World Footy News

Week two of the AFL's 2009 Finals Series sees the competition to move to sudden death, with all finals elimination from now on.

Last weekend St Kilda impressed the most, shaking off a recent downturn in form, to stifle Collingwood and win by 28 points. Geelong also affirmed that they are not a spent force, pulling away from the Western Bulldogs early and holding them at arms length for a 14 point victory.

In the other finals Adelaide eliminated an undermanned Essendon as expected by a record 96 points, and Brisbane staged a stunning comeback to knock out Carlton by 7 points.

Week Two Finals

Friday September 11
Second Semi Final, Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions at the MCG, 7.45pm AEST

Saturday September 12
First Semi Final, Collingwood v Adelaide at the MCG, 7.30pm AEST

Further facts and figures from the finals follow.

Swings and Roundabouts

A talking point has been the 8 day break afforded to Adelaide compared with Collingwood's 6. Pies fans have noted the disadvantage, though it is the media that has been most focal in questioning it. Callers to Adelaide talkback radio have been quick to point out that in 2002 Adelaide finished 3rd to Collingwood's 4th yet had to play their preliminary final in Melbourne to satisfy an AFL deal with the MCG. The Crows lost the match by 28 points, with the Magies going through to the Grand Final (minus Jason Cloke, suspended for knocking out Adelaide's Tyson Edwards early in the preliminary final), which they lost to Brisbane by 9 points.

Familiarity with Finals

The Western Bulldogs' Jason Akermanis is set to play his 27th finals match, bringing him to 9th on the all-time AFL/VFL list, with the majority of those games played with his opposition this week, the Brisbane Lions. The most finals by a player in AFL/VFL history are Michael Tuck (39 with Hawthorn), Gordon Coventry (31 with Collingwood), Leigh Matthews (29 with Hawthorn), Bruce Doull (29 with Carlton), Wayne Schimmelbusch (29 with North Melbourne), Bill Hutchison (28 with Essendon), Chris Mew (28 with Hawthorn), Gary Ayres (28 with Hawthorn), Harry Collier (27 with Collingwood), Dick Reynolds (27 with Essendon), Kevin Bartlett (27 with Richmond), Martin Pike (27 with Melbourne, North Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions), Jason Akermanis (26 with the Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs), Albert Collier (26 with Collingwood), Dermott Brereton (26 with Hawthorn) and Stephen Silvagni (26 with Carlton).

Michael Malthouse will coach his 42nd finals match this week, taking him into equal third spot on the all-time list. The leading coaches in finals matches in AFL/VFL history are Jock McHale (59 matches with Collingwood), Kevin Sheedy (43 matches with Essendon), Tom Hafey (42 matches with Richmond, Collingwood and the Sydney Swans), Michael Malthouse (41 matches with Footscray, West Coast and Collingwood) and Allan Jeans (41 matches with St Kilda and Hawthorn.

For the Record

The AFL attendance figure of 241,315 for week one of the 2009 Toyota AFL Finals Series was the largest in the game’s history since the AFL moved to a final eight system in 1994. The leading week one attendances under the final eight system have been as follows:

2009 – 241,315
2006 – 237,136
2007 – 216,559
1995 – 216,309