The 1991 Australian Football League season was the 95th season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 2nd under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989.
This was the first time since 1981 that a match for VFL/AFL premiership points had been staged at The Gabba. Under the insistence of coach Robert Walls, the Bears would eventually relocate there permanently in 1993.
St Kilda stars Nicky Winmar and Tony Lockett marked their long-awaited return to action with outstanding performances as the Saints set a new club record for biggest win, eclipsing their 110-point win against Fitzroy in 1970. The signs were ominous when Lockett goaled in the opening minute after marking a pass from Robert Harvey, eventually finishing with 12 goals. The Crows weren't helped by the loss of Andrew Jarman to a shoulder injury in the first quarter.[1]
In their match at the MCG, Brisbane Bears led Melbourne for much of the afternoon, and appeared to have won when former Geelong player Shane Hamilton put the Bears 19 points ahead at the 19-minute mark of the final quarter. The Demons mounted a comeback when Darren Cuthbertson goaled from a controversial free kick after Bears defender John Gastev was penalized for holding the ball, and hit the front with goals to Jim Stynes and Ricky Jackson to eventually run out 13-point winners. Cuthbertson and Darren Bennett kicked five goals each for the winners.[2]
In the Friday evening game in Perth, West Coast continued their unbeaten start to the season and extended their winning streak to 12 games when they pounded Footscray by 118 points, equalling their biggest winning margin which was set against Brisbane Bears in 1988. Full-forward Peter Sumich became the first Eagles player to kick ten or more goals in a game and finished with a career-best 13 goals.
Going into three-quarter time with a one-point lead, Adelaide kicked six goals to none in the final quarter to defeat Richmond and win their first game in Melbourne. After the match Crows coach Graham Cornes acknowledged the significance of the win and took the opportunity to accuse the Victorian football media of a "xenophobic" attitude towards non-Victorian teams, also claiming that South Australian football crowds were "angels" compared to the crowds at Melbourne's suburban football grounds.[3]
The game between Melbourne and Geelong marked the much-anticipated return of Gary Ablett from his premature retirement announcement earlier in the year. He had a modest game with ten touches and two goals, while teammate Bill Brownless took several spectacular marks and kicked seven goals as the Cats ran out winners by 30 points and consigned the Demons to a fourth straight loss.[4]
Carlton produced one of the upsets of the season, shaking off four consecutive narrow losses and surviving a last-quarter fightback from second-placed Geelong to win by two points. The Blues players kept a promise to coach David Parkin that they would produce a four-quarter effort, while Cats coach Malcolm Blight lamented his side's inconsistency.[5]
All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. An additional 7 games were played during the finals series.
A team based in the state of South Australia, christened the "Adelaide Crows" after the epithet bestowed upon those from South Australia by those living in other Australian states was admitted to the AFL competition in 1991.
Total match attendance for the home-and-away season was 3,810,868 people. Total attendance for the finals series was 381,707 people. Attendance at the Grand Final was 75,230 people. The largest non-finals attendance was 55,735 people for the Collingwood v Melbourne game of Round 6.
Awards[]
The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Jim Stynes of Melbourne
The Coleman Medal was awarded to Tony Lockett of St Kilda
The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Paul Dear of Hawthorn
The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Jim Stynes of Melbourne
The Under 19's Grand Final was won by North Melbourne against Collingwood
The Reserves Grand Final was won by Brisbane against Melbourne
The Seniors Grand Final was won by Hawthorn against West Coast
Notable events[]
The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, entered the AFL competition.
The McIntyre "Final Five" system, which had operated from 1972 until 1990, was replaced by the First McIntyre "Final Six" system. This system lasted only this season, and it was replaced by the Second McIntyre "Final Six" system in 1992.
St Kilda broke an eighteen year finals drought, making the finals for the first time since 1973.
In round 6, North Melbourne and Sydney kicked 32.18 (210) in the first half. It is the only aggregate of 200 points for a half in VFL/AFL history.
In round 11, Carlton kicked its only goal through Mark Arceri 33 seconds from the end of its match with Footscray.[6] It was the Blues' lowest score since 1904, and the closest a team has come to a goalless match since 1961.
In round 21, Essendon hosted its last senior VFL/AFL match at Windy Hill—its home venue since 1922. Essendon played its home matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the remainder of the 1990s.
Jim Stynes became the first and so far only foreign-born winner of the highest individual award, the brownlow medal.
West Coast did not concede more than 100 points in any game during the home-and-away season, being the first team to do this since 1967.
The qualifying final at Subiaco Oval between West Coast and Hawthorn was the first finals match played outside Melbourne since 1897, when one finals match was played in Geelong; it was the first final ever played outside Victoria.
The capacity of the Melbourne Cricket Ground was reduced by half during 1991 as the new Great Southern Stand was constructed in preparation for the 1992 Cricket World Cup, to be played there in the summer of 1991/92. One consequence of this was that Waverley Park hosted all finals that were played in Melbourne, including the grand final for the first and only time in its history. The other was that Hawthorn's plans move its home games from Princes Park to Waverley Park were delayed by one year: Hawthorn had played five home games at Waverley Park and six at Princes Park in 1990 as part of transitional arrangements for a permanent move in 1991, but the AFL reneged on the deal when it became clear that the ground was needed for blockbuster games throughout the year; as a compromise, Hawthorn again played five home games at Waverley Park and six at Princes Park during 1991, and then moved permanently to Waverley Park in 1992.[7]
The very last under 19s premiership was won by North Melbourne, with that competition replaced by an under 18s competition in 1992 with 6 district based clubs in Victoria with no affiliations to the VFL/AFL clubs.
The reserves premiership was won Brisbane, becoming the first non-Victorian based team to win a VFL/AFL premiership at any grade.
By the end of the year, Hawthorn captain Michael Tuck retired from the game, having played a then-record 426 VFL/AFL matches (including 7 premierships from 11 grand finals). The record stood until passed by Brent Harvey (North Melbourne) in 2016.
See also[]
First McIntyre "Final Six" system
References[]
^"Saints go on record rampage". The Canberra Times. Vol. 65, no. 20, 476. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 May 1991. p. 11. Retrieved 10 June 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Demons pull a rabbit out of the hat at MCG". The Canberra Times. Vol. 65, no. 20, 476. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 May 1991. p. 11. Retrieved 10 June 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Crow pecks at media after win". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 16 June 1991. p. 11. Retrieved 11 June 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Demons sink out of top six". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 June 1991. p. 26. Retrieved 10 June 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"'One of those days' for Blues and Cats". The Canberra Times. Vol. 65, no. 20, 567. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 4 August 1991. p. 11. Retrieved 12 June 2021 – via National Library of Australia.