2021 AFL Grand Final: Melbourne v Western Bulldogs

This is the match report for the match played on 25 September 2021 between Melbourne and Western Bulldogs in the grand final of the 2021 AFL season. Melbourne hosted Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium. Max Gawn captained the hosts with Jack Viney as vice-captain. Marcus Bontempelli captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Simon Goodwin and the visitors were coached by Luke Beveridge.

Melbourne
Back: M. Hibberd, S. May, J. Lever
Half-back: J. Bowey, H. Petty, C. Salem
Centre: A. Brayshaw, C. Petracca, E. Langdon
Half-forward: K. Pickett, T. McDonald, J. Harmes
Forward: A. Neal-Bullen, B. Brown, B. Fritsch
Follower: M. Gawn (capt.), C. Oliver, J. Viney (vice-capt.)
Int.: L. Jackson, T. Rivers, C. Spargo, T. Sparrow
Sub.: J. Jordon

Western Bulldogs
Back: E. Wood, A. Keath, T. Duryea
Half-back: C. Daniel, Z. Cordy, B. Dale
Centre: B. Smith, T. Liberatore, L. Hunter
Half-forward: C. Weightman, A. Naughton, A. Treloar
Forward: J. Johannisen, T. English, M. Hannan
Follower: S. Martin, J. Macrae, M. Bontempelli (capt.)
Int.: J. Dunkley, J. Schache, R. Smith, B. Williams
Sub.: L. Vandermeer

Melbourne (21.14.140) defeated Western Bulldogs (10.6.66).

Goalkickers
Melbourne: B. Fritsch (6), B. Brown (3), T. McDonald (2), C. Petracca (2), A. Brayshaw, L. Jackson, E. Langdon, A. Neal-Bullen, C. Oliver, C. Salem, C. Spargo, T. Sparrow
Western Bulldogs: M. Bontempelli (3), A. Treloar (3), L. Hunter, J. Johannisen, A. Naughton, R. Smith

As a result of this match, Melbourne were the premiers and Western Bulldogs were the runners-up.

Match Details

Season: 2021 AFL Season
Round: Grand Final
Teams: Melbourne v Western Bulldogs
Date: Saturday 25 September 2021
Time: 5:15 PM
Venue: Optus Stadium
Attendance: 61,118

Match Results

Outcome: Melbourne def. Western Bulldogs
Score: 21.14.140 - 10.6.66

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Melbourne 4 . 5 5 . 9 12 . 11 21 . 14 21 . 14 (140)
Western Bulldogs 1 . 2 7 . 5 9 . 5 10 . 6 10 . 6 (66)
Margin MELB by 21 WBUL by 8 MELB by 24 MELB by 74 MELB by 74
Duration 30:16 31:14 33:48 33:58 2:09:16

Honour Roll

Coaches: Simon Goodwin (Melbourne), Luke Beveridge (Western Bulldogs)
Captains: Max Gawn (Melbourne), Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
Vice-Captains: Jack Viney (Melbourne), unknown (Western Bulldogs)

Match Umpires

Field Umpire: J. Mollison (#32), B. Rosebury (#8), M. Stevic (#9), E: S. Meredith (#21)
Goal Umpire: S. Axon, S. Williams, E: S. Walsh
Boundary Umpire: M. Barlow, C. Gordon, M. Konetschka, M. Marantelli, E: B. MacDonald

Norm Smith Votes

Player Team # Votes 3 2 1
Christian Petracca MELB 5 15 5 0 0
Bayley Fritsch MELB 31 10 0 5 0
Clayton Oliver MELB 13 3 0 0 3
Caleb Daniel WBUL 35 1 0 0 1
Christian Salem MELB 3 1 0 0 1

AFLCA Gary Ayres Votes

Player Team # Votes 5 4 3 2 1
Christian Petracca MELB 5 10 2 0 0 0 0
Bayley Fritsch MELB 31 8 0 2 0 0 0
Clayton Oliver MELB 13 5 0 0 1 1 0
Caleb Daniel WBUL 35 3 0 0 1 0 0
Christian Salem MELB 3 2 0 0 0 1 0
Marcus Bontempelli WBUL 4 1 0 0 0 0 1
Angus Brayshaw MELB 10 1 0 0 0 0 1

Player Statistics

Melbourne

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
17 Bowey, Jake HBFL 76% 0 0 17 10 7 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 3
10 Brayshaw, Angus WL 85% 1 0 25 15 10 5 0 2 3 4 1 0 1 7
50 Brown, Ben FF 82% 3 2 10 9 1 4 1 1 0 2 4 1 0 1
31 Fritsch, Bayley FPR 79% 6 2 13 10 3 5 0 0 0 4 1 1 0 1
11 Gawn, Max (c) RU 86% 0 2 21 13 8 5 30 1 6 8 1 2 0 6
4 Harmes, James HFFR 71% 0 0 14 5 9 3 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 4
14 Hibberd, Michael BPL 79% 0 0 7 3 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
6 Jackson, Luke INT 78% 1 0 13 5 8 3 16 5 1 0 1 0 1 1
23 Jordon, James SUB 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 Langdon, Ed WR 96% 1 1 17 11 6 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 3
8 Lever, Jake BPR 100% 0 0 17 11 6 2 0 1 0 2 1 0 5 1
1 May, Steven FB 97% 0 0 14 13 1 5 0 1 0 1 0 0 6 0
25 McDonald, Tom CHF 75% 2 0 8 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
30 Neal-Bullen, Alex FPL 88% 1 1 24 11 13 5 0 2 1 2 0 0 1 2
13 Oliver, Clayton RR 89% 1 1 33 14 19 4 0 10 5 4 2 1 1 5
5 Petracca, Christian C 94% 2 1 39 21 18 3 0 4 9 6 2 0 2 11
35 Petty, Harry CHB 95% 0 0 6 3 3 1 0 2 0 4 1 2 1 0
36 Pickett, Kysaiah HFFL 74% 0 0 4 2 2 0 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 2
24 Rivers, Trent INT 66% 0 0 11 4 7 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 1
3 Salem, Christian HBFR 88% 1 0 27 22 5 7 0 7 1 1 2 0 7 7
9 Spargo, Charlie INT 58% 1 1 7 4 3 0 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 1
32 Sparrow, Tom INT 66% 1 0 14 7 7 1 0 3 1 3 0 1 1 5
7 Viney, Jack (vc) RO 79% 0 0 25 9 16 2 0 6 12 6 3 2 3 2
Rushed 3
Total (23 players) 21 14 366 206 160 68 47 54 45 57 19 13 37 64

Western Bulldogs

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
4 Bontempelli, Marcus (c) RO 86% 3 0 25 13 12 4 0 6 5 5 0 3 0 4
12 Cordy, Zaine CHB 100% 0 0 13 8 5 6 0 3 0 4 0 2 4 0
31 Dale, Bailey HBFR 77% 0 0 21 16 5 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 7 3
35 Daniel, Caleb HBFL 89% 0 0 37 26 11 6 0 2 2 7 0 0 9 5
5 Dunkley, Josh INT 80% 0 0 25 9 16 1 0 5 5 3 1 0 2 2
15 Duryea, Taylor BPR 75% 0 0 16 7 9 4 0 2 0 6 2 2 4 0
44 English, Tim FF 88% 0 1 13 9 4 3 12 2 0 2 2 0 0 1
29 Hannan, Mitch FPR 78% 0 0 7 4 3 1 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 1
7 Hunter, Lachie WR 84% 1 1 16 11 5 3 0 1 2 3 1 1 0 1
39 Johannisen, Jason FPL 85% 1 0 12 7 5 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3
42 Keath, Alex FB 97% 0 0 13 8 5 5 0 0 0 6 0 3 4 1
21 Liberatore, Tom C 87% 0 0 23 10 13 3 0 8 7 5 2 1 1 5
11 Macrae, Jack RR 78% 0 0 26 12 14 3 0 8 4 5 1 1 3 3
8 Martin, Stefan RU 70% 0 0 14 4 10 2 18 3 2 6 2 2 2 1
33 Naughton, Aaron CHF 85% 1 0 9 6 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
13 Schache, Josh INT 76% 0 1 11 7 4 3 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 2
6 Smith, Bailey WL 83% 0 1 26 15 11 4 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 5
37 Smith, Roarke INT 83% 1 0 16 9 7 4 0 5 2 2 1 0 1 2
1 Treloar, Adam HFFR 74% 3 0 27 11 16 3 0 1 2 1 0 1 1 3
23 Vandermeer, Laitham SUB 0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 Weightman, Cody HFFL 63% 0 0 7 3 4 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 1
34 Williams, Bailey INT 79% 0 0 13 8 5 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 3
10 Wood, Easton BPL 83% 0 0 9 4 5 4 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 0
Rushed 2
Total (23 players) 10 6 379 207 172 76 30 57 32 71 13 19 43 49

Legend

ToG%: Time-on-Ground Percentage, GL: Goals, BH: Behinds, DI: Disposals, KI: Kicks, HB: Handballs, MK: Marks, HO: Hitouts, TA: Tackles, CL: Clearances, CR: Clangers, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, RF: Rebounds Inside 50, IF: Inside 50s

Player Line-Up

Melbourne Coach: Simon Goodwin
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
10 E. Wood 42 A. Keath 15 T. Duryea 11 M. Gawn (c) 6 L. Jackson
31 B. Fritsch 50 B. Brown 30 A. Neal-Bullen 13 C. Oliver 24 T. Rivers
FORWARD 7 J. Viney (vc) 9 C. Spargo
HALF-BACK

32 T. Sparrow
35 C. Daniel 12 Z. Cordy 31 B. Dale

23 J. Jordon
4 J. Harmes 25 T. McDonald 36 K. Pickett



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



6 B. Smith 21 T. Liberatore 7 L. Hunter



15 E. Langdon 5 C. Petracca 10 A. Brayshaw FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 8 S. Martin 5 J. Dunkley
HALF-FORWARD 11 J. Macrae 13 J. Schache
19 C. Weightman 33 A. Naughton 1 A. Treloar 4 M. Bontempelli (c) 37 R. Smith
3 C. Salem 35 H. Petty 17 J. Bowey

34 B. Williams
HALF-BACK

23 L. Vandermeer
FORWARD



39 J. Johannisen 44 T. English 29 M. Hannan



8 J. Lever 1 S. May 14 M. Hibberd



BACK



Western Bulldogs Coach: Luke Beveridge

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 MELB Rushed behind 0.1.1 - 0.0.0 03:00
MELB Ben Brown behind 0.2.2 - 0.0.0 05:02
MELB Christian Petracca goal 1.2.8 - 0.0.0 06:33
WBUL Rushed behind 1.2.8 - 0.1.1 07:51
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 2.2.14 - 0.1.1 09:39
MELB Max Gawn behind 2.3.15 - 0.1.1 13:34
WBUL Roarke Smith goal 2.3.15 - 1.1.7 16:07
MELB Charlie Spargo goal 3.3.21 - 1.1.7 18:55
WBUL Tim English behind 3.3.21 - 1.2.8 20:37
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 4.3.27 - 1.2.8 21:46
MELB Ben Brown behind 4.4.28 - 1.2.8 25:58
MELB Ed Langdon behind 4.5.29 - 1.2.8 28:17
Q2 WBUL Adam Treloar goal 4.5.29 - 2.2.14 00:43
MELB Clayton Oliver behind 4.6.30 - 2.2.14 02:41
WBUL Adam Treloar goal 4.6.30 - 3.2.20 04:04
WBUL Aaron Naughton goal 4.6.30 - 4.2.26 05:16
WBUL Bailey Smith behind 4.6.30 - 4.3.27 06:34
MELB Ben Brown goal 5.6.36 - 4.3.27 08:05
MELB Max Gawn behind 5.7.37 - 4.3.27 11:42
WBUL Marcus Bontempelli goal 5.7.37 - 5.3.33 13:26
WBUL Lachie Hunter goal 5.7.37 - 6.3.39 17:11
MELB Charlie Spargo behind 5.8.38 - 6.3.39 22:13
MELB Alex Neal-Bullen behind 5.9.39 - 6.3.39 22:45
WBUL Josh Schache behind 5.9.39 - 6.4.40 27:52
WBUL Marcus Bontempelli goal 5.9.39 - 7.4.46 29:40
WBUL Lachie Hunter behind 5.9.39 - 7.5.47 31:11
Q3 MELB Bayley Fritsch behind 5.10.40 - 7.5.47 00:13
WBUL Jason Johannisen goal 5.10.40 - 8.5.53 02:24
WBUL Marcus Bontempelli goal 5.10.40 - 9.5.59 12:11
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 6.10.46 - 9.5.59 16:34
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 7.10.52 - 9.5.59 17:49
MELB Ben Brown goal 8.10.58 - 9.5.59 19:36
MELB Angus Brayshaw goal 9.10.64 - 9.5.59 25:00
MELB Rushed behind 9.11.65 - 9.5.59 26:48
MELB Christian Petracca goal 10.11.71 - 9.5.59 29:51
MELB Tom Sparrow goal 11.11.77 - 9.5.59 31:10
MELB Clayton Oliver goal 12.11.83 - 9.5.59 32:20
Q4 MELB Ben Brown goal 13.11.89 - 9.5.59 01:04
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 14.11.95 - 9.5.59 03:01
MELB Christian Petracca behind 14.12.96 - 9.5.59 04:11
WBUL Rushed behind 14.12.96 - 9.6.60 06:45
MELB Alex Neal-Bullen goal 15.12.102 - 9.6.60 08:09
MELB Ed Langdon goal 16.12.108 - 9.6.60 11:40
MELB Bayley Fritsch behind 16.13.109 - 9.6.60 14:21
MELB Tom McDonald goal 17.13.115 - 9.6.60 18:32
WBUL Adam Treloar goal 17.13.115 - 10.6.66 20:49
MELB Christian Salem goal 18.13.121 - 10.6.66 22:16
MELB Luke Jackson goal 19.13.127 - 10.6.66 24:15
MELB Rushed behind 19.14.128 - 10.6.66 25:28
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 20.14.134 - 10.6.66 29:27
MELB Tom McDonald goal 21.14.140 - 10.6.66 33:55