2016 AFL Grand Final
| 2016 AFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 1 October 2016, 2.30 pm | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 99,981 | |||||||||||||||
| Umpires | Matt Stevic, Simon Meredith, Scott Jeffery | |||||||||||||||
| Coin toss won by | Western Bulldogs | |||||||||||||||
| Kicked toward | City End | |||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | ||||||||||||||||
| Pre-match entertainment | Sting, The Living End, Vance Joy, Mike Brady | |||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Vika and Linda Bull | |||||||||||||||
| Post-match entertainment | The Living End, Vance Joy | |||||||||||||||
| Accolades | ||||||||||||||||
| Norm Smith Medallist | Jason Johannisen | |||||||||||||||
| Jock McHale Medallist | Luke Beveridge | |||||||||||||||
| Broadcast in Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Network | Seven Network | |||||||||||||||
| Commentators |
Bruce McAvaney (host) Dennis Cometti (commentator) Cameron Ling (expert commentator) Wayne Carey (expert commentator) Matthew Richardson (boundary rider) Tim Watson (boundary rider) |
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The 2016 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between the Sydney Swans and the Western Bulldogs. It was the 120th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League), staged to determine the premiers of the 2016 AFL season. It was the Swans' fifth grand final appearance since 2005, while the Bulldogs were competing in their first grand final since 1961. The match, played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 99,981 spectators, was won by the Bulldogs by a margin of 22 points, marking their second VFL/AFL premiership victory and first since 1954, breaking a 62-year premiership drought. It was also the first time in VFL/AFL history that a team won the premiership from seventh place on the ladder. Jason Johannisen of the Bulldogs was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.
Minor premiers for the ninth time, the Sydney Swans finished the home-and-away season with a 17-5 record. They were defeated by the GWS Giants in the qualifying final by 36 points, but bounced back with a semi-final victory against Adelaide, and then a 37-point preliminary final win against Geelong at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for their third grand final appearance in five years.
Injuries ended the 2016 season for key Western Bulldogs players: captain Robert Murphy (round 3) and Jack Redpath (round 18) ruptured their anterior cruciate ligament, and midfielder Mitch Wallis (round 18) fractured his left tibia and fibula.Jason Johannisen and Matt Suckling also sat out for extended periods. The Bulldogs nevertheless won 15 games to finish 7th on the home-and-away ladder and qualify for the finals for the second consecutive year. Against the odds, they eliminated both 2015's grand finalists, West Coast and Hawthorn, in the elimination and semi-finals respectively. The Bulldogs then beat the Giants at Spotless Stadium by six points to qualify for their first grand final appearance since 1961. In doing so, the Bulldogs became the first team since Carlton in 1999 to reach a grand final after finishing the home-and-away season outside of the top four and the first team to do so under the current finals format that was introduced in 2000.
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