rank the grand final runner ups from 2007- 2022.

[geelong_crazy26]

Rank the quality of the grand finalists the past 16 years from best to worst.
here is the list copy pasted. I will get the ball rolling by simply putting my 1-16 next to the runner up column to get the ball rolling.

Season	Premier	Runner Up	Score
2022	Geelong	Sydney (12)	20.13 (133) to 8.4 (52)
2021	Melbourne	Western Bulldogs (11)	21.14 (140) d 10.6 (66)
2020	Richmond	Geelong (13)	12.9 (81) d 7.8 (50)
2019	Richmond	GWS Giants (16)	17.12 (114) d 3.7 (25)
2018	West Coast Eagles	Collingwood (14)	11.13 (79) d. 11.8 (74)
2017	Richmond	Adelaide (15)	16.12 (108) d. 8.12 (60)
2016	Western Bulldogs	Sydney (10)	13.11 (89) d. 10.7 (67)
2015	Hawthorn	West Coast Eagles (8)	16.11 (107) d. 8.13 (61)
2014	Hawthorn	Sydney (6)	21.11 (137) d. 11.8 (74)
2013	Hawthorn	Fremantle (7)	11.11 (77) d. 8.14 (62)
2012	Sydney Swans	Hawthorn (5)	14.7 (91) - 11.15 (81)
2011	Geelong	Collingwood (3)	18.11 (119) - 12.9 (81)
2010	Collingwood	St Kilda (4)	1. 9.14 (68) - 10.8 (68) 2. 16.12 (108) - 7.10 (52) - replay
2009	Geelong	St Kilda (2)	12.8 (80) - 9.14 (68)
2008	Hawthorn	Geelong (1)	18.7 (115) - 11.23 (89)
2007	Geelong	Port Adelaide (9)	24.19 (163) - 6.8 (44)

 

[Franc de Borges]

Um, they’re all 2nd.

 

[Baggins15]

1. Geelong 2008
2. St Kilda 2009
3. Collingwood 2011
4. Hawthorn 2012
5. St Kilda 2010
6. Sydney 2016
7. Sydney 2014
8. Adelaide 2017
9. Fremantle 2013
10. West Coast 2015
11. Geelong 2020
12. Bulldogs 2021
13. Sydney 2022
14. Collingwood 2018
15. Port Adelaide 2007
16. GWS 2019

Hard to split St Kilda 2009 and Collingwood 2011, but the rest is pretty straightforward

 

[BigVic]

1. Geelong 2008
2. Collingwood 2011
3. St Kilda 2009
4. Sydney 2016
5. Hawthorn 2012
6. St Kilda 2010
7. Sydney 2014
8. Adelaide 2017
9. West Coast 2015
10. Fremantle 2013
11. Adelaide Crows 2017
12. Collingwood 2018
13. Geelong 2020
14. GWS 2019
15. Sydney 2022
16. Port Adelaide 2007

 

[Falconista]

1. Geelong 2008
2. St Kilda 2009
3. Collingwood 2011
4. Hawthorn 2012
5. St Kilda 2010
6. Sydney 2014
7. Adelaide 2017
8. Geelong 2020
9. Sydney 2016
10. W.Bulldogs 2021
11. Fremantle 2013
12. West Coast 2015
13. Sydney 2022
14. Collingwood 2018
15. Port Adelaide 2007
16. GWS 2019

 

[White Dogg]

Geelong 2008
St Kilda 2009
Collingwood 2011
Hawthorn 2012
St Kilda 2010

daylight to the rest

Easy to forget how strong that era of footy was and the Carlton side from that era would be on a par with the Richmond side that won 3 flags. When you compare those Carlton and Richmond lists head to head you see the difference in quality between them isn't much.

Worst runner up is easily GWS 2019. Hands down the worst side to make a grand final since Carlton 1999. Collingwood losing the preliminary final to GWS in 2019 is also the biggest finals choke seen since we lost the 1999 preliminary final to Carlton.

 

[Walter H White]

Depends if you're ranking just based on their performance on the day or a combination of GF performance and performance over the season.

Geelong 08, St. Kilda 09/10, Collingwood 11, Hawthorn 12 are all comfortably the best and I'd argue better teams than many of the actual premiers in recent years.

GWS 19 comfortably the worst for a combination of awful GF performance (worse than Port 07) and this was a team that finished 6th I think (Port 07 had a very good season up until the GF).

Everyone else is somewhere in between. I think Sydney 22 are better than some suggest. They won 9 straight teams and beat the reigning premiers in an MCG QF. They just had a shocker on GF day. Similar to Sydney 14, WC 15 and Adelaide 17.

 

[Walter H White]

Depends if you're ranking just based on their performance on the day or a combination of GF performance and performance over the season.

Geelong 08, St. Kilda 09/10, Collingwood 11, Hawthorn 12 are all comfortably the best and I'd argue better teams than many of the actual premiers in recent years.

GWS 19 comfortably the worst for a combination of awful GF performance (worse than Port 07) and this was a team that finished 6th I think (Port 07 had a very good season up until the GF).

Everyone else is somewhere in between. I think Sydney 22 are better than some suggest. They won 9 straight teams and beat the reigning premiers in an MCG QF. They just had a shocker on GF day. Similar to Sydney 14, WC 15 and Adelaide 17.

The hardest to rank is Geelong 2020 because that was such a strange season (COVID hubs and no home games/finals for some teams, reduced length games). Hard to compare the relative quality in that season.

 

[Walter H White]

Freo 13 another strange one. I feel like that was a very good team coming up against a great team (I think it was Hawthorn's best H+A team from that era) but a really average quality GF. Maybe Hawthorn a bit spent after the epic PF with Geelong (whereas Hawks had close prelims but dominant GFs in the next two years). Still, that Freo team was probably in the top half of these GF losing teams.

 

[Walter H White]

1. Geelong 2008
2. St. Kilda 2009
3. Collingwood 2011
4. Hawthorn 2012
5. St. Kilda 2010
6. Sydney 2014
7. Fremantle 2013
8. Sydney 2016
9. West Coast 2015
10. Collingwood 2018
11. Adelaide 2017
12. Sydney 2022
13. Geelong 2020
14. Western Bulldogs 2021
15. Port Adelaide 2007
16. GWS 2019

 

[Freomaniac]

Freo 13 another strange one. I feel like that was a very good team coming up against a great team (I think it was Hawthorn's best H+A team from that era) but a really average quality GF. Maybe Hawthorn a bit spent after the epic PF with Geelong (whereas Hawks had close prelims but dominant GFs in the next two years). Still, that Freo team was probably in the top half of these GF losing teams.

I am a bit biased towards Freo....

It's hard to gauge them based on the final result...

Way better than ports 2007 side and GWS 2019 side.

Yet..... All those grand final sides that lost between 2008-12 were all strong teams

 

[Warhorse]

I think Geelong 2008 and St Kilda 2009/2010 would beat last year's Geelong team. The Fremantle team 2013ish would also give them a run for there money. I think the Collingwood team of 2011 was slightly overated

 

[Dark Eagle 9]

West Coast beat every opponent in 2015. Gave Hawks a beat down in the qualifying too. Just didn't rock up GF day. Rattled a bit by that Herald Sun Chicky article before the game lol

 

[HTPunter]

1. Geelong 2008
2. St Kilda 2009
3. Collingwood 2011
4. Hawthorn 2012
5. St Kilda 2010
6. Sydney 2016
7. Sydney 2014
8. Adelaide 2017
9. Fremantle 2013
10. West Coast 2015
11. Geelong 2020
12. Bulldogs 2021
13. Sydney 2022
14. Collingwood 2018
15. Port Adelaide 2007
16. GWS 2019

Hard to split St Kilda 2009 and Collingwood 2011, but the rest is pretty straightforward

yep, there’s minor differences such as I’d take Sydney 2022 over Dogs 2021 & Geelong 2020, but overall I’d say you’ve summed up the tiers well

1st tier: sides that were or had claims to being the best side that year, lost a tough GF day
2nd tier: sides that had claims to be the best side, well beaten on GF day
3rd tier: sides that were 3-4 during the year, beaten by the obvious best side
4th tier: surprise grand final, flogged

 

[Osho]

I'm just waiting for RFC fans to become aware of this thread ...

 

[Papa G]

Sydney 16 would have to be the best. Only Blatant cheating stopped them winning.

 

[Walter H White]

I think Geelong 2008 and St Kilda 2009/2010 would beat last year's Geelong team. The Fremantle team 2013ish would also give them a run for there money. I think the Collingwood team of 2011 was slightly overated

I wouldn't say they were too overrated. Only by David King who thought they would be too good for us on GF day despite us beating them twice that season. Any team that has a % of around 170% is very, very, very good and they won a flag the year before. I also think they were a bit gassed after that close Hawthorn game and that showed when we ran away with it in the final quarter (but that doesn't take anything away from how good our performance was on the day). I still think that is the highest quality game I've ever seen (by both sides) until we ran away with it in the last.

 

[Walter H White]

I am a bit biased towards Freo....

It's hard to gauge them based on the final result...

Way better than ports 2007 side and GWS 2019 side.

Yet..... All those grand final sides that lost between 2008-12 were all strong teams

Oh, light years better than those two. Definitely a very, very good football team.

 

[Walter H White]

West Coast beat every opponent in 2015. Gave Hawks a beat down in the qualifying too. Just didn't rock up GF day. Rattled a bit by that Herald Sun Chicky article before the game lol

This is why the GF being at the MCG every year is clearly unfair (even if I personally enjoy it being at the MCG). What's to say WC wouldn't have won the 2015 flag if it was played in Perth (as they had earned that right as the higher seed)? I think Hawks probably would have won, but it would have been an interesting experiment to see it played in Perth.

 

[Noidnadroj]

yep, there’s minor differences such as I’d take Sydney 2022 over Dogs 2021 & Geelong 2020, but overall I’d say you’ve summed up the tiers well

1st tier: sides that were or had claims to being the best side that year, lost a tough GF day
2nd tier: sides that had claims to be the best side, well beaten on GF day
3rd tier: sides that were 3-4 during the year, beaten by the obvious best side
4th tier: surprise grand final, flogged

That’s a good way to look at it. The problem with these types of rankings is it’s largely based on the actual GF result, with scant regard for everything that came before it. So if it’s a ‘close’ GF then the opponent is seen as high quality, and if they have an off day and get pantsed then they are not.

Example: Saints of 2010 v Adelaide of 2017.

Saints finished 3rd with a 15-6-1 record and percentage of 121%. 8th in points for, 1st in points against. During the season lost to eventual Premiers Pies by 48-points. Won 2 x closely fought finals leading into GF by 4 points and 22 points.

Lost GF replay by 56 points. Were dominated in first GF and very lucky to get a draw.

Crows finished top with 15-6-1 record. Lost last 2 games of H&A when top spot was already locked away. Percentage of 136%. 1st in points for (250 points BETTER than next best - 4th in points against). Beat eventual Premiers Richmond by 76-points during season. Won their 2 x lead in finals by 36 points and 61 points. Were warm favourites leading into GF.

So people understandably mix the 2010 Saints (average top-4 record with % of 121%, flogged by premiers during season, close fought lead in finals wins etc….) with the Saints of 2009.

So everything during the season and during finals points to Adelaide being a more dominant GF team than the Saints. The ‘lucky’ draw the Saints got in a game the Pies largely dominated makes them look like a really strong GF loser. The replay was a far better reflection of the Saints credentials as a GF loser based on H&A performance, their game against the eventual Premier during the season, and their lead-in finals wins.

Across entirety of 2009-10, Saints went:

19-0 with percentage of about 165%

Then from R20 2009…:

20-10-2 with percentage of about 115%

So they were absolutely dominant for 19 x H&A games. Then they regressed to a stock standard finals team and GF loser from then onwards.



Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Freomaniac]

West Coast beat every opponent in 2015. Gave Hawks a beat down in the qualifying too. Just didn't rock up GF day. Rattled a bit by that Herald Sun Chicky article before the game lol

You sure did

 

[timokane]

Collingwood the runner up kings so they are best in 2002,2003,2011 and 2018.

No one comes close.

This is 4 and in turn could be 4 flags

 

[Hens Hall]

I always like to consider how the teams performed around the year they lost (say 2 or 3 years).

As such Cats 08 and Hawks 12 are easily the two best teams not to win it. Very good H&A records and won multiple premierships around the year they lost.

Throw a blanket over Pies 11, Swans 14 and 16, Eagles 15, Geelong 20 (they all recently won or went on to win a Premiership soon after).

Then probs Saints given they reached consecutive GF's

Freo 13 and Pies 16

Then the poo teams like Adelaide, Doggies, Port, GWS

 

[Sttew]

I think Geelong 2008 and St Kilda 2009/2010 would beat last year's Geelong team. The Fremantle team 2013ish would also give them a run for there money. I think the Collingwood team of 2011 was slightly overated

Not sure about the Saints 09/10, but if the Geelong 08 fronted up against Geelong 2022, 2022 would win comfortably IMO. The 08 team was undisciplined and had run out of puff. Talent wise 08 was superior, although 08 did not have a Hawkins, Stengle and Cameron

 

[frodos gardener]

Saints 09 are the strongest runners-up I’ve ever seen. Hard to split them with Cats 08.