2021 AFL Preliminary Final 1: Melbourne v Geelong

This is the match report for the match played on 10 September 2021 between Melbourne and Geelong in the first preliminary final of the 2021 AFL season. Melbourne hosted Geelong at Optus Stadium. Max Gawn captained the hosts with Jack Viney as vice-captain. Joel Selwood captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Simon Goodwin and the visitors were coached by Chris Scott.

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

Geelong
Back: J. Henry, L. Henderson, Z. Tuohy
Half-back: J. Kolodjashnij, M. Blicavs, T. Atkins
Centre: M. Duncan, C. Guthrie, I. Smith
Half-forward: E. Ratugolea, J. Cameron, G. Rohan
Forward: Z. Guthrie, T. Hawkins, G. Miers
Follower: R. Stanley, J. Selwood (capt.), P. Dangerfield
Int.: J. Bews, B. Close, M. Holmes, S. Menegola
Sub.: S. Higgins

Melbourne (19.11.125) defeated Geelong (6.6.42).

Goalkickers
Melbourne: M. Gawn (5), K. Pickett (3), B. Brown (2), B. Fritsch (2), C. Spargo (2), J. Harmes, T. McDonald, A. Neal-Bullen, C. Petracca, T. Sparrow
Geelong: J. Cameron (2), T. Hawkins, G. Miers, I. Smith, R. Stanley

As a result of this match, Melbourne faced Western Bulldogs in the grand final and Geelong were eliminated (finishing 4th overall).

Match Details

Season: 2021 AFL Season
Round: Preliminary Final 1
Teams: Melbourne v Geelong
Date: Friday 10 September 2021
Time: 5:50 PM
Venue: Optus Stadium
Attendance: 58,599

Match Results

Outcome: Melbourne def. Geelong
Score: 19.11.125 - 6.6.42

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Melbourne 5 . 3 9 . 6 17 . 8 19 . 11 19 . 11 (125)
Geelong 1 . 0 5 . 1 5 . 2 6 . 6 6 . 6 (42)
Margin MELB by 27 MELB by 29 MELB by 78 MELB by 83 MELB by 83
Duration 32:24 32:44 32:26 30:28 2:08:02

Honour Roll

Coaches: Simon Goodwin (Melbourne), Chris Scott (Geelong)
Captains: Max Gawn (Melbourne), Joel Selwood (Geelong)
Vice-Captains: Jack Viney (Melbourne), unknown (Geelong)

AFLCA Gary Ayres Votes

Player Team # Votes 5 4 3 2 1
Max Gawn MELB 11 10 2 0 0 0 0
Christian Petracca MELB 5 6 0 ? ? ? 0
Christian Salem MELB 3 6 0 ? ? ? 0
Clayton Oliver MELB 13 4 0 ? ? ? ?
Jack Viney MELB 7 3 0 0 ? ? ?
Kysaiah Pickett MELB 36 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 79% 0 0 19 12 7 3 0 2 2 2 0 1 3 3
10 Brayshaw, Angus WL 88% 0 0 18 11 7 2 0 5 2 1 1 0 2 1
50 Brown, Ben FF 80% 2 2 8 7 1 7 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4
31 Fritsch, Bayley FPR 89% 2 1 13 13 0 8 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 5
11 Gawn, Max (c) RU 74% 5 0 19 13 6 5 33 6 5 4 1 3 1 1
4 Harmes, James HFFR 81% 1 1 15 7 8 2 0 6 3 2 0 0 0 1
14 Hibberd, Michael BPL 80% 0 0 9 5 4 2 0 3 0 1 0 0 5 0
6 Jackson, Luke INT 78% 0 0 12 3 9 2 12 1 2 1 1 0 0 0
23 Jordon, James SUB↑ 28% 0 0 9 7 2 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0
15 Langdon, Ed WR 98% 0 0 21 8 13 5 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 3
8 Lever, Jake BPR 91% 0 0 12 9 3 5 0 1 0 2 1 1 1 1
1 May, Steven FB↓ 50% 0 0 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 1
25 McDonald, Tom CHF 78% 1 0 14 9 5 5 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 3
30 Neal-Bullen, Alex FPL 78% 1 0 15 9 6 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 1 3
13 Oliver, Clayton RR 82% 0 0 27 14 13 4 0 7 7 5 0 0 3 4
5 Petracca, Christian C 79% 1 2 32 16 16 4 0 3 8 4 0 2 3 4
35 Petty, Harry CHB 98% 0 0 9 4 5 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 3 0
36 Pickett, Kysaiah HFFL 75% 3 0 13 9 4 3 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 4
24 Rivers, Trent INT 80% 0 0 12 6 6 4 0 1 0 4 0 1 2 2
3 Salem, Christian HBFR 85% 0 0 29 23 6 6 0 3 1 4 0 0 7 7
9 Spargo, Charlie INT 80% 2 0 18 13 5 8 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
32 Sparrow, Tom INT 75% 1 1 11 8 3 2 0 3 1 2 1 0 1 3
7 Viney, Jack (vc) RO 75% 0 0 34 17 17 4 0 5 9 4 5 1 0 4
Rushed 4
Total (23 players) 19 11 374 227 147 88 46 63 41 44 15 12 36 55

J. Jordon replaced S. May.

Geelong

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
30 Atkins, Tom HBFR 77% 0 0 15 9 6 1 0 3 2 2 0 2 1 5
24 Bews, Jed INT 79% 0 0 8 5 3 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 1
46 Blicavs, Mark CHB 93% 0 0 16 8 8 2 9 1 1 6 1 2 2 1
5 Cameron, Jeremy CHF 93% 2 0 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
45 Close, Brad INT 73% 0 0 15 3 12 2 0 4 2 2 0 1 1 1
35 Dangerfield, Patrick RO 81% 0 0 30 19 11 3 0 4 10 7 2 1 1 6
22 Duncan, Mitch WL 82% 0 0 23 14 9 5 0 3 4 5 1 1 4 3
29 Guthrie, Cameron C 70% 0 0 26 13 13 4 0 4 5 2 0 0 0 1
39 Guthrie, Zach FPL 80% 0 0 17 15 2 3 0 4 0 3 2 0 5 1
26 Hawkins, Tom FF 98% 1 2 15 9 6 2 4 4 1 2 1 1 0 1
25 Henderson, Lachie FB 100% 0 0 8 4 4 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 0
38 Henry, Jack BPL 98% 0 0 12 5 7 3 0 1 2 2 0 1 2 1
4 Higgins, Shaun SUB↑ 22% 0 0 14 6 8 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 3
9 Holmes, Max INT 57% 0 0 10 3 7 2 0 3 2 3 0 2 0 1
8 Kolodjashnij, Jake HBFL 84% 0 0 8 4 4 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 1
27 Menegola, Sam INT 73% 0 0 20 12 8 2 0 5 3 3 0 2 3 4
32 Miers, Gryan FPR 83% 1 0 12 5 7 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
17 Ratugolea, Esava HFFL 68% 0 0 5 1 4 1 4 3 1 2 1 1 0 0
23 Rohan, Gary HFFR↓ 60% 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
14 Selwood, Joel (c) RR 85% 0 0 24 8 16 5 0 8 8 2 1 0 1 3
7 Smith, Isaac WR 83% 1 0 26 13 13 5 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 3
1 Stanley, Rhys RU 73% 1 0 11 4 7 3 26 3 0 2 1 1 1 3
2 Tuohy, Zach BPR 88% 0 0 21 16 5 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 6 1
Rushed 4
Total (23 players) 6 6 341 180 161 57 43 60 45 51 12 15 35 42

S. Higgins replaced G. Rohan.

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

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 MELB Ben Brown behind 0.1.1 - 0.0.0 01:09
GEEL Jeremy Cameron goal 0.1.1 - 1.0.6 07:20
MELB Ben Brown goal 1.1.7 - 1.0.6 09:28
MELB James Harmes goal 2.1.13 - 1.0.6 13:22
MELB Alex Neal-Bullen goal 3.1.19 - 1.0.6 15:27
MELB Christian Petracca goal 4.1.25 - 1.0.6 22:41
MELB Charlie Spargo goal 5.1.31 - 1.0.6 25:22
MELB Rushed behind 5.2.32 - 1.0.6 28:47
MELB Rushed behind 5.3.33 - 1.0.6 32:22
Q2 GEEL Rhys Stanley goal 5.3.33 - 2.0.12 02:27
MELB Charlie Spargo goal 6.3.39 - 2.0.12 03:47
GEEL Gryan Miers goal 6.3.39 - 3.0.18 05:40
MELB Tom Sparrow goal 7.3.45 - 3.0.18 09:50
GEEL Rushed behind 7.3.45 - 3.1.19 11:29
MELB Max Gawn goal 8.3.51 - 3.1.19 12:48
MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 9.3.57 - 3.1.19 19:15
MELB Christian Petracca behind 9.4.58 - 3.1.19 22:23
MELB Bayley Fritsch behind 9.5.59 - 3.1.19 23:57
MELB Ben Brown behind 9.6.60 - 3.1.19 24:43
GEEL Tom Hawkins goal 9.6.60 - 4.1.25 27:58
GEEL Isaac Smith goal 9.6.60 - 5.1.31 30:55
Q3 MELB Ben Brown goal 10.6.66 - 5.1.31 01:01
GEEL Rushed behind 10.6.66 - 5.2.32 03:21
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 11.6.72 - 5.2.32 04:43
MELB Max Gawn goal 12.6.78 - 5.2.32 05:56
MELB Tom McDonald goal 13.6.84 - 5.2.32 07:09
MELB Max Gawn goal 14.6.90 - 5.2.32 11:47
MELB Max Gawn goal 15.6.96 - 5.2.32 14:24
MELB Max Gawn goal 16.6.102 - 5.2.32 16:28
MELB Christian Petracca behind 16.7.103 - 5.2.32 18:56
MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 17.7.109 - 5.2.32 21:33
MELB Rushed behind 17.8.110 - 5.2.32 24:06
Q4 GEEL Rushed behind 17.8.110 - 5.3.33 01:46
MELB Rushed behind 17.9.111 - 5.3.33 09:25
MELB Tom Sparrow behind 17.10.112 - 5.3.33 11:53
GEEL Tom Hawkins behind 17.10.112 - 5.4.34 15:23
GEEL Rushed behind 17.10.112 - 5.5.35 18:30
MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 18.10.118 - 5.5.35 19:29
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 19.10.124 - 5.5.35 21:45
GEEL Tom Hawkins behind 19.10.124 - 5.6.36 23:16
MELB James Harmes behind 19.11.125 - 5.6.36 24:50
GEEL Jeremy Cameron goal 19.11.125 - 6.6.42 27:30