1991 AFL Grand Final
The 1991 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and West Coast Eagles, held at Waverley Park in Melbourne on 28 September 1991. It was the 94th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League), staged to determine the premiers for the 1991 AFL season. The match, attended 75,230 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 53 points, marking that club's ninth premiership victory. Reconstruction work at the larger Melbourne Cricket Ground, where most grand finals had been played since 1902, meant that the game was played at Waverley Park, marking the first and only time that this stadium hosted a premiership decider. The match was also the first grand final to feature a team (West Coast) based outside the state of Victoria. Background Hawthorn had played the grand final in seven of the previous eight seasons, having most recently won the 1989 VFL Grand Final, while West Coast was playing in its first grand final ever, having entered the competition just four years previously. The Eagles came into the game as strong favourites, having played through the entire 1991 season as the leading team in the competition in which they won their first 12 games and finished three games clear on top of the ladder with a 19-3 record, earning their first McClelland Trophy. Hawthorn had finished second with a record of 16 wins and 6 losses. Though starting the season slowly, losing five of their first 11 games, they lost just one more game for the rest of the home and away season. The Eagles defeated the Hawks in both their home-and-away encounters during the season, by 82 points at Princes Park in round 7 and 24 points at Subiaco Oval in round 22. In the lead-up to the grand final, Hawthorn defeated West Coast by 23 points at Subiaco the qualifying final. The Eagles subsequently defeated by 38 points in the first semi-final, while Hawthorn defeated Geelong by two points in the second semi-final, sending the Hawks to the grand final. The Eagles defeated Geelong by 15 points in the preliminary final to take their place in the premiership decider. Teams Match summary The game was played with what appeared as a four-goal breeze towards the main scoreboard end. Eagles captain John Worsfold won the toss and kicked with the wind. First quarter The ball moved up and down the field before the first of two 50-metre penalties conceded by Langford allowing Sumich to kick the first goal after ten minutes. A second penalty by Langford after a Sumich mark gave Sumich his second goal. A snap from Wilson in the pocket followed by a relay free kick to Heady stretched the margin out to four goals. A minute later Paul Dear ran into an open goal to give the Hawks their first. After the Hawks scored four behinds Sumich marked and kicked his third goal from outside 60 metres. Jason Dunstall