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2001 AFL Grand Final
Home Team	Essendon
Away Team	Brisbane Lions
Date	29 September 2001
Stadium	MCG
City	Melbourne
TV in Australia
Network	Seven Network
< 2000 • AFL Grand Final • 2002 >

The 2001 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and the Brisbane Lions, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 2001. It was the 105th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2001 AFL season. The match, attended by 91,482 spectators, was won by Brisbane by a margin of 26 points, marking that club's first premiership victory.

[edit] Background

Essendon were defending their 2000 premiership crown, and went into the game finishing on top of the ladder on percentage ahead of second placed Brisbane (both had won 17 games). Brisbane had won fifteen consecutive games leading up to the Grand Final, a streak which was started with a major upset of Essendon at the Gabba in round 10. It was the Lions' first appearance in a Grand Final after joining the VFL/AFL in 1987. Essendon were the dominant team between 1999 and 2001, losing just 11 games from the start of 1999 until the 2001 Grand Final. In the lead-up to the match, Brisbane's Jason Akermanis won the Brownlow Medal.

[edit] Match summary

Brisbane started the game well, scoring the first goal of the match from a free kick awarded to Alistair Lynch for holding against Dustin Fletcher. Essendon fought back late in the first quarter then took control of the game in the second term. Brisbane's poor kicking for goal almost put them out of the game in the second quarter as Essendon blew their lead out to 20 points late in the term. Brisbane had kicked an inaccurate 5.10 by the half time break.

Brisbane managed to overrun Essendon in the third term kicking six goals to one and turning a 14 point deficit into a 16 point lead. Brisbane's pace in the midfield and the tiring legs of most of the Essendon players played a pivotal role in Brisbane taking full control of the game in the second half, to win comfortably. Essendon had scored two late goals in the last quarter after once trailing by as much as 39 points.

Shaun Hart of the Lions was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for being judged the best player afield. Matthew Lloyd was amongst the best for Essendon, kicking 5 goals.

Essendon captain James Hird was visually shattered and disappointed in his post match speech. A quick congratulations to Brisbane for winning was followed by an apology to Bombers fans for letting them down.

[edit] Teams

These are the selected teams as they were announced prior to the game.

[edit] Scorecard