1991 AFL finals series
The 1991 AFL finals series was the second finals series in the Australian Football League, culminating the 1991 AFL season.
In this year, the McIntyre "Final Five" system, which had operated from 1972 until 1991, was replaced by the First McIntyre "Final Six" system. This system lasted only this season, and it was replaced by the Second McIntyre "Final Six" system in 1992.
Bracket
| Qualifying/Elimination finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary final | Grand final | ||||||||||||
| QF: Sep 8, Subiaco Oval | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | West Coast | 15.11 (101) | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Hawthorn | 18.16 (124) | SF2: Sep 14, Waverley Park | GF: Sep 28, Waverley Park | |||||||||||
| Hawthorn | 13.17 (95) | Hawthorn | 20.19 (139) | ||||||||||||
| EF2: Sep 8, Waverley Park | Geelong | 13.15 (93) | PF: Sep 21, Waverley Park | West Coast | 13.8 (86) | ||||||||||
| 3 | Geelong | 15.14 (104) | Geelong | 8.16 (64) | |||||||||||
| 4 | St Kilda | 14.13 (97) | SF1: Sep 15, Waverley Park | West Coast | 11.13 (79) | ||||||||||
| West Coast | 17.15 (117) | ||||||||||||||
| EF1: Sep 7, Waverley Park | Melbourne | 12.7 (79) | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Melbourne | 17.11 (113) | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Essendon | 11.9 (75) | |||||||||||||
Elimination Finals
| 1st Elimination Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 7, 1991 | Melbourne | def. | Essendon | Waverley Park (crowd: 46,032) | |
| 1.2 (8) 4.5 (29) 10.7 (67) 17.11 (113) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
5.6 (36) 7.7 (49) 9.9 (63) 11.9 (75) |
Umpires: Grant Vernon, Bryan Sheehan | ||
| Allen Jakovich 8 Andy Lovell 4 Luke Beveridge 2 Earl Spalding, Jim Stynes, Todd Viney |
Goals | Michael Werner 4 Tim Watson 2 Greg Anderson, Terry Daniher, Paul Hills, Derek Kickett, Kieran Sporn | |||
| 2nd Elimination Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 8, 1991 | Geelong | def. | St Kilda | Waverley Park (crowd: 63,796) | |
| 5.3 (33) 6.6 (42) 13.10 (88) 15.14 (104) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
3.5 (23) 9.7 (61) 13.9 (87) 14.13 (97) |
Umpires: Peter Cameron, Rowan Sawers | ||
| Brownless 8 Bruns, Denham, Hocking 2 Couch |
Goals | Lockett 9 McAdam 2 Coghlan, Loewe, Nixon | |||
Qualifying Final
| Qualifying Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 8, 1991 | Hawthorn | def. | West Coast | Subiaco Oval (crowd: 44,142) | |
| 5.4 (34) 8.9 (57) 12.12 (84) 18.16 (124) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
6.3 (39) 7.4 (46) 11.9 (75) 15.11 (101) |
Umpires: John Russo, Darren Goldspink | ||
| Dunstall 4 Hudson 3 Dear, Jarman, Platten 2 Allan, Brereton, Condon, Lawrence, Lawrence |
Goals | Sumich 3 Lewis, Wilson 2 Heady, Kemp, Langdon, Matera, McIntosh Turley, Waterman | |||
Semi-Finals
Non-Elimination Bracket
| 2nd Semi-Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 14, 1991 | Hawthorn | def. | Geelong | Waverley Park (crowd: 63,733) | |
| 3.11 (29) 6.13 (49) 10.13 (73) 13.17 (95) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
2.1 (13) 5.2 (32) 11.8 (74) 13.15 (93) |
Umpires: Dore, Russo | ||
| Dunstall 3 Dear, Hall, Pritchard 2 Gowers, Hudson, Jarman, Robran |
Goals | Hocking, Neeld 3 Brownless, Bruns, Mansfield 2 Stoneham | |||
Elimination Bracket
| 1st Semi-Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 15, 1991 | West Coast | def. | Melbourne | Waverley Park (crowd: 41,136) | |
| 2.4 (16) 7.6 (48) 12.13 (85) 17.15 (117) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
4.2 (26) 5.4 (34) 8.4 (52) 12.7 (79) |
Umpires: Chris Mitchell, Bryan Sheehan | ||
| Heady, Irving, Sumich, Wilson 3 Hart, Jakovich, Kemp, Lewis, Turley |
Goals | Jakovich 4 Rohde 2 Beveridge, Cuthbertson, Spalding, Stynes, Viney | |||
Preliminary Finals
| Preliminary Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 21, 1991 | West Coast | def. | Geelong | Waverley Park (crowd: 47,638) | |
| 4.6 (30) 6.9 (45) 8.12 (60) 11.13 (79) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
1.2 (8) 2.6 (18) 5.7 (37) 8.16 (64) |
Umpires: Dore, Sawers | ||
| Sumich 6 Lewis 2 Hart, Heady, Jakovich |
Goals | Neeld, Scott 2 Bairstow, Mansfield, Poole, Stoneham | |||
Grand final
The 1991 AFL Grand Final was held at Waverley Park in Melbourne on 28 September 1991. It was the 2nd Grand Final of the Australian Football League following its transformation into a national league from the Victorian Football League.
The match, attended by a smaller-than-usual crowd of 75,230 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 53 points, marking that club's ninth premiership victory and first within the AFL..
Reconstruction work at the larger Melbourne Cricket Ground, where most Grand Finals in the VFL had been played since 1902, made this game the first and only Grand Final held within this stadium
The match was also the first VFL/AFL Grand Final to feature a team (West Coast) based outside the state of Victoria.