Essendon were defending their 2000 premiership, and went into the game having finished on top of the ladder on percentage ahead of second placed Brisbane. Brisbane had won fifteen consecutive games leading up to the grand final, a streak which commenced with a major upset of Essendon at the Gabba in Round 10. It was the Brisbane Lions' 14th appearance in a grand final. Essendon were the dominant team between 1999 and 2001, losing just 11 games from the start of 1999 until the 2001 grand final. In the 2001 finals series, Essendon defeated Richmond by 70 points in the first qualifying final and then defeated Hawthorn by 9 points in the first preliminary final to advance to the grand final. Brisbane earnt their place in the grand final by defeating Port Adelaide by 32 points in the second qualifying final and then Richmond by 68 points in the second preliminary final. In the lead-up to the match, Brisbane's Jason Akermanis won the Brownlow Medal. The two coaches, Kevin Sheedy and Leigh Matthews, had met in a grand final 11 years prior, when Matthews' Magpies ended their so-called "Colliwobbles" by defeating Sheedy's Bombers in the 1990 AFL Grand Final. This was the last AFL match to be televised by the Seven Network before it lost the broadcasting rights to the sport after 45 years. It wouldn't be until 2007 that Seven would regain the rights, and it wouldn't be until 2008 that Seven would televise another AFL Grand Final.
Match summary
Brisbane started the game well, scoring the first goal of the match from a free kick awarded to Alastair Lynch for holding against Dustin Fletcher. Essendon fought back late in the first quarter then took control of the game in the second term. Brisbane's poor kicking for goal almost put them out of the game in the second quarter as Essendon blew their lead out to 20 points late in the term. Brisbane had kicked an inaccurate 5.10 by the half-time break. Brisbane managed to overrun Essendon in the third term kicking six goals to one and turning a 14-point deficit into a 16-point lead. Brisbane's pace in the midfield and the tiring legs of most of the Essendon players played a pivotal role in Brisbane taking full control of the game in the second half, to win comfortably. Essendon had scored two late goals in the last quarter after once trailing by as much as 39 points. Shaun Hart of the Lions was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for being judged the best player. Matthew Lloyd was amongst the best for Essendon, kicking 5 goals. Essendon captain James Hird was visibly shattered and disappointed in his post-match speech. A quick congratulations to Brisbane for winning was followed by a public apology to Bombers fans for letting them down. In a remarkable statistic, most of the Lions' premiership side were on the playing list when the club won the wooden spoon in 1998. This was the first of four consecutive grand final appearances by Brisbane, and the first of three consecutive flags. For Essendon, this is their most recent grand final appearance.
Teams
Scorecard
Team Stats
Kicks
176
165
Marks
73
60
Handballs
78
90
Tackles
34
54
Hitouts
39
26
Frees
22
19
Legacy
As of the end of the 2019 AFL season, two players from this grand final are senior coaches in the AFL: Chris Scott and Damien Hardwick ; in addition, a further four players coached in the AFL: Michael Voss, Brad Scott, James Hird and Justin Leppitsch. Chris Scott and Hardwick have coached their clubs to premierships, in 2011, 2017 and 2019, respectively, with Leppitsch acting as an assistant to the latter in both flags.
