1994 AFL premiership season
Teams15
PremiersWest Coast
2nd premiership
Minor premiersWest Coast
2nd minor premiership
Pre-season cupEssendon
3rd pre-season cup win
Brownlow MedallistGreg Williams (Carlton)
Leading goalkickerGary Ablett (Geelong)
Attendance
Matches played174
Total attendance5,237,398 (30,100 per match)
Highest93,860 (Grand Final, West Coast vs. Geelong)

The 1994 AFL season was the 98th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured fifteen clubs, ran from 26 March until 1 October, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs – an increase from the six clubs which had contested the finals in previous years.

The premiership was won by the West Coast Eagles for the second time, after it defeated Geelong by 80 points in the 1994 AFL Grand Final.

Foster's Cup

Essendon 15.12 (102) defeated Adelaide 9.14 (68) in the final.

Rule changes

There were several significant alterations to the laws of the game brought in for the 1994 season:

  • The number of interchange players was increased from two to three which, when added to the "run on" team of 18 on-the-field players, increased the standard team squad size to 21 players.
  • The number of field umpires was increased from two to three.
  • Playing time was reduced from 25 minutes per quarter to 20 minutes, but additional stoppages (including all scores and boundary throw-ins) attracted "time-on" allocations; the total reduction of playing time was approximately 10%.[1]
  • The size of each club's senior playing list was significantly reduced from 52 to 42 players from the 1994 season (with the exception of the struggling Sydney, which was granted a list of 50 players). Victorian clubs could list ten players on a supplementary list to make up the numbers in their reserves teams, but those players were not eligible for AFL senior selection. The change was part of an AFL Commission plan to completely abolish the Victorian clubs' reserves competition by 1995, but this final stage did not occur until 2000.[2]
  • Advertising was permitted for the first time on the backs of guernseys. Small sponsors' logos had previously been permitted over the breast and on the shorts, but the new regulations allowed for logos 30 cm long and 8 cm high below the number on the back of the guernsey, which has since become the prime advertising location on guernseys. Under the original rules, the logo was required to be consistent with the colour of the guernsey, a stipulation which has since been relaxed.[3]

Home-and-away season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 2
Saturday, 2 April (2:00 pm) Fitzroy 17.10 (112) def. Essendon 14.15 (99) Optus Oval (crowd: 24,872) Report
Saturday, 2 April (2:00 pm) North Melbourne 21.16 (142) def. St Kilda 10.13 (73) MCG (crowd: 27,195) Report
Saturday, 2 April (2:08 pm) Hawthorn 8.16 (64) def. by Melbourne 17.16 (118) Waverley Park (crowd: 29,581) Report
Sunday, 3 April (2:08 pm) Richmond 20.14 (134) def. Brisbane Bears 11.6 (72) MCG (crowd: 15,333) Report
Sunday, 3 April (2:15 pm) West Coast 14.13 (97) def. Adelaide 11.12 (78) Subiaco Oval (crowd: 28,228) Report
Monday, 4 April (2:00 pm) Geelong 22.20 (152) def. Footscray 8.16 (64) Kardinia Park (crowd: 24,019) Report
Monday, 4 April (2:08 pm) Carlton 9.12 (66) def. by Collingwood 14.16 (100) MCG (crowd: 85,063) Report
Bye
Sydney
  • Under pressure to respond after their poor showing against Melbourne the previous week, Geelong scored their biggest win over Footscray, starting and finishing strongly to run out winners by 88 points.[4] Gary Ablett kicked seven goals and ruckman John Barnes' masterful display (22 hit-outs and 24 disposals) would gain him three Brownlow votes. In the middle of the week, the Footscray board sacked Terry Wheeler and replaced him with ex-Hawthorn coach Alan Joyce.[5]

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 12
Saturday, 11 June (2:00 pm) Geelong 17.11 (113) def. St Kilda 16.14 (110) Kardinia Park (crowd: 23,696) Report
Saturday, 11 June (2:08 pm) North Melbourne 21.23 (149) def. Adelaide 10.9 (69) Optus Oval (crowd: 16,643) Report
Saturday, 11 June (2:08 pm) Melbourne 13.16 (94) def. by Carlton 18.13 (121) MCG (crowd: 52,199) Report
Sunday, 12 June (1:15 pm) Sydney 13.5 (83) def. by Hawthorn 21.15 (141) SCG (crowd: 12,251) Report
Sunday, 12 June (4:15 pm) West Coast 11.12 (78) def. Brisbane Bears 10.9 (69) Subiaco Oval (crowd: 23,492) Report
Monday, 13 June (2:00 pm) Footscray 13.14 (92) def. Essendon 9.10 (64) Waverley Park (crowd: 39,181) Report
Monday, 13 June (2:08 pm) Richmond 14.18 (102) def. Collingwood 4.12 (36) MCG (crowd: 61,983) Report
Bye
Fitzroy
  • Despite missing key players Robert Harvey, Stewart Loewe and Tony Lockett, St Kilda led Geelong at three-quarter time by 26 points after kicking seven goals to nil in the third quarter. However, a spectacular last quarter by Gary Ablett in which he kicked four of his seven goals, and an intercept of Rod Keogh's attempted pass in the forward pocket to Nicky Winmar in the final minute, enabled the Cats to escape with a three-point win.[6]

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Round 24
Friday, 2 September (8:08 pm) Collingwood 8.14 (62) def. by North Melbourne 19.12 (126) MCG (crowd: 72,932) Report
Saturday, 3 September (2:00 pm) Essendon 12.8 (80) def. Carlton 9.8 (62) MCG (crowd: 61,231) Report
Saturday, 3 September (2:00 pm) Fitzroy 15.12 (102) def. by St Kilda 21.14 (140) Western Oval (crowd: 10,809) Report
Saturday, 3 September (2:08 pm) Hawthorn 9.12 (66) def. Adelaide 6.11 (47) Waverley Park (crowd: 22,973) Report
Saturday, 3 September (2:08 pm) Richmond 13.17 (95) def. by Geelong 27.9 (171) Optus Oval (crowd: 25,112) Report
Sunday, 4 September (1:15 pm) Sydney 18.13 (121) def. by Melbourne 27.5 (167) SCG (crowd: 8,344) Report
Sunday, 4 September (4:15 pm) West Coast 17.15 (117) def. Footscray 6.10 (46) Subiaco Oval (crowd: 26,992) Report
Bye
Brisbane Bears

Ladder

(P)Premiers
Qualified for finals
# Team P W L D PF PA  % Pts
1West Coast (P)22166020781572132.264
2Carlton22157023511774132.560
3North Melbourne22139023831848129.052
4Geelong22139024032104114.252
5Footscray22139021061905110.652
6Hawthorn22139021882005109.152
7Melbourne221210021901879116.648
8Collingwood22121002017201999.948
9Richmond22121002033216793.848
10Essendon22111102075211997.944
11Adelaide2291211876215986.938
12Brisbane Bears2291301940219588.436
13St Kilda2271411809241574.930
14Fitzroy2251701726245670.320
15Sydney2241801987254578.116

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 94.4
Source: AFL Tables

Finals

The second McIntyre "final six" system, which had operated in 1992 and 1993, was replaced by the McIntyre "final eight" system. The McIntyre "final eight" system would be used until 1999 and was then replaced by the AFL’s Amended "final eight" system in 2000.

Week one

Qualifying finals
Saturday, 10 September (2:30 pm) North Melbourne 15.24 (114) def. Hawthorn 13.13 (91) Waverley Park (crowd: 38,223) Report
Saturday, 10 September (7:45 pm) Geelong 15.16 (106) def. Footscray 15.11 (101) MCG (crowd: 61,182) Report
Sunday, 11 September (2:10 pm) Carlton 14.12 (96) def. by Melbourne 18.15 (123) MCG (crowd: 56,111) Report
Sunday, 11 September (4:45 pm) West Coast 11.16 (82) def. Collingwood 12.8 (80) WACA Ground (crowd: 31,824) Report
  • The third qualifying final between North Melbourne and Hawthorn was the first-ever AFL finals match to require extra time; this is because scores were level at full time, which had North Melbourne 12.19 (91) to Hawthorn 13.13 (91) at the expiration of regular time. (The provision for extra time had been introduced after the controversial 1990 finals series, when the qualifying final between Collingwood and West Coast was drawn.) North Melbourne dominated extra time, kicking 3.5 to Hawthorn's nil, and North Melbourne won the match by 23 points.

Semi finals

Preliminary Final

Grand final

Awards

Notable events

  • Fitzroy moved its match-day home ground from Princes Park (which, due to the first ever ground naming rights deal affecting an AFL venue, became known as Optus Oval from this season) to the Western Oval. However, this left Carlton as the sole tenant of Optus Oval, and an existing arrangement between Carlton and the AFL required eighteen matches to be played there during the year; consequently, Fitzroy and the MCG's four co-tenants (Essendon, Richmond, Melbourne and North Melbourne) were each forced to play one or two home games at Optus Oval to make up the balance.[9]
  • Starting from Round 20, the "blood rule" was introduced in order to allay fears raised by the threat of AIDS. Under the rule, any bleeding player would be sent from the field by the umpires until his wound had been covered or closed and any blood-stained gear replaced.[10] The rule, which for the first time ever gave umpires the ability to order players from the ground, was not initially well-received – particularly following a Round 23 incident in which Hawthorn ruckman Stephen Lawrence was unable to return to the field after the third quarter because Hawthorn officials could not find a spare sock to replace his bloodstained one.[11]
  • The MCG became Collingwood's predominant home ground for the first time, however they would still play sporadic home games at Victoria Park until 1999 against mostly low crowd drawing and/or interstate opposition. To this day, the MCG has remained Collingwood's predominant home ground.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rohan Connolly; Gerard Wright (21 August 1994). "A goal that wasn't and a clock that ran fast". The Sunday Age (Sport Liftout). Melbourne, VIC. p. 3.
  2. ↑ Greg Denham (12 June 1993). "League cuts team lists in shake-up". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 32.
  3. ↑ Stephen Linnell (19 August 1993). "Logos get a guernsey from the AFL". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 28.
  4. ↑ "Cats rip into Dogs with impressive comeback". The Canberra Times. Vol. 68, no. 21, 538. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 April 1994. p. 17. Retrieved 20 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "Don't write me off, warns sacked Wheeler". The Canberra Times. Vol. 68, no. 21, 540. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 April 1994. p. 22. Retrieved 20 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Ablett snatches win from Saints". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 12 June 1994. p. 15. Retrieved 19 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "All-in brawl leaves Sumich unconscious". The Canberra Times. Vol. 70, no. 21, 691. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 September 1994. p. 24. Retrieved 20 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ Morris, Tom (4 September 2018). "AFL 2018: Danny Southern, Peter Sumich finally make peace 24 years after horror headlock". foxsports.com.au.
  9. ↑ Greg Denham (9 November 1993). "MCG tenants protest at 'home' switch". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 46.
  10. ↑ Ashley Browne (4 August 1994). "AFL under fire over new law on bleeding players". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 30.
  11. ↑ Steve Perkin; Daryl Timms (29 August 1994). "Blood rule 'ridiculous'". Herald Sun (Afternoon ed.). Melbourne, VIC. p. 86.

Sources

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