AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
2000 to 2009
2001
Round 10 - Essendon Bombers (74) @ (102) Brisbane Lions - In a big upset at the Gabba, the Lions beat the reigning Premiers in a blow-out. The Lions were reeling from 2 straight losses but rallied behind coach Leigh Matthews "If it bleeds, we can kill it" speech and dominated the game, leading 48-19 at the half and 68-48 after the 3rd quarter. The Lions wouldn't lose another game the rest of the season and finished as Premiers, their 1st title. The Lions featured Alastair Lynch (4 goals), Jonathan Brown (4 goals), Michael Voss (25 disposals, 5 marks), Chris Scott (18 disposals) and Brad Scott (23 disposals, 10 marks). The Bombers featured Jason Johnson (18 disposals, 2 goals), James Hird (17 disposals, 5 marks 1 goal), Matthew Lloyd (11 disposals, 7 marks, 3 goals) and Dustin Fletcher (12 disposals, 5 marks, 1 goal) (8, 2 Discs, CH7 - Roberts/Campbell/Dunstall, PAL)
Round 16 - North Melbourne Kangaroos (159) @ (171) Essendon Bombers - At the MCG, Essendon turned around a 69 point deficit in the 2nd quarter to take the win and record the VFL/AFL record for the largest ever comeback. North Melbourne, led by Corey McKernan (5 goals) scored 12 goals in the 1st quarter as the Kangaroos took control early but the Bombers, led by Matthew Lloyd (9 goals), set about the comeback and trailed only by 15 points at the half and completed the comeback in the 4th quarter for an astonishing win. The game equalled the VFL/AFL record for the most combined goals scored in a game (52) (9, 2 Discs, CH 7 - Hudson/Hutchinson/Hawkins, PAL)
2004
Semi-Final - Essendon Bombers (64) v (74) Geelong Cats - At a slippery MCG, the Cats booked a place in the Preliminary Final with a tight win over the Bombers. Geelong dominated the opening half but poor shooting left them only ahead 38-12. The Bombers re-grouped in the 2nd half and used a 5-goal 4th quarter to pull within 10 points, but the Cats held on for the win. Geelong featured Jimmy Bartel (33 disposals), Cameron Ling (25 disposals, 6 marks), David Haynes (2 goals, 6 marks), Paul Chapman (2 goals) and Gary Ablett Jr (22 disposals, 4 tackles, 1 goal). Essendon featured James Hird (33 disposals, 1 goal), Scott Lucas (23 disposals, 4 tackles) and Matthew Lloyd (3 goals) (8, 2 Discs, CH10 - Quartermain/Lane/Silvagni/Malthouse, PAL)
2006
NAB Cup Final - Geelong Cats (92) v (84) Adelaide Crows - The Cats celebrated their 1st trophy since 1963 with a hard-fought win against the Crows. The Cats trailed by 7 points at the half and by 10 points in the 4th quarter before staging a big comeback that saw them take the lead with 4 minutes left. Geelong played great defense to keep the Crows out of scoring range and held on for the win. The Cats were led by Cameron Mooney (3 goals), Jimmy Bartel, Kane Tenace, Joel Corey (1 Super Goal), Gary Ablett Jr (1 Goal + 1 Super Goal) and Paul Chapman (2 goals). The Crows featured Simon Goodwin and Matthew Bode (3 goals) (10, Official DVD, 1 Disc, CH10 - Quartermain/Walls, PAL)
2007
Round 6 - Geelong Cats (222) @ (65) Richmond Tigers - Geelong rebounded from a disappointing loss in Round 5 with the 9th highest score ever against a young Tigers team at the Telstra Dome. The Cats started fast and led 62-7 after the 1st quarter, 126-19 at the half and 183-39 after 3 quarters. 4 Cats scored 4 goals (Nathan Ablett, Paul Chapman, Tom Hawkins and Andrew Mackie), with 15 different Cats players scoring a goal in the game. The loss was the worst ever in Tigers history. Geelong's star midfielder Gary Ablett Jr had a big game (3 goals, 32 disposals) in a dominating display. Richmond featured Matthew Richardson (2 goals) and Shane Tuck (2 goals, 21 disposals) (10, Official DVD, 2 Discs, FOX - Grybas/Healy/Frawley, PAL)
Grand Final - Geelong (163) v (44) Port Adelaide - Geelong finally ended 44 years of drought since their last title with a sensational display of running football and smothering defense. The 119 point margin of victory was a Finals record and the 24 goals scored was 2nd all time. Steve Johnson won the Norm Smith medal with 4 goals (9, 2 Discs, CH10 - Lane/Hudson/ Walls/Voss, PAL)
2008
Hall of Fame Game - Dream Team (120) @ (137) Victoria - In a rare inter-state match-up, Victoria beat a team of all-stars from other states. Victoria Forward Brendan Fevola kicked 6 goals to win MVP honours. Victoria scored 21 goals and 11 behinds to the Dream Team's 18 goals and 12 behinds (10, 55 minute hi-lites, 1 Disc, CH10 - Quartermain/Hudson, PAL)
Grand Final - Hawthorn (115) v (89) Geelong - In a rematch of the classic 1989 final, it was the Hawks who pulled the upset to win their first title in 17 years. The Hawks used a big 3rd quarter to open an 89-72 lead and held on at the end. The Hawks scored 18 goals while the Cats struggled to score goals, kicking a huge 23 behinds. The loss was only the second of the season for Geelong (10, 2 Discs, CH7 - McAvaney/Cometti, PAL)
International Rules - 1st Test - Ireland (45) @ (44) Australia - A rare cross-code international test between the Gallic football of Ireland and the Aussie Rules of Australia produced a thrilling game that was won by Ireland but only after they survived a furious 4th quarter comeback by the Aussies. Ireland featured Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone), Leighton Glynn (Wicklow), Kieran Donaghy (Kerry) and Steven McDonell (Armagh). Australia featured Brent Harvey (North Melbourne), Campbell Brown (Hawthorn) and Marc Murphy (Carlton) (10, 2 Discs, CH7 - McAvaney/Cometti/Schwarz, PAL)
International Rules - 2nd Test - Ireland (57) @ (53) Australia - In a damp Melbourne Cricket Ground, Ireland won the series for the first time since 2004, holding off another late Australian charge in the process. Ireland opened up an 18 point lead at the half before Australia started the fightback. Players of the series were Australian Kade Simpson (Carlton) and Ireland's Graham Canty (Cork) (10, 1 Disc, CH7 - McAvaney/Cometti/Schwarz, PAL)
2009
Round 1 - Geelong Cats (111) @ (103) Hawthorn Hawks - The opening game of the season for both teams saw a re-match of the 2008 Grand Final, only this time the Cats ran out winners. Hawthorn were under-strength, missing 7 players, and started slowly as Geelong ran out to a 12 point lead at the half and an amazing 43 point lead starting the 4th quarter. Gary Ablett Jr (35 disposals) and Steve Johnson (27 disposals, 2 goals) did the damage. The Hawks then started a comeback with Lance Franklin (5 goals) and Jarryd Roughhead (4 goals) leading the way, closing the gap to only 8 points before running out of time (10, 2 Discs, CH7 - McAvaney/Cometti, PAL)
Grand Final - St.Kilda Saints (68) v (80) Geelong Cats - Geelong cemented their place as a great team with their 2nd title in 3 years. In a tough game in the rain at the MCG, the Cats needed a goal with 2 minutes left from Norm Smith medal winner Paul Chapman to finally take the lead and the result was sealed when Max Rooke kicked a goal after the siren. Chapman kicked 3 goals and had 26 touches despite playing with a pulled hamstring. The Cats also got a big game from Gary Ablett Jr. who had 25 touches, 1 goal and 6 tackles. Coverage includes 50 minute review of the Semi-Finals (10, Missing 4 seconds in the 1st quarter + 22 seconds at the start of the 3rd quarter - No scoring missed, 2 Discs, CH10 - Quartermain/Hudson, PAL)