2001 AFL season

For the 2001 season of the Arena Football League, see 2001 Arena Football League season.

The 2001 AFL season was the 105th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 30 March until 29 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

2001 AFL premiership season
Teams	16
Premiers	Brisbane Lions 1st premiership
Minor premiers	Essendon 17th minor premiership
Pre-season cup	Port Adelaide 1st pre-season cup win
Brownlow Medallist	Jason Akermanis (Brisbane Lions)
Leading goalkicker	Matthew Lloyd (Essendon)
Attendance
Matches played	185
Total attendance	6,447,560 (34,852 per match)
Highest	91,482 (Grand Final, Brisbane Lions vs. Essendon)

The premiership was won by the Brisbane Lions for the first time, after it defeated Essendon by 26 points in the AFL Grand Final.

AFL Draft

See 2001 AFL Draft.

Ansett Australia Cup

Main article: 2001 Ansett Australia Cup

Port Adelaide defeated the Brisbane Lions 17.9 (111) to 3.8 (26) in the grand final.

Premiership season

Round 16

See also: Essendon vs Kangaroos match in the 2001 AFL season

Round 18

Fremantle claimed their first win of the season in their match against Hawthorn.

Ladder

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

2001 AFL ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	Essendon	22	17	5	0	2548	1895	134.5	68	Finals series
2	Brisbane Lions (P)	22	17	5	0	2538	1989	127.6	68
3	Port Adelaide	22	16	6	0	2473	1918	128.9	64
4	Richmond	22	15	7	0	2126	1973	107.8	60
5	Carlton	22	14	8	0	2311	1797	128.6	56
6	Hawthorn	22	13	9	0	2149	2041	105.3	52
7	Sydney	22	12	10	0	2121	1833	115.7	48
8	Adelaide	22	12	10	0	2085	2026	102.9	48
9	Collingwood	22	11	11	0	2232	2088	106.9	44
10	Western Bulldogs	22	10	12	0	2305	2458	93.8	40
11	Melbourne	22	10	12	0	2136	2364	90.4	40
12	Geelong	22	9	13	0	1926	2054	93.8	36
13	Kangaroos	22	9	13	0	2161	2371	91.1	36
14	West Coast	22	5	17	0	1708	2590	65.9	20
15	St Kilda	22	4	18	0	1917	2642	72.6	16
16	Fremantle	22	2	20	0	1794	2491	72.0	8

Source: AFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

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

Source:

Finals series

	Qualifying and elimination finals					Semi-finals						Preliminary finals					Grand final
	7 Sep, MCG
	1	Essendon	17.11 (113)
	4	Richmond	5.13 (43)			15 Sep, MCG
						Richmond		10.7 (67)
	8 Sep, MCG					Carlton		7.14 (56)				22 Sep, MCG
	5	Carlton	17.16 (118)									Essendon		11.10 (76)
	8	Adelaide	6.14 (50)									Hawthorn		9.13 (67)			29 Sep, MCG
																	Essendon		12.10 (82)
	9 Sep, Colonial Stadium											22 Sep, The Gabba					Brisbane Lions		15.18 (108)
	6	Hawthorn	19.11 (125)									Brisbane Lions		20.16 (136)
	7	Sydney	11.8 (74)			15 Sep, Football Park						Richmond		10.8 (68)
						Port Adelaide		10.9 (69)
	8 Sep, The Gabba					Hawthorn		10.12 (72)
	2	Brisbane Lions	12.16 (88)
	3	Port Adelaide	8.8 (56)

Week one

	Qualifying Finals
Friday 7 September (7:45 pm)	Essendon 17.11 (113)	def.	Richmond 5.13 (43)	MCG (crowd: 78,253)
Saturday 8 September (7:40 pm)	Brisbane Lions 12.16 (88)	def.	Port Adelaide 8.8 (56)	The Gabba (crowd: 32,380)

	Elimination Finals
Saturday 8 September (2:30 pm)	Carlton 17.16 (118)	def.	Adelaide 6.14 (50)	MCG (crowd: 53,982)
Sunday 9 September (2:30 pm)	Hawthorn 19.15 (129)	def.	Sydney 11.8 (74)	Colonial Stadium (crowd: 32,910)

Week two

	Semi-finals
Saturday 15 September (2:30 pm)	Richmond 10.7 (67)	def.	Carlton 7.14 (56)	MCG (crowd: 83,323)
Saturday 15 September (7:15 pm)	Port Adelaide 10.9 (69)	def. by	Hawthorn 10.12 (72)	Football Park (crowd: 30,613)

Week three

	Preliminary Finals
Saturday 22 September (2:30 pm)	Essendon 11.10 (76)	def.	Hawthorn 9.13 (67)	MCG (crowd: 86,468)
Saturday 22 September (7:45 pm)	Brisbane Lions 20.16 (136)	def.	Richmond 10.8 (68)	The Gabba (crowd: 37,032)

Week four

Main article: 2001 AFL Grand Final

	Grand Final
Saturday 29 September (2:30 pm)	Essendon	def. by	Brisbane Lions	MCG (crowd: 91,482)
	3.2 (20) 8.6 (54) 9.8 (62) 12.10 (82)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.7 (25) 5.10 (40) 11.12 (78) 15.18 (108)	Umpires: McLaren, Ellis, James Norm Smith Medal: Shaun Hart (Brisbane Lions) Television broadcast: Seven Network National anthem: Julie Anthony
Lloyd 5, Lucas 4, Caracella, Johnson, Moorcroft		Goals	Power 3, Akermanis 2, Brown 2, Lappin 2, Lynch 2, Ashcroft, Notting, Pike, Voss
Lloyd, Lucas, J. Johnson		Best	Hart, Johnson, Voss, Lappin, Power

Match attendance

Team	Hosted	Average	Highest	Lowest	Total	Last Year	Up/Down
Essendon	11	51,790	83,905	29,528	569,685	48,353	+ 3437
Collingwood	11	49,977	78,638	26,067	549,751	45,012	+ 4965
Richmond	11	46,129	77,576	25,856	507,416	44,012	+ 2117
Adelaide	11	39,627	46,852	31,534	435,897	38,470	+ 1157
Melbourne	11	34,060	62,761	12,566	374,665	37,599	– 3499
West Coast Eagles	11	32,669	41,285	25,588	359,360	33,136	– 467
Hawthorn	11	31,449	52,472	16,595	346,490	34,417	– 2918
Carlton	11	31,263	70,051	15,622	343,889	34,414	– 3151
Port Adelaide	11	30,789	49,846	22,423	338,683	26,377	+ 4412
St Kilda	11	29,850	40,783	14,018	328,355	24,422	+ 5428
Western Bulldogs	11	29,660	48,728	15,111	326,263	30,572	– 912
Sydney	11	27,982	40,131	20,611	307,800	25,563	+ 2419
Brisbane Lions	11	27,638	36,149	20,059	304,014	27,406	+ 232
Geelong	11	27,093	50,160	14,298	298,024	27,729	– 636
Kangaroos	11	26,998	56,028	10,030	296,983	22,092	+ 4906
Fremantle	11	21,258	38,804	15,136	233,842	22,357	– 1099
Totals	176	33,643	83,905	10,030	5,921,117	32,618	+ 1025

Venue	Hosted	Average	Highest	Lowest	Total	Last Year	Up/Down
MCG	44	47,425	83,905	17,566	2086,712	46,141	+ 1284
Football Park	22	35,208	49,846	22,423	774,580	32,424	+ 2784
Colonial Stadium	43	31,939	50,701	12,566	1373,371	30,524	+ 1415
Gabba	12	27,313	36,149	20,059	327,754	27,406	– 93
SCG	13	27,159	40,131	20,611	353,069	22,390	+ 4769
Subiaco Oval	22	26,964	41,285	15,136	593,202	30,326	– 3362
Optus Oval	9	23,417	30,067	15,622	210,750	24,656	– 1239
Shell Stadium	7	21,445	27,421	14,298	150,114	22,108	– 663
York Park	1	17,460	17,460	17,460	17,460	N/A	N/A
Manuka Oval	3	11,368	13,117	10,030	34,105	N/A	N/A
Totals	176	33,643	83,905	10,030	5,921,117	32,618	+ 1025

Awards

• The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Jason Akermanis of the Brisbane Lions.
• The AFL Players Association MVP Award went to Andrew McLeod of Adelaide.
  • This was the last year for the award under this name; starting with the 2002 season, it would be renamed the "Leigh Matthews Trophy".
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to Matthew Lloyd of Essendon.
• The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Shaun Hart of the Brisbane Lions.
• The AFL Rising Star award was awarded to Justin Koschitzke of St Kilda.

Notable events

• In their Round 16 match, Essendon trailed by 69 points 12 minutes into the second quarter against the Kangaroos, but recovered to record a high-scoring 12-point win. This presently stands as the largest ever comeback in a VFL/AFL game.
• Melbourne and Collingwood began its annual tradition of playing each other at the M.C.G. in a Melbourne home game on Queen's Birthday Holiday, as the only AFL match of the day. The teams had met on the King's or Queen's Birthday Holiday sporadically in the past (1950, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1983, 1993, 1996 and 1999) as one of several games played on the day, with the 1958 game's attendance of 99,256 still enduring as the highest crowd for a non-final, but this was the first season that the fixture became annual, and the second time (after 1996) that the game was the only one played on the day.
• Fremantle lost their first 17 matches of the season in succession; having lost in the final round of the 2000 season, this took the Dockers' losing streak to 18, the longest drought since Sydney's 26 consecutive losses in 1992 and 1993.
• During the season, it came to the attention of the AFL that in 2000 and 2001, the Brisbane Lions had been using a controversial but then-legal practice of rehydrating its players by use of intravenous saline drip during half-time and between matches. The half-time drips were administered through stents which were inserted into the players' elbows prior to the game and covered with tape during the game. The AFL was concerned about negative perceptions of the practice, and the Lions agreed in early September to immediately cease intravenous rehydration. The league banned the practice in the 2002 pre-season, and the World Anti Doping Agency later banned the practice in 2007.

References

• 2001 Season – AFL Tables