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2005 AFL Finals Series

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The Australian Football League's 2005 Finals Series began on the weekend of September 2, 2005 and ended with the 109th AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September 2005, won by the Sydney Swans.

Eight teams qualified for the finals by finishing in the top eight of the premiership ladder. After a home-and-away season that saw a myriad of triumphs and collapses (plus a number of near misses by the likes of Fremantle, Western Bulldogs and Brisbane, all of which were a mere stone's throw from making the finals), the matchups for the first round were only set after all matches of the final round had been played.

Contents

Final ladder

The final home-and-away ladder is below, with all teams in bold qualifying for the finals series.

# Team State W D L Pts %
1 Adelaide Crows SA 17 0 5 68 136.45
2 West Coast Eagles WA 17 0 5 68 123.96
3 Sydney Swans NSW 15 0 7 60 116.39
4 St Kilda Saints VIC 14 0 8 56 133.28
5 Kangaroos VIC 13 0 9 52 99.23
6 Geelong Cats VIC 12 0 10 48 111.96
7 Melbourne Demons VIC 12 0 10 48 95.81
8 Port Adelaide Power SA 11 1 10 46 98.16
9 Western Bulldogs VIC 11 0 11 44 101.45
10 Fremantle Dockers WA 11 0 11 44 100.15
11 Brisbane Lions QLD 10 0 12 40 98.84
12 Richmond Tigers VIC 10 0 12 40 92.33
13 Essendon Bombers VIC 8 0 14 32 92.01
14 Hawthorn Hawks VIC 5 0 17 20 82.18
15 Collingwood Magpies VIC 5 0 17 20 77.69
16 Carlton Blues VIC 4 1 17 18 75.51

The finals system

The system is a final eight system. This system is different to the McIntyre Final Eight System, which was previously used by the AFL, and is currently used by the National Rugby League.

The top four teams in the eight receive what is popularly known as the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals; this means that if a top-four team loses in the first week, it still has a chance to redeem itself by getting a chance to play in a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight are forced to play what are called elimination finals, in which only the winners survive and move on to week two to play the losers of the qualifying finals.

In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week, while the losers of those qualifying finals must play the winners of the elimination finals for a chance to play the qualifying finals winners. Home-ground advantage goes to the team with the higher seed.

In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week, with the latter receiving home-ground advantage. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, where the new premier will be crowned.

Favourites for the 2005 Grand Final were: Adelaide, St Kilda, Sydney and West Coast.

[AFL Finals System Explained (AFL.com.au)]

Week One

First Qualifying Final (1 vs 4)

Scorecard

Team 1 2 3 4 Total
(1) Adelaide 3.3 3.5 5.7 8.9 8.9 (57)
(4) St Kilda 1.0 6.3 9.3 10.5 10.5 (65)
St Kilda won by 8 G.B G.B G.B G.B Final

Team Stats Ade StK
Kicks 186 214
Marks 73 102
Handballs 113 129
Tackles 61 61
Hitouts 47 22
Frees 14 17

Date Saturday, September 3, 2005 7PM ACST
Goals (Ade) 4: K McGregor
1: R Shirley, G Johncock, S Welsh, S Goodwin
Goals (StK) 3: R Harvey
2: N Riewolt, J Gwilt
1: L Ball, J Blake, S Milne
Best Ade: Rutten, Bassett, Goodwin, McGregor,
Edwards, McLeod, Johncock
StK: Harvey, Dal Santo, Hayes, Jones
Fisher, Ball, Peckett
Injuries None
Reports None
Venue AAMI Stadium, Adelaide, SA
Attendance 48,768
Umpires Vozzo, McBurney, Ryan

Second Qualifying Final (2 vs 3)

Scorecard

Team 1 2 3 4 Total
(2) West Coast 4.1 5.4 5.7 10.9 10.9 (69)
(3) Sydney 3.1 5.2 8.3 10.5 10.5 (65)
West Coast won by 4 G.B G.B G.B G.B Final

Team Stats WCE Syd
Kicks 181 180
Marks 62 63
Handballs 110 101
Tackles 46 52
Hitouts 45 42
Free Kicks 21 14

Date Friday, September 2, 2005 6:30PM AWST
Goals (WCE) 2: M Gardiner, A Hunter, A Sampi
1: A Hansen, D Kerr, T Stenglein, M Seaby
Goals (Syd) 3: N Davis, M O'Loughlin
2: B Hall
1: R O'Keefe, A Schneider
Best WCE: Kerr, Judd, Cousins, Hunter,
Nicoski, Wirrpunda
Syd: Kirk, Davis, C Bolton, Buchanan,
Goodes, O'Loughlin, Kennelly, Williams
Injuries WCE: P Matera (hip)
Syd: Williams (ankle)
Reports None
Venue Subiaco Oval, Perth, WA
Attendance 43,302
Umpires McLaren, Woodcock, McInerney

Sydney entered the game as the in form team of the competition. West Coast topped the ladder most of the season, and were only denied the minor premiership on percentage. The Eagles led the game most of the first half, but the Swans appeared to be marching onward to victory by taking control of the third quarter. In a foreshadowing of things to come, West Coast responded by taking control of the fourth quarter. Two controversial fourth quarter umpiring decisions against Sydney hurt their cause. Even more damaging were two late marks in defense by Eagle Dean Cox snubbing Swan attempts to kick a game winner.

First Elimination Final (5 vs 8)

Scorecard

Team 1 2 3 4 Total
(5) Kangaroos 6.6 7.7 10.9 11.11 11.11 (77)
(8) Port Adelaide 6.1 12.3 20.6 26.8 26.8 (164)
Port Adelaide won by 87 G.B G.B G.B G.B Final

Team Stats Kan PA
Kicks 166 223
Marks 69 126
Handballs 87 128
Tackles 46 31
Hitouts 28 40
Frees 16 15

Date Sunday, September 4, 2005 2:30PM AEST
Goals (Kan) 3: C Jones
2: N Thompson, S Rocca
1: L Picoane, B Rawlings, D Wells, L Harding
Goals (PA) 4: B Lade, W Tredrea, J Mahoney
3: M Pettigrew
2: A Kingsley, D Brogan
1: M Bishop, C Cornes, S Dew,
B Montgomery, D Pearce, S Salopek,
G Wanganeen
Best Kan: Sinclair, Jones, Wells, Harris
PA: Tredrea, Kingsley, Lade, Pettigrew,
Mahoney, Montgomery, C. Cornes
Injuries None
Reports None
Venue Telstra Dome, Melbourne, VIC
Attendance 25,195
Umpires Kennedy, Allen, Jeffery

Second Elimination Final (6 vs 7)

Scorecard

Week Two

First Semi Final

Scorecard

Second Semi Final

Scorecard

A thrilling victory for Sydney, and a heartbreaking loss for Geelong. The game seemed decided, with Geelong clearly in the driver's seat. In the final quarter Nick Davis kicked all four Sydney goals, including the game winner with only a few seconds left on the clock. Cats supporters were left to spend a summer wondering what might have been, while Swans fans were thinking the "Miracle Kick of St. Nick" had branded them a team of destiny.

Week Three

First Preliminary Final

Scorecard

Sydney opened the game strongly, but once St. Kilda righted their effort they took the lead and steadily built upon it. With the Saints on the verge of putting the game out of reach, the Swans lifted their effort and won the game easily on a barrage of fourth quarter goals.

Second Preliminary Final

Scorecard

Grand Final

Scorecard

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A thrilling match that went down to the final siren, this was the first time since 1989 that a Grand Final was decided a goal or less. West Coast opened the game aggressively, Sydney struggled to get the ball to their end of the field, and only better Swan accuracy put them ahead by two at the first quarter. In the second quarter Sydney appeard to be asserting control of the game, kicking three goals while the Eagles got none. After the long break, West Coast put their stamp on the third quarter, kicking three goals while the Swans got none. At the end of the day, both teams would remember seemingly easy goals that were missed, but the Eagles most clearly would remember theirs from the fourth quarter. With the Swans holding a five point lead in the closing moments, Tadhg Kennelly rushed a behind to blunt a ferocious Eagles attack. After the ensuing kick in, West Coast again regained control of the ball and sent a long kick back to the goal square. Leo Barry responded by taking a mark in the midst of the pack, denying the Eagles an opportunity to kick a game winner on the final siren.

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