1989 VFL grand final
grand final of the 1989 Victorian Football League season
The 1989 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Geelong Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 30 September 1989. It was the 93rd annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1989 VFL season. The match, attended by 94,796 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 6 points, marking that club's eighth premiership victory. It is regarded as one of the greatest grand finals of all time, noted for its high scoring, close winning margin, extreme physical toughness, and the courage and on-field heroics displayed by its injured players.
Background
Hawthorn were playing in their seventh successive Grand Final and eager to successfully defend the premiership for the first time in their history, after being denied in 1984 and 1985 by Essendon, and 1987 by Carlton. Under new coach Malcolm Blight, Geelong had become the most exciting team in the competition to watch, their all-out attacking style of play setting a point-scoring record for the home-and-away season (425 goals and 366 behinds for a total of 2916 points, at an average of nearly 133 points per game) and making it to their first VFL Grand Final since 1967.
In the finals series leading up to the game, Geelong lost the Qualifying Final to Essendon by 76 points before beating Melbourne by 63 points in the first semi-final, and then defeating Essendon by 94 points in the preliminary final to advance to the grand final. Hawthorn had a much easier run, defeating Essendon in the second Semi-Final to advance straight to the grand final.
In the week leading up to the grand final, Geelong's Paul Couch was awarded the Brownlow Medal.
Match summary
First quarter
The grand final was played in near-perfect conditions.
“1989 VFL grand final” enters the record as grand final of the 1989 Victorian Football League season. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what grand, final and Victorian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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