2014 AFL Grand Final

The 2014 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and the Hawthorn Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 2014. It was the 118th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League),[1] staged to determine the premiers for the 2014 AFL season. The match, attended by 99,460 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 63 points, marking the club's second consecutive premiership and twelfth VFL/AFL premiership victory overall. Hawthorn's Luke Hodge was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.

2014 AFL Grand Final
View of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, shortly after gates opened for the 2014 AFL Grand Final.

Sydney
Hawthorn
11.8 (74) 21.11 (137)
1 2 3 4
SYD 2.3 (15) 5.3 (33) 8.5 (53) 11.8 (74)
HAW 5.5 (35) 11.9 (75) 16.11 (107) 21.11 (137)
Date27 September 2014, 2.30pm
StadiumMelbourne Cricket Ground
Attendance99,454
UmpiresSimon Meredith, Mathew Nicholls, Matt Stevic
Coin toss won byHawthorn
Kicked towardCity End
Ceremonies
Pre-match entertainmentTom Jones, Ed Sheeran, Mike Brady
National anthemOlivia Newton-John
Post-match entertainmentTom Jones, Ed Sheeran
Accolades
Norm Smith MedallistLuke Hodge
(Hawthorn)
Jock McHale MedallistAlastair Clarkson
(Hawthorn)
Broadcast in Australia
NetworkSeven Network
CommentatorsBruce McAvaney (host)
Dennis Cometti (commentator)
Wayne Carey (expert commentator)
Tom Harley (expert commentator)
Leigh Matthews (expert commentator)
Matthew Richardson (boundary rider)
Tim Watson (boundary rider)
Cameron Ling (analyst)
← 2013 AFL Grand Final 2015 →

Background
See also: 2014 AFL finals series, 2014 Sydney Swans season, and 2014 Hawthorn Football Club season

Having finished the home and away season as minor premiers, Sydney advanced to the Grand Final with a hard-fought victory over Fremantle, followed by a 71-point victory over North Melbourne in their preliminary final. Defending premiers Hawthorn, which finished second behind Sydney on the ladder, advanced after defeating Geelong by 36 points in their qualifying final, followed by a three-point victory over Port Adelaide in the second preliminary final.

The two teams met twice during the home-and-away season, with Sydney winning by 19 points at ANZ Stadium in Round 8 and Hawthorn winning by 10 points at the MCG in Round 18.

It was the second time that Sydney and Hawthorn had met in a grand final, having faced each other two years earlier in the 2012 AFL Grand Final when Sydney won by 10 points. The match was Hawthorn's third grand final appearance in a row, having also appeared in the 2013 AFL Grand Final when it defeated Fremantle by 15 points.

Media coverage

The match was televised by the Seven Network. The coverage commentators included Brian Taylor, Matthew Richardson, Cameron Ling, Tom Harley, Luke Darcy and Leigh Matthews.[2]

The match commentary was conducted by Bruce McAvaney and Dennis Cometti for the Seven Network, marking the duo's sixth grand final appearance together as commentators since 2008 and their tenth overall. Individually, it was Cometti's sixteenth grand final[3] and McAvaney's fourteenth.

A total of 2,813,000 people watched the Grand Final on television, making the Grand Final the most viewed television broadcast of the day.[4]

Pre-match entertainment
Ed Sheeran (left) and Sir Tom Jones (right) performed at the Grand Final as part of the revamped Pre-match entertainment.

Welsh singer Sir Tom Jones and English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran both performed as pre-match entertainment at the 2014 AFL Grand Final. The two were the first international acts to perform at a grand final since American singer Meat Loaf's performance at the 2011 AFL Grand Final[5] Both Sheeran and Jones were the first acts to be offered the sets by the AFL, with both acts accepting without hesitation. Jones said about the offer to perform at the game, "I understand there will be over 100,000 people in the stadium for the grand final which makes this spectacular sporting event something I'm really looking forward to. I also know that Australian football has really passionate fans so it'll be great to be a part of the atmosphere and excitement on the day." Sheeran said that the decision to play was not a hard decision to make, saying that "Having spent some time in Australia recently I know just how popular the game is and how big an event this will be."[6]

Sheeran performed "Sing" and "The A Team" and was then joined by Jones to sing "Kiss", followed by "Mama Told Me Not to Come", "Delilah" and "If I Only Knew".[7] Mike Brady performed "Up There Cazaly", a grand final tradition. Olivia Newton-John performed the Australian National Anthem, Advance Australia Fair.[8]

A post-match entertainment show featuring Sheeran and Jones was also held. There was no half-time musical entertainment.[9] The traditional Grand Final sprint held at half-time was won by Jordan Murdoch of Geelong, breaking Patrick Dangerfield's streak of three consecutive victories from 2011 to 2013.

Match summary
The 2014 AFL Grand Final was the 250th game for Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge (left), and saw Sydney's Lance Franklin (right) face his former club, having been a 2013 premiership player for Hawthorn.

First quarter

The first quarter began with the teams going goal for goal in the initial 15 mins. Josh Kennedy drew first blood with a long bomb, before Paul Puopolo answered with his own long-range shot. Former Hawk Lance Franklin then got onto the scoreboard but Luke Breust replied to make it 2 goals apiece. But from that moment onwards, it was all Hawthorn as Brad Hill, Jack Gunston and Will Langford piled on 3 goals to finish the quarter. At quarter time, Hawthorn had a healthy lead of 20 points.

Second quarter

In the second quarter, Ben McGlynn goaled within the first minute in a bid to give Sydney some spark. However, it proved to be the start of a Hawthorn onslaught, in which the brown and gold piled on 5 unanswered goals and surged to a match-winning 47-pt lead. Breust and Hale added goals before Langford stormed through the centre and unleashed a bomb from 50. Luke Hodge, who literally smothered Port Adelaide out of the Preliminary Finals a week earlier, then added another two, including a simple intercept from a disastrous Gary Rohan kick-in. Adam Goodes and Franklin temporarily stemmed the tide with two successive goals for Sydney, but when the dynamic Cyril Rioli intercepted another errant Sydney passage of play to gift Jarryd Roughead a goal, the Hawks led by a massive 42 points.

Third quarter

After the main break, Hawthorn continued where it left off, as Roughead and Gunston added more misery to the Swans. Kieren Jack and Franklin tried hard to put some respectability on the scoreboard with two goals but the Hawks surged again. Matt Suckling put last's season disappointment behind him with a goal; Roughead then added his third, before Langford dribbled one through miraculously from the boundary. Kurt Tippett pegged one back for the Swans but it was too little too late. At 3 quarter time, the Hawks were ahead by 54 points, with Hodge sealing the kiss of death, literally, on ex-teammate Franklin.

Final quarter

When Hawthorn kicked away with the first two goals of the quarter through Breust and Roughead, the only question is how much will they win by. Goodes snapped his second and Franklin added a fourth but these only made a dint into the margin. Shaun Burgoyne put the icing on the cake with a daring 50m goal but Jack cancelled that out with a brilliant snap. However, the finish belonged to Hawthorn once more as Roughead marked strongly for his fifth before Shaun Burgoyne extended the margin by over 10 goals again. In the end, Hawthorn won by 63 points in a canter.

Overall report

Hawthorn dominated the match from start to finish, applying pressure on the Swans that at times was brutal. Jarryd Roughead was the top scorer for Hawthorn kicking 5.1 and Lance Franklin was the top goal kicker for Sydney, kicking 4.2.

Norm Smith Medal
Norm Smith Medal Voting Tally
Position Player Club Total Votes Voting Summary
1st (winner) Luke Hodge Hawthorn 10 3,3,2,2
2nd - tied Jordan Lewis Hawthorn 9 3,3,2,1
2nd - tied Sam Mitchell Hawthorn 9 3,2,2,1,1
4th - tied Josh Gibson Hawthorn 1 1
4th - tied Will Langford Hawthorn 1 1

Luke Hodge was named the Norm Smith medalist (best on ground) with 10 votes, for his 35 possessions and 2 goals. He edged fellow midfielders Jordan Lewis (37 possessions) and Sam Mitchell (33 possessions), both with 9 votes, for his second Norm Smith Medal, having also won it in 2008.[10]

Chaired by Nathan Buckley, the voters and their choices were as follows:[11]

Voter 3 Votes 2 Votes 1 Vote
Nathan Buckley Jordan Lewis Sam Mitchell Josh Gibson
Anthony Hudson Sam Mitchell Luke Hodge Jordan Lewis
Chris Johnson Luke Hodge Sam Mitchell Will Langford
Cameron Ling Luke Hodge Jordan Lewis Sam Mitchell
Craig O'Donoghue Jordan Lewis Luke Hodge Sam Mitchell

Teams

Sydney did not change its team from the previous week's preliminary final, while Hawthorn omitted Jonathon Ceglar and Jonathan Simpkin in favour of Cyril Rioli and Ben McEvoy. Rioli was returning to the team after missing almost three months with a hamstring injury; he had appeared for Box Hill for limited playing time in the previous week's VFL Grand Final, which was his only match practice leading to his selection.[12]

Sydney
Hawthorn
Sydney
B: 2 Rhyce Shaw 25 Ted Richards 40 Nick Smith
HB: 16 Gary Rohan 39 Heath Grundy 24 Dane Rampe
C: 32 Lewis Jetta 15 Kieren Jack 4 Dan Hannebery
HF: 7 Harry Cunningham 20 Sam Reid 23 Lance Franklin
F: 37 Adam Goodes 8 Kurt Tippett 21 Ben McGlynn
Foll: 38 Mike Pyke 26 Luke Parker 3 Jarrad McVeigh (c)
Int: 9 Nick Malceski 12 Josh Kennedy 44 Jake Lloyd
14 Craig Bird (sub)
Coach: John Longmire
Hawthorn
B: 14 Grant Birchall 17 Brian Lake 6 Josh Gibson
HB: 4 Matt Suckling 24 Ben Stratton 5 Sam Mitchell
C: 3 Jordan Lewis 29 Will Langford 10 Bradley Hill
HF: 15 Luke Hodge (c) 2 Jarryd Roughead 16 Isaac Smith
F: 7 Ben McEvoy 19 Jack Gunston 22 Luke Breust
Foll: 20 David Hale 26 Liam Shiels 9 Shaun Burgoyne
Int: 27 Matthew Spangher 33 Cyril Rioli 28 Paul Puopolo
8 Taylor Duryea (sub)
Coach: Alastair Clarkson
Umpires

The umpiring panel, comprising three field umpires, four boundary umpires, two goal umpires and an emergency in each position is given below. Most notable among the umpiring appointments was goal umpire Chris Appleton's selection for his first grand final, who had repaired his career after serving a suspension in 2010 for breaking the AFL's anti-gambling rules by placing bets on an AFL game in which he was not umpiring.[13]

2014 AFL Grand Final umpires
PositionUmpire 1Umpire 2Umpire 3Umpire 4Emergency
Field: 21 Simon Meredith (3) 15 Mathew Nicholls (2) 9 Matt Stevic (2) Troy Pannell
Boundary: Ian Burrows (5) Nathan Doig (3) Mark Thomson (5) Matthew Tomkins (1) Christopher Gordon
Goal: Chris Appleton (1) Luke Walker (6) Chelsea Roffey

Numbers in brackets represent the number of Grand Finals umpired, including 2014.[14]

Scorecard
Grand Final
Saturday, 27 September (2:30 pm) Sydney def. by Hawthorn MCG (crowd: 99,460) Report
2.3 (15)
5.3 (33)
8.5 (53)
 11.8 (74)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 5.5 (35)
11.9 (75)
16.11 (107)
 21.11 (137)		 Umpires: Meredith, Nicholls, Sevic
Norm Smith Medal: Luke Hodge
Television broadcast: Seven Network
National anthem: Olivia Newton-John
Franklin: 4
Goodes, Jack: 2
Kennedy, Tippett, McGlynn: 1		 Goals 5: Roughead
3: Breust, Langford
2: Burgoyne, Gunston, Hodge
1: Hale, Hill, Puopolo, Suckling
Franklin, Malceski, Kennedy, Shaw, Goodes Best Hodge, Lewis, Mitchell, Roughead, Hill, Lake, Langford, Burgoyne
Jetta (concussion) Injuries  

 

See also

References
  1. In 1897 and 1924 there were no Grand Finals and instead the premier was decided by a finals play-off. In 1948, 1977 and 2010, there were Grand Final replays after initial draws.
  2. Yahoo7 Sport staff (18 September 2014). "AFL Grand Final week on Seven". Yahoo! 7. Yahoo! / Seven West Media. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  3. Devlyn, Darren (10 September 2014). "Dennis Cometti is retiring at the end of his current Channel Seven contract". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  4. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2014/09/saturday-27-september-2014.html
  5. The Music staff (1 September 2014). "Ed Sheeran, Tom Jones To Play AFL Grand Final". The Music. Street Press Australia. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  6. Australian Associated Press (1 September 2014). "Tom Jones, Ed Sheeran and Olivia Newton-John to perform at AFL grand final". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  7. Guthrie, Ben (25 September 2014). "Tom and Ed ready to rock". Australian Football League. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  8. Nat Edwards, AFL (31 August 2014). Olivia's Grand Final anthem "http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-08-31/olivias-grand-final-anthem Archived 19 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine" Retrieved 27 September 2014
  9. Rolfe, Peter (1 September 2014). "Tom Jones, Ed Sheeran and Olivia Newton John to perform at 2014 AFL Grand Final at MCG". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  10. AFL.com.au (27 September 2014). "Luke Hodge joins Hawthorn greats by winning second Norm Smith Medal". AFL. Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  11. "Luke Hodge joins Hawthorn greats by winning second Norm Smith Medal". afl.com.au. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  12. Young Bulldogs over run Port Melbourne to make VFL grand final
  13. Daniel Cherny (23 September 2014). "AFL grand final: Goal umpire Chris Appleton goes from betting suspension to grand final". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  14. "Umpires named for 2014 Toyota AFL Grand Final". Australian Football League. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
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