1989 Geelong Football Club season
# 1989 Geelong Football Club season

The 1989 Geelong Football Club season was the club's 118th season of senior competition in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Under new coach Malcolm Blight, the Cats played attractive attacking football, scoring a combined total of 2916 points during the home-and-away season to break Sydney's record set in 1987 (2846 points). The Cats made it to their first Grand Final since 1967, but ultimately fell six points short to Hawthorn in one of the all-time classic Grand Finals.

## Season summary

### Regular season

Geelong's 1989 VFL season fixture :

| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ladder position |||
| 1 | Sunday, 2 April (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne | 18.17 (125) | 17.21 (123) | Lost by 2 points | MCG | 24,383 | 8th |
| 2 | Sunday, 9 April (2:10 pm) | West Coast | 26.19 (175) | 11.14 (80) | Won by 95 points | Kardinia Park | 19,939 | 3rd |
| 3 | Sunday, 16 April (2:10 pm) | Carlton | 16.21 (117) | 9.10 (64) | Won by 53 points | Kardinia Park | 27,633 | 1st |
| 4 | Sunday, 23 April (2:10 pm) | Footscray | 12.15 (87) | 14.15 (99) | Won by 12 points | Western Oval | 22,844 | 2nd |
| 5 | Saturday, 29 April (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy | 16.17 (113) | 16.16 (112) | Lost by 1 point | Princes Park | 13,102 | 5th |
| 6 | Saturday, 6 May (2:10 pm) | Hawthorn | 26.15 (171) | 25.13 (163) | Lost by 8 points | Princes Park | 17,430 | 8th |
| 7 | Saturday, 13 May (2:10 pm) | St Kilda | 35.18 (228) | 16.13 (109) | Won by 119 points | Kardinia Park | 21,421 | 6th |
| 8 | Saturday, 20 May (2:10 pm) | Brisbane Bears | 26.23 (179) | 6.14 (50) | Won by 129 points | Kardinia Park | 17,265 | 5th |
| 9 | Saturday, 27 May (2:10 pm) | Richmond | 10.17 (77) | 32.19 (211) | Won by 134 points | MCG | 24,321 | 4th |
| 10 | Thursday, 25 May (7:20 pm) | Collingwood | 13.10 (88) | 23.16 (154) | Won by 66 points | MCG | 65,185 | 4th |
| 11 | Monday, 12 June (2:10 pm) | Essendon | 12.17 (89) | 4.11 (35) | Won by 54 points | MCG | 87,653 | 3rd |
| 12 | Saturday, 17 June (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 2.8 (20) | 13.11 (89) | Won by 69 points | MCG | 38,128 | 2nd |
| 13 | Sunday, 25 June (2:10 pm) | Sydney | 14.19 (103) | 16.15 (111) | Won by 13 points | SCG | 12,967 | 2nd |
| 14 | Saturday, 8 July (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy | 11.16 (82) | 8.10 (58) | Won by 24 points | Kardinia Park | 18,407 | 2nd |
| 15 | Saturday, 15 July (7:40 pm) | Brisbane Bears | 11.11 (77) | 22.19 (151) | Won by 74 points | Carrara Oval | 18,198 | 2nd |
| 16 | Saturday, 22 July (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 17.7 (109) | 16.16 (112) | Lost by 3 points | Waverley Park | 38,865 | 3rd |
| 17 | Saturday, 29 July (2:10 pm) | Collingwood | 14.20 (104) | 19.11 (125) | Lost by 21 points | MCG | 35,217 | 4th |
| 18 | Saturday, 5 August (2:10 pm) | St Kilda | 13.12 (90) | 17.11 (113) | Won by 23 points | Moorabbin Oval | 14,243 | 3rd |
| 19 | Saturday, 12 August (2:10 pm) | Footscray | 18.16 (124) | 10.14 (74) | Won by 50 points | Kardinia Park | 17,046 | 3rd |
| 20 | Friday, 18 August (7:40 pm) | West Coast | 18.18 (126) | 12.10 (82) | Lost by 44 points | WACA Ground | 15,721 | 3rd |
| 21 | Saturday, 26 August (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne | 20.19 (139) | 17.15 (117) | Won by 22 points | Kardinia Park | 18,025 | 3rd |
| 22 | Saturday, 2 September (2:10 pm) | Richmond | 23.24 (162) | 12.14 (86) | Won by 76 points | Kardinia Park | 20,788 | 3rd |

### Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| - | - |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Hawthorn (P) | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 2678 | 1748 | 153.2 | 76 |
| 2 | Essendon | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2240 | 1705 | 131.4 | 68 |
| 3 | Geelong | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2916 | 1987 | 146.8 | 64 |
| 4 | Melbourne | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 1876 | 1944 | 96.5 | 56 |
| 5 | Collingwood | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2216 | 1964 | 112.8 | 52 |
| 6 | Fitzroy | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2069 | 2125 | 97.4 | 48 |
| 7 | Sydney | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1959 | 1958 | 100.1 | 44 |
| 8 | Carlton | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 1921 | 2079 | 92.4 | 38 |
| 9 | North Melbourne | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2061 | 2301 | 89.6 | 36 |
| 10 | Brisbane Bears | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 1792 | 2274 | 78.8 | 32 |
| 11 | West Coast | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1948 | 2247 | 86.7 | 28 |
| 12 | St Kilda | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 2108 | 2502 | 84.3 | 28 |
| 13 | Footscray | 22 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 1614 | 1855 | 87.0 | 26 |
| 14 | Richmond | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 1725 | 2434 | 70.9 | 20 |

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 94.6 Source: AFL Tables

## Honours

### Milestones

* Round 6 – Gary Ablett, snr (100 VFL games)

### Others

* Paul Couch won the Brownlow Medal
