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♦ 1987 ♦ 1988 ♦ 1989 ♦ 1990 1991 ♦ 1992 ♦ 1993 ♦ 1994 ♦ 1995 1996 ♦ 1997 ♦ 1998 ♦ 1999 ♦ 2000 2001 ♦ 2002 ♦ 2003 ♦ 2004 ♦ 2005 2006 ♦ 2007 ♦ 2008 ♦ 2009 ♦ 2010 2011 ♦ 2012 ♦ 2013 ♦ 2014 ♦ 2015 2016 ♦ 2017 ♦ 2018 ♦ 2019 ♦ 2020♦ 2021♦ |
The 2021 AFL Season was the 125th installment of elite Aussie Rules football and the 32nd edition since the formation of the Australian Football League. The season commenced on Thursday 18th March and will finish on September 25th.
Overview[]
Following a COVID- disrupted 2020 season, the AFL only released fixtures in select allotments and towards the end of the season on the week leading to the said round. Outbreaks of COVID across New South Wales meant that no games were played in New South Wales from Round 15 onwards. In rounds 11-14 Victorian clubs were banned from entering other states bar New South Wales and as such most games were shifted to Sydney. Round 15 and 16 bought about a nation-wide lockdown, all interstate teams relocated to Victoria. In the second-half of the season, most Victorian and New South Wales matches were without crowds. For the second year running, No AFL finals were played in Victoria, equally the Grand Final will be hosted at Optus Stadium. This is the second year in a row the Grand Final will be hosted outside of Melbourne.
The rules around quarter lengths were reversed back to 20 minutes. The pre-finals bye was scrapped and replaced by a pre-grand final bye to help ensure the clubs involved could adhere to Perth's strict COVID quarantine system.
Nathan Buckley stepped down as Collingwood coach mid-way through the season. Robert Harvey took the reigns for the remainder of the season with a Craig McRae hired as the permanent coach at season's end. Hawthorn set up a succession plan which would see Sam Mitchell become Hawthorn coach for the 2023 season, replacing Alastair Clarkson. Alastair Clarkson stepped down as Hawthorn coach effective at the end of the 2021 season, ending the succession plan and allowing Sam Mitchell to take the job. David Teague was sacked as Carlton coach following the conclusion of the Home and Away season with Michael Voss signed as his replacement.
Collingwood slipped from 8th to 17th, their poorest season in recent history. Richmond went from premiers to 12th, becoming just the third team in AFL history to fail to make finals as the previous premiers. West Coast went from 5th to 9th and missed finals for the first time since 2014. Saint Kilda also went from 6th to 10th. Essendon rose from 14th to 8th and Sydney jumped from 16th to 6th. Melbourne went from 9th to premiers.
Final Ladder[]
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Loss | Draw | Percentage (%) | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne Demons (Premiers) | 22 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 130.8 | 70 |
| 2 | Port Adelaide Power | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 126.3 | 68 |
| 3 | Geelong Cats | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 126.7 | 64 |
| 4 | Brisbane Lions | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 133.3 | 60 |
| 5 | Western Bulldogs | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 132.8 | 60 |
| 6 | Sydney Swans | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 119.9 | 60 |
| 7 | Greater Western Sydney Giants | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 99.7 | 46 |
| 8 | Essendon Bombers | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 109.1 | 44 |
| 9 | West Coast Eagles | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 93.2 | 40 |
| 10 | Saint Kilda Saints | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 91.5 | 40 |
| 11 | Fremantle Dockers | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 86.5 | 40 |
| 12 | Richmond Tigers | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 97.9 | 38 |
| 13 | Carlton Blues | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 88.5 | 32 |
| 14 | Hawthorn Hawks | 22 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 85.2 | 32 |
| 15 | Adelaide Crows | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 82.0 | 28 |
| 16 | Gold Coast Suns | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 76.8 | 28 |
| 17 | Collingwood Magpies | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 85.6 | 24 |
| 18 | North Melbourne Kangaroos | 22 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 70.3 | 18 |
Finals Series[]
| Qualifying Final | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Melbourne Demons | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Brisbane Lions | Semi Final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Brisbane Lions | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elimination Final | Western Bulldogs | Preliminary Final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Western Bulldogs | Melbourne Demons | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Essendon Bombers | Geelong Cats | Grand Final | |||||||||||||||||||
| Melbourne Demons | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elimination Final | Preliminary Final | Western Bulldogs | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Sydney Swans | Port Adelaide Power | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | GWS Giants | Semi Final | Western Bulldogs | |||||||||||||||||||
| Geelong Cats | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Qualifying Final | GWS Giants | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Port Adelaide Power | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Geelong Cats | |||||||||||||||||||||
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