Best grand final of the modern era (since 1999)

Best grand final of the modern era/since 1999

  • 2003 - Brisbane vs Collingwood

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2013 - Hawthorn vs Fremantle

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2015 - Hawthorn vs West Coast

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2019 - Richmond vs GWS

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    245
Aug 27, 2014
38,196
41,193
spacetime
AFL Club
Carlton
Other Teams
there are no other teams worthy
2008 was pretty epic, biggest GF upset of my lifetime
1998 and 2008 were the same thing, where a team totally threw away a premiership by horrible kicking for goal and the opposing team, knew they had the most amazing opportunity you will ever get and seized it.
 

lordbob

Team Captain
Aug 21, 2009
504
632
AFL Club
Hawthorn
1998 and 2008 were the same thing, where a team totally threw away a premiership by horrible kicking for goal and the opposing team, knew they had the most amazing opportunity you will ever get and seized it.
it was 18.7 v 11.23

11 of those 23 behinds were rushed. so if we look at actual scoring shots it was 25 v 23 shots for goal. the team who had the most scoring shots won so tell me again how it was geelong's inaccuracy?
 

joe444

Club Legend
Jul 9, 2006
1,980
1,804
Franga
AFL Club
Geelong
it was 18.7 v 11.23

11 of those 23 behinds were rushed. so if we look at actual scoring shots it was 25 v 23 shots for goal. the team who had the most scoring shots won so tell me again how it was geelong's inaccuracy?
Indeed, but it will go down in history as the flag that forced the league to change the rules.
 
Oct 20, 2004
17,082
20,865
Brisbane
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Pompey
it was 18.7 v 11.23

11 of those 23 behinds were rushed. so if we look at actual scoring shots it was 25 v 23 shots for goal. the team who had the most scoring shots won so tell me again how it was geelong's inaccuracy?
I agree that the rushed behinds make the scorecard look worse than it was. I think that the inaccuracy debate comes more so from Geelong's failure to put the game to bed by half time, partially through some appalling missed shots. The two Mooney shots and the Ottens miss in particular stick in the memory.

Part of it was Geelong's inaccuracy. Part of it was the inability to turn a win in the midfield into a goal. Part of it was an inability to deal with the admittedly brilliant rushed behinds tactic. It was basically a whole lot of things that all came together, all at once.
 

Major Colvin

Norm Smith Medallist
May 8, 2006
5,038
4,559
AFL Club
Melbourne
I voted 2012 because of I think of all the modern Grand Finals it pretty much had it all.
  • lots of great goals and passages of play
  • see sawing momentum and changes of the lead well into the last quarter.
  • tough encounter and a fairly epic finish

2006 I would put second perhaps because WC lead for the entire game

Third, I'd day 2018 GF as it started and ended well but the middle quarters were a bit scrappy and dull.

Then there's a few Granny's that were tough and close but not a great spectacle (eye of the beholder I suppose) - 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010.

2004 is the most underrated modern GF for mine, and perhaps because the margin blew out in the last but it was one of the fiercest contests for nearly 3 quarters between two of the heavyweights of the time.
 
Sep 14, 2005
18,420
18,659
AFL Club
Collingwood
People seem to be voting for the ones with the closest margins, but I don’t reckon they have to necessarily be the best GFs, and the quality of the game in between should be factored in more.

I’ve voted for 2011. Probably the best GF played in the last 25 years IMO.

4 goals apiece at QT, 9-8 at HT and 12-13 at 3QT. Was a very high quality game between two juggernauts at the time with the last quarter blow out ruining it. Before that, was an absolute classic.

Cloke was tearing that game apart early with 3 goals and half a dozen marks within the first quarter and a half. Tomahawk unveiled himself as the next big power forward in the premiership quarter with 3 himself, and Stevie J ript Pies hearts out in the last.

Pendles put on a masterclass in midfield with 33 and 7 tackles and Selwood did the same for the Cats with 28 and 7 tackles. Bartel had 26 and 3 goals as the Cats most influential midfielder though and ended up with the Norm Smith.

Was a great GF, albeit on the losing end of it.
 
Mar 21, 2008
4,385
4,003
FNQ
AFL Club
Tasmania
Other Teams
Devils, Tigers & Jackjumpers
Depends what you value, and the margin doesn't matter that much. 2018 and 2005 are the most overrated games on the list, crap footy from not great teams who were still around when GF day dawned. Last year's Dogs v Dees game was a fantastic game of footy from both sides until it suddenly and almost inexplicably transformed into an awesome display by one...most absorbing 12 goal thumping in history...

For me, the background story is what makes it. 2008 was the biggest upset probably since Collingwood stopped Melbourne in 1958, which almost no one on Bigfooty would have been around to see. 2004, 2009 and 2011 featured the best pairs of combatants since the greatest pairing ever, the Hawks and Bombers in the eighties, truly titanic battles. The finals series as a whole was capped off best in 2016, 1994 right behind it, and they make far-fetched sporting movies about seasons like the one the Hawks had in 2014. Big rivalries in 2005-06 were absorbing, even though it wasn't great footy. Then there are those which were, with the most memorable moments, like 2010, 2002, 1989, and those we wish never happened, like 2019, 1999...and maybe last Saturday...!

I feel privileged my initiation was those mid-80's GF's, and in being able to see 9 of those Hawk flags sitting in front of the tv, so following those in detail makes me love them more than a non-supporter. So ignoring my bias, the biggest and best for me was 2009...both sides at their peak and neither letting up...
 
Sep 7, 2009
5,857
5,932
Bull Creek WA
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Real Madrid, Man City, GS Warriors
Adel v North was crazy.

People go on about North's bad kicking but in the 3rd qtr it was

Adel: 5.8
NM: 2.0

Yes Adel could've been miles behind but they managed to have 13 shots to 2 in that qtr

2nd qtr

Adel: 1.1
NM: 2.11

Geez

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app
98 and 08 were weird, lost by teams kicking more behinds than goals
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
Would be the highlight of the last 20 years for you as an Essendon supporter wouldn't it?

Thats a footy fan for you, not the club fan. A lover of the game v the 'my club is best, who cares about the rest' fan.

Its why its very hard to ignore the TV ratings, as 'the best of.'

Shane Heard is obviously a lover of the game, Kipz ??????
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
I voted 2012 because of I think of all the modern Grand Finals it pretty much had it all.
  • lots of great goals and passages of play
  • see sawing momentum and changes of the lead well into the last quarter.
  • tough encounter and a fairly epic finish

2006 I would put second perhaps because WC lead for the entire game

Third, I'd day 2018 GF as it started and ended well but the middle quarters were a bit scrappy and dull.

Then there's a few Granny's that were tough and close but not a great spectacle (eye of the beholder I suppose) - 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010.

2004 is the most underrated modern GF for mine, and perhaps because the margin blew out in the last but it was one of the fiercest contests for nearly 3 quarters between two of the heavyweights of the time.

2012 spot on. I'd add Adam Goodes to your dot points, courage personified.
 

tony__montana

Norm Smith Medallist
Jan 25, 2018
5,388
17,846
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Liverpool
2009
2018 and
2011 for the first 3 quarters - some really high quality footy before the cats stomped them in the 4th
 

Saints4ever

Team Captain
Aug 12, 2022
399
1,201
AFL Club
St Kilda
2009 for me.

The fact that saints side never won a flag will haunt me until the day they finally break through.

So most likely will haunt me for the rest of my life.
 

Falcon3518

Norm Smith Medallist
Mar 13, 2022
5,350
3,235
AFL Club
Richmond
Excluding my team

1. 2018
2. 2008
3. 2016
4. 2012
5. 2009



Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
Feb 5, 2018
13,936
33,319
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Chicago Blackhawks Melb Renegades
I don't suspect I'm in the minority, but I haven't seen anybody mention the day itself adding to the experience.

For example, in 2016 I watched from an Aussie bar in Munich, Germany alongside 200 Australians all getting drunk at breakfast time. 4 Swans supporters and 196 neutral fans going for the Dogs. My favourite Grand Final experience of all time from a perspective of Australian rules as a sport.

In 2018 my wife and I had just bought our first home and hosted a big Grand Final party. That included pre and post game visits to a pub just down the road that had become our local. Awesome memories of that one.

Even this year, despite possibly being the worst Grand Final of the century alongside 2019, we hosted a party in our newly built home but now the day is ruled by kids. The house just felt so alive and it was tremendous that footy brought us all together for the day.
 
Apr 22, 2007
42,065
50,206
Bentleigh
AFL Club
Geelong
I don't suspect I'm in the minority, but I haven't seen anybody mention the day itself adding to the experience.

For example, in 2016 I watched from an Aussie bar in Munich, Germany alongside 200 Australians all getting drunk at breakfast time. 4 Swans supporters and 196 neutral fans going for the Dogs. My favourite Grand Final experience of all time from a perspective of Australian rules as a sport.

In 2018 my wife and I had just bought our first home and hosted a big Grand Final party. That included pre and post game visits to a pub just down the road that had become our local. Awesome memories of that one.

Even this year, despite possibly being the worst Grand Final of the century alongside 2019, we hosted a party in our newly built home but now the day is ruled by kids. The house just felt so alive and it was tremendous that footy brought us all together for the day.
1993
Pretty forgettable GF if you weren't an Essendon fan but I was at a house-warming and got lucky with this Amazonian bird

Carry on
 
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