne used to have a big advantage over everyone by being the sole tenant of the MCG and now all the MCG tenants share that advantage over Marvel-only tenants + non-Vic teams.

Well done

Essendon only have 14 Grand Final wins. They won 2 flags in round robin tournaments

I've added the asterisk to point out 2 of Essendon's flags in 1897 & 1924 were won via a top 4 round robin finals series.

 

[rapidfire7]

Further to a point about Essendon already mentioned, Geelong have only been in 19 Grand Finals and have a 10 and 9 record. They may have been runners up, but there was no GF in 1897.

Same story for Richmond in 1924 Round robin final series.

 

[GROTTO]

Interesting to see which clubs perform well and which clubs don't when they qualify for the GF. Wasn't expecting Melbourne to top the list - I thought Hawthorn would definitely have the best winning percentage in GFs. Perhaps surprisingly (from my perspective at least), more than half of the non-Vic teams sit equal or above 50% win-loss records in the GF. So the non-Vic teams do tend to perform when they qualify for the biggest game of the year.

Club	Premierships	Runners-up	Total GFs	Win Percentage
Melbourne	13	5	18	72.2%
Hawthorn	13	6	19	68.4%
Adelaide	2	1	3	66.6%
Brisbane	4	2	6	66.6%
Fitzroy	8	5	13	61.5%
West Coast	4	3	7	57.1%
Carlton	16	13	29	55.1
Essendon	16*	14	30	53.3%
Richmond	13	12	25	52.0%
Bulldogs	2	2	4	50.0%
Geelong	10	10	20	50.0%
Port Adelaide	1	1	2	50.0%
North Melbourne	4	5	9	44.4%
Collingwood	16	27	43	37.2%
South Melb/Sydney	5	14	19	26.3%
St Kilda	1	6	7	14.2%
Fremantle	0	1	1	0%
GWS	0	1	1	0%
Gold Coast	0	0	0	TBD

* 2 of Essendon's 16 premierships were won via a top 4 round robin finals series in 1897 & 1924.

You forgot to include the Crows Grand Final win in 2018, I have proof.

 

[GC2015]

Further to a point about Essendon already mentioned, Geelong have only been in 19 Grand Finals and have a 10 and 9 record. They may have been runners up, but there was no GF in 1897.

Same story for Richmond in 1924 Round robin final series.

Double asterisk added for those two teams and GF total column removed for accuracy.

 

[Linda Lovelace]

Luckily the ridiculous 'challenge' system existed or our win/loss percentage would be even further in the toilet. We benefited more than anyone for having mulligans up our sleeves. We don't choke grand finals as long as you give us another crack at them, I guess.

1924 is also particularly hilarious. Essendon won the round robin on percentage, not outright wins. They lost the final game of the round robin to the 'runner-up' and then subsequently lost a Victorian championship game vs VFA's Footscray, who joined the VFL the next year.

So we have a 'premier' who lost its last two major finals consecutively in a divided amateur state competition and it goes down in the history books the same as a team who wins a grand final in a professional national competition. What a weird way to honour 'history'.

All this historical silliness is why AFL flags should be counted separately (cue the 'bUt iT's tHe sAmE cOmPeTiTiOn' nuffies).

 

[rapidfire7]

Keeping in mind that there was no GF in 1897, Geelong actually started off very well winning 5 of their first 6 Grand Finals between 1925 - 1952.

The only loss being to Collingwood in 1930, where despite convincingly beating the Pies in the 'Preliminary Final', lost in the 'Grand Final' the following week under the challenge system of the day.

As many would know, this also resulted in the Pies winning an incredible 4 flags in a row.

 

[Gavin Excell]

The stats post war are probably more telling

 

[Hydatina Physis]

I wish the team that finished higher in the H&A got a home grand final. Does any other competition in the world always host their decider at the one venue?

Might’ve made sense for a VFL comp but not for a national comp.

 

[hawkman]

The stats post war are probably more telling

From 1931 probably better as that was the start of genuine Grand Finals every year

 

[Saints4ever]

I don’t like this thread.

 

[Pistol Night]

Only 11 more straight flags and we'll be back to level pegging

 

[Pomsta]

I wish the team that finished higher in the H&A got a home grand final. Does any other competition in the world always host their decider at the one venue?

Might’ve made sense for a VFL comp but not for a national comp.

FA Cup??

Most other competitions in the world do not have a finals series so whoever finishes top wins the league.

 

[BigFrizz36]

I wish the team that finished higher in the H&A got a home grand final. Does any other competition in the world always host their decider at the one venue?

Might’ve made sense for a VFL comp but not for a national comp.

NFL roster the superbowl in advance. Winning record doesnt come into it. Could have a team with a lesser record play at their home stadium.

NRL is always in Sydney.

FA cup is always at Wembley .

World cricket test championship is always at Lords. Luckily the Poms haven't been good enough to play in it from memory.

 

[Hydatina Physis]

NFL roster the superbowl in advance. Winning record doesnt come into it. Could have a team with a lesser record play at their home stadium.

NRL is always in Sydney.

FA cup is always at Wembley .

World cricket test championship is always at Lords. Luckily the Poms haven't been good enough to play in it from memory.

Didn't know that, cheers. Figured NRL would float.

Probably a silly question but does the NFL roster it between the teams that will play in it or is it possible to have both teams miss out on a home game?

 

[GC2015]

NRL is always in Sydney.

Didn't know that, cheers. Figured NRL would float.

The 2025 NRL Grand Final host has not been confirmed at this stage. Queensland and Victoria have both bid to take it away from New South Wales. Last year, the GF host was confirmed in early March so logic would dictate we should find out the 2025 host at some point over the next month.

Instead of locking themslves to one venue for a ridiculous amount of time, the NRL wants to auction the GF every year just like the NFL does with the Super Bowl. They do the same thing with the third State of Origin game every year. This gives them leverage over all state governments in Australia and can be used as a negotiating tactic.

Don't be surprised if the 2025 NRL GF is played in Brisbane or Melbourne.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Those early seasons with the challenge system can **** off.

1909 - South Melbourne lost the Grand Final to Carlton.

Challenge - Create a new game. South Melbourne win the new grand final over Carlton.

 

[2009premiers]

Didn't know that, cheers. Figured NRL would float.

Probably a silly question but does the NFL roster it between the teams that will play in it or is it possible to have both teams miss out on a home game?

Only two teams in history have won a home Super Bowl 2020 and 2021.

It is rare for the host stadium team to even make it (1/16 chance)

The host is known usually four or five years in advance, and it is usually rotated in warmer climates. Occasionally a new stadium in cold weather is granted a Super Bowl.
Only New Orleans, Tampa, Miami, Arizona, Atlanta, L.A. have a small chance of hosting a home Super Bowl as they are warm climate teams, but they also need to make it that far in that same year.

 

[BigFrizz36]

Didn't know that, cheers. Figured NRL would float.

Probably a silly question but does the NFL roster it between the teams that will play in it or is it possible to have both teams miss out on a home game?

NFL roster it way in advance (2027 has already been announced as Los Angeles) so it can be a competing team, just relies on a team having a good year in the same year that their stadium is hosting. As a general rule they do like to play in warmer cities or at least a fully indoor stadium. They are never going to play outdoors at Buffalo for example.

 

[BigFrizz36]

[/QUOTE]

Only two teams in history have won a home Super Bowl 2020 and 2021.

It is rare for the host stadium team to even make it (1/16 chance)

The host is known usually four or five years in advance, and it is usually rotated in warmer climates. Occasionally a new stadium in cold weather is granted a Super Bowl.
Only New Orleans, Tampa, Miami, Arizona, Atlanta, L.A. have a small chance of hosting a home Super Bowl as they are warm climate teams, but they also need to make it that far in that same year.

San Francisco is hosting next year so they are a chance, had a poor season this year but were ravaged by injury. Vegas is obviously going to be in the roster fairly frequently but their team is a fair way off at the moment.

 

[BigFrizz36]

The first 2 haven't been at Lord's

Next two are and likely to be there from now on. Might be dependent on which ground pays the most. The point of the argument though was that it is another sporting " grand final" not necessarily played at the team with the best records home ground .