2002 AFL season

2002 AFL premiership season
Teams	16
Premiers	Brisbane (2nd premiership)
Minor premiers	Port Adelaide (1st minor premiership)
Pre-season cup	Port Adelaide (2nd pre-season cup win)
Matches played	185
Attendance	6,092,987 (32,935 per match)
Highest attendance	91,817 (Grand Final, Brisbane Lions v Collingwood)
Leading goalkicker	David Neitz (Melbourne)
Brownlow Medallist	Simon Black (Brisbane Lions)
← 2001 2003 →

The 2002 Australian Football League season was the 106th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.

See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.

AFL Draft

See 2002 AFL Draft for more information.

National Cup

Port Adelaide defeated Richmond 10.11 (71) to 9.8 (62) in the Final.

Premiership season

Round 1 (Easter and season launch)

	Round 1 (Easter & Season Launch)
28 March (7:45 pm)	Richmond 24.11 (155)	def.	Collingwood 18.10 (118)	MCG (crowd: 65,316)
30 March (2:10 pm)	St Kilda 14.5 (89)	def.	Carlton 10.5 (65)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 33,359)
30 March (7:10 pm)	Geelong 11.10 (76)	def. by	Essendon 18.18 (126)	MCG (crowd: 42,746)
30 March (7:10 pm)	Port Adelaide 11.7 (73)	def. by	Kangaroos 12.11 (83)	Football Park (crowd: 28,578)
31 March (1:10 pm)	Sydney 12.15 (87)	def. by	Brisbane Lions 17.8 (110)	SCG (crowd: 24,052)
31 March (2:10 pm)	Western Bulldogs 12.21 (93)	def. by	Adelaide 16.16 (112)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 18,475)
31 March (1:40 pm)	West Coast 21.11 (137)	def.	Fremantle 18.10 (118)	Subiaco Oval (crowd: 39,467)
1 April (2:10 pm)	Hawthorn 15.13 (103)	def. by	Melbourne 20.9 (129)	MCG (crowd: 43,484)
notes

Round 2

	Round 2
5 April (7:45 pm)	Essendon 16.16 (112)	def.	Richmond 8.12 (60)	MCG (crowd: 67,453)
6 April (2:10 pm)	Carlton 4.9 (33)	def. by	Sydney 17.9 (111)	Optus Oval (crowd: 22,435)
6 April (2:10 pm)	Collingwood 17.18 (120)	def.	West Coast 18.11 (119)	MCG (crowd: 29,348)
6 April (7:10 pm)	Kangaroos 16.14 (110)	def.	Western Bulldogs 14.13 (97)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 25,985)
6 April (7:10 pm)	Adelaide 16.14 (110)	def.	Geelong 12.7 (79)	Football Park (crowd: 44,386)
7 April (1:10 pm)	Brisbane Lions 21.22 (148)	def.	Hawthorn 6.10 (46)	The Gabba (crowd: 25,660)
7 April (2:10 pm)	Melbourne 16.13 (109)	def.	Port Adelaide 11.16 (82)	MCG (crowd: 19,611)
7 April (1:40 pm)	Fremantle 10.16 (76)	def.	St Kilda 11.7 (73)	Subiaco Oval (crowd: 21,138)

Round 3

	Round 3
12 April (7:45 pm)	Carlton 11.9 (75)	def.	Collingwood 7.13 (55)	MCG (crowd: 63,864)
13 April (2:10 pm)	Richmond 13.18 (96)	def.	Melbourne 11.10 (76)	MCG (crowd: 37,154)
13 April (2:10 pm)	Adelaide 17.12 (114)	def.	Sydney 13.6 (84)	Football Park (crowd: 42,246)
13 April (7:10 pm)	Brisbane Lions 17.15 (117)	def.	Essendon 9.13 (67)	The Gabba (crowd: 35,898)
13 April (7:10 pm)	Kangaroos 10.7 (67)	def. by	Geelong 11.9 (75)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 27,286)
14 April (1:10 pm)	Hawthorn 13.11 (89)	def.	Fremantle 11.13 (79)	York Park (crowd: 15,066)
14 April (2:10 pm)	St Kilda 8.8 (56)	def. by	Port Adelaide 20.19 (139)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 17,641)
14 April (1:40 pm)	West Coast 17.11 (113)	def.	Western Bulldogs 11.15 (81)	Subiaco Oval (crowd: 31,854)
Kevin Sheedy coached his 500th AFL game.[1]

Round 4

	Round 4
19 April (7:45 pm)	Essendon 19.8 (122)	def.	Adelaide 11.15 (81)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 40,322)
20 April (2:10 pm)	Collingwood 15.14 (104)	def.	Hawthorn 9.9 (63)	MCG (crowd: 48,476)
20 April (2:10 pm)	Melbourne 21.11 (137)	def.	West Coast 15.13 (103)	Optus Oval (crowd: 9,421)
20 April (7:10 pm)	Sydney 15.13 (103)	def.	Kangaroos 14.16 (100)	SCG (crowd: 23,775)
20 April (7:10 pm)	Western Bulldogs 12.6 (78)	def. by	Brisbane Lions 14.10 (94)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 23,928)
21 April (12:40 pm)	Port Adelaide 23.10 (148)	def.	Carlton 14.11 (95)	Football Park (crowd: 29,486)
21 April (2:10 pm)	Geelong 26.10 (166)	def.	St Kilda 6.8 (44)	Skilled Stadium (crowd: 23,563)
21 April (1:40 pm)	Fremantle 21.12 (138)	def.	Richmond 11.6 (72)	Subiaco Oval (crowd: 23,571)

Round 5 (ANZAC Day)

	Round 5 (ANZAC Day)
25 April (2:15 pm)	Collingwood 9.12 (66)	def.	Essendon 4.9 (33)	MCG (crowd: 84,894)
26 April (7:45 pm)	Western Bulldogs 10.21 (81)	def. by	Melbourne 15.14 (104)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 30,789)
27 April (2:10 pm)	Hawthorn 19.11 (125)	def.	Richmond 12.11 (83)	MCG (crowd: 39,694)
27 April (1:40 pm)	West Coast 18.13 (121)	def.	Brisbane Lions 10.15 (75)	Subiaco Oval (crowd: 33,313)
27 April (7:10 pm)	St Kilda 8.8 (56)	drew with	Sydney 8.8 (56)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 21,007)
27 April (7:10 pm)	Adelaide 12.10 (82)	def. by	Port Adelaide 14.6 (90)	Football Park (crowd: 49,513)
28 April (1:10 pm)	Geelong 17.9 (111)	def.	Fremantle 6.13 (49)	Skilled Stadium (crowd: 20,075)
28 April (2:10 pm)	Carlton 17.10 (112)	def. by	Kangaroos 19.17 (131)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 35,138)
Brisbane Lions' lost its first match since Round 9, 2001, ending a 20-match winning streak. The streak with equal with Essendon (2000) as the second-longest winning streak in VFL/AFL history.

Round 6

Round 7 (Mother's Day)

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11 (Queen's Birthday)

Round 12 (Split Round)

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Ladder

All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 176. An additional 9 games were played during the finals series.

2002 AFL Ladder
	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Port Adelaide	22	18	4	0	2360	1783	132.36	72
2	Brisbane Lions (P)	22	17	5	0	2520	1843	136.73	68
3	Adelaide	22	15	7	0	2308	2007	115.00	60
4	Collingwood	22	13	9	0	2081	1897	109.70	52
5	Essendon	22	12	9	1	1939	1847	104.98	50
6	Melbourne	22	12	10	0	2243	2245	99.91	48
7	Kangaroos	22	12	10	0	2241	2269	98.77	48
8	West Coast	22	11	11	0	2208	2254	97.96	44
9	Geelong	22	11	11	0	1933	2029	95.27	44
10	Hawthorn	22	11	11	0	1938	2107	91.98	44
11	Sydney	22	9	12	1	2123	1976	107.44	38
12	Western Bulldogs	22	9	12	1	2335	2246	103.96	38
13	Fremantle	22	9	13	0	1900	2151	88.33	36
14	Richmond	22	7	15	0	1801	2172	82.92	28
15	St Kilda	22	5	16	1	1785	2271	78.60	22
16	Carlton	22	3	19	0	1682	2300	73.13	12
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points for, PA = Points against

Ladder progression

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
1	Port Adelaide	0	0	4	8	12	16	16	20	24	28	32	36	40	44	48	48	52	56	60	64	68	72
2	Brisbane Lions	4	8	12	16	16	20	24	24	28	28	32	36	40	40	44	48	52	56	60	64	68	68
3	Adelaide	4	8	12	12	12	16	20	20	24	28	32	32	32	32	36	40	44	48	52	52	56	60
4	Collingwood	0	4	4	8	12	16	20	24	24	28	32	32	36	40	40	44	44	48	48	48	52	52
5	Essendon	4	8	8	12	12	12	16	20	24	24	24	28	32	34	34	34	38	38	38	42	46	50
6	Melbourne	4	8	8	12	16	16	20	20	24	24	24	28	28	32	36	36	36	36	40	44	44	48
7	Kangaroos	4	8	8	8	12	12	12	16	16	20	24	24	24	28	32	36	36	40	40	44	48	48
8	West Coast	4	4	8	8	12	12	16	16	20	20	24	28	32	32	36	36	40	40	40	40	40	44
9	Geelong	0	0	4	8	12	12	12	12	12	16	20	24	28	32	36	40	40	40	44	44	44	44
10	Hawthorn	0	0	4	4	8	12	16	20	20	20	20	20	24	28	32	36	36	36	40	40	40	44
11	Sydney	0	4	4	8	10	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	18	18	18	18	22	22	26	30	34	38
12	Western Bulldogs	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	8	12	16	20	24	24	26	26	26	30	34	34	34	34	38
13	Fremantle	0	4	4	8	8	12	12	16	16	20	20	24	24	24	24	28	28	32	32	36	36	36
14	Richmond	4	4	8	8	8	8	12	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	20	24	28	28	28
15	St Kilda	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	10	14	14	14	14	14	14	18	22	22	22	22	22	22
16	Carlton	0	0	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	12	12

Finals series

Qualifying and Elimination Finals (Father's Day)

Semi Finals

Note: Adelaide played its "home" final at the MCG despite being ranked above Melbourne due to the agreement then in place with the Melbourne Cricket Club that at least one game each week of the finals be played at the MCG.

Preliminary Finals

Grand Final

This was the second consecutive Grand Final won by the Brisbane Lions during a three-year streak.

Match attendance

Total match attendance for all games was 5,643,908 people. Attendance at the Grand Final was 91,817 people. The largest non-finals attendance was 84,894 people for the Collingwood v Essendon game of Round 5.

Awards

• The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Simon Black of the Brisbane Lions.
• The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Luke Darcy of the Western Bulldogs and Michael Voss of the Brisbane Lions.
  • This was the first year for this award under this name. Previously, it was the AFL Players Association MVP Award.
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to David Neitz of Melbourne.
• The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Nathan Buckley of Collingwood.
• The AFL Rising Star award was awarded to Nick Riewoldt of St Kilda.

Notable events

• For the first time since 1965, no player kicked ten goals or more in a match.
• Carlton won the wooden spoon for the first time since 1894. Carlton was the last of the twelve traditional Victorian clubs to win the wooden spoon in the VFL/AFL.
• Carlton played only four home games at Optus Oval, after arranging a deal to play four home games at Colonial Stadium. In order for the AFL to meet its contractual obligation to stage nine games per year at Optus Oval, five neutral games between a low-drawing Victorian team and an interstate team were staged at the venue. The unpopular venture was not repeated, as all of the home teams in these neutral games lost money due to poor crowds and, in many cases, conflicting sponsorship deals.^[2]
• Even though Adelaide was entitled to a home Semi-Final after losing its Qualifying Final to Brisbane, the game was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground due to a license agreement which required at least one game to be played at the ground during each week of the finals.
• At the end of the season, the Carlton Football Club was found to have systematically breached the salary cap in 2000 and 2001. The club was fined and stripped of draft picks in the following two drafts, hampering their on-field results and long-term playing list rebuild in subsequent seasons.
• Sydney coach Rodney Eade resigned following Round 12, after the Swans slumped to 14th on the ladder. He was eventually replaced by Paul Roos on a full-time basis, despite the board pushing for Terry Wallace, who resigned as coach of the Western Bulldogs with one round to play in the regular season, to be appointed.^[3] Roos would later coach the side to the premiership in 2005 before stepping down at the end of the 2010 season.^[4][5]

References

1. Challengers cut down as Lions and Dons hone weapons, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 April 2002
2. Caroline Wilson (27 July 2002). "Saints angry at Optus sponsor ban". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
3. Wallace off to Swans, say Dogs, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 August 2002
4. Swans shock: Eade, Lockett depart, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 June 2002
5. Swans jump to new coach Roos, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 June 2002

• 2002 Season – AFL Tables