1984 AFC Night Series

The 1984 Australian Football Championships Night Series was the 6th edition of the AFC Night Series, a VFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the VFL, the SANFL, the WAFL and State Representative Teams.^[1]

1984 AFC Night Series

AFC Sterling Cup
Tournament details
Dates	6 March – 24 July 1984
Teams	17
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Essendon (2nd title)
Runners-up	Sydney
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Attendance	119,777 (7,486 per match)
← 1983 1985 →

A total of 17 teams from across Australia played 16 matches over five months, with matches held during the pre-season and midweek throughout the premiership season.

Qualified Teams

Team	Nickname	League	Qualification	Participation (bold indicates winners)1
Enter in Round 1
Hawthorn	Hawks	VFL	Winners of the 1983 Victorian Football League	8th (Previous: 1971, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Essendon	Bombers	VFL	Runners-Up in the 1983 Victorian Football League	8th (Previous: 1893, 1911, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
North Melbourne	Kangaroos	VFL	Third Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	8th (Previous: 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Fitzroy	Lions	VFL	Fourth Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	7th (Previous: 1913, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Carlton	Blues	VFL	Fifth Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	13th (Previous: 1907, 1908, 1914, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Collingwood	Magpies	VFL	Sixth Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	8th (Previous: 1896, 1910, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Footscray	Bulldogs	VFL	Seventh Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	7th (Previous: 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Melbourne	Demons	VFL	Eighth Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	6th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Geelong	Cats	VFL	Ninth Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	6th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Richmond	Tigers	VFL	Tenth Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	10th (Previous: 1969, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Sydney	Swans	VFL	Eleventh Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	9th (Previous: 1888, 1890, 1909, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
West Adelaide	Bloods	SANFL	Winners of the 1983 South Australian National Football League	9th (Previous: 1908, 1909, 1911, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981)
Sturt	Double Blues	SANFL	Runners-Up in the 1983 South Australian National Football League	10th (Previous: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981)
Claremont	Tigers	WAFL	Runners-Up in the 1983 West Australian Football League	7th (Previous: 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
South Fremantle	Bulldogs	WAFL	Third Place in the 1983 West Australian Football League2	7th (Previous: 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)
Enter in Qualifying Playoff
St Kilda	Saints	VFL	Twelfth Place in the 1983 Victorian Football League	6th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Queensland	Maroons	QAFL	Winners of the 1983 Escort Shield	5th (Previous: 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981)

¹ Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia and NFL Night Series.

² Replaced Swan Districts who was banned for two years by the AFC for fielding a Reserves-Colts side in their 1982 Quarter-final loss to Richmond.

Venues

Melbourne	Adelaide	Brisbane
Waverley Park	Football Park	Keith Beavis Oval
Capacity: 72,000	Capacity: 67,000	Capacity: 10,000

Knockout stage

Qualifying Playoff

18 March 1984	Queensland	75–86	St Kilda	Keith Beavis Oval, Brisbane
	11.9 (75)		12.14 (86)	Attendance: 8,000

Round 1

6 March 1984	Essendon	110–47	North Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.20 (110)		7.5 (47)	Attendance: 9,178

13 March 1984	Collingwood	84–48	Claremont	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	12.12 (84)		5.18 (48)	Attendance: 4,194

20 March 1984	Hawthorn	121–74	Richmond	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	18.13 (121)		11.8 (74)	Attendance: 7,183

3 April 1984	West Adelaide	60–87	Footscray	Football Park, Adelaide
	8.12 (60)		11.21 (87)	Attendance: 3,291

1 May 1984	St Kilda	102–87	South Fremantle	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.12 (102)		12.15 (87)	Attendance: 3,206

8 May 1984	Carlton	66–65	Geelong	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	10.6 (66)		9.11 (65)	Attendance: 7,898

22 May 1984	Sydney	101–32	Fitzroy	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	14.17 (101)		4.8 (32)	Attendance: 3,873

29 May 1984	Sturt	77–93	Melbourne	Football Park, Adelaide
	11.11 (77)		14.9 (97)	Attendance: 3,709

Quarter-finals

QF #1 5 June 1984	Essendon	86–35	Collingwood	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	12.14 (86)		5.5 (35)	Attendance: 13,776

QF #2 12 June 1984	Sydney	85–46	St Kilda	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	12.13 (85)		7.4 (46)	Attendance: 3,521

QF #3 19 June 1984	Hawthorn	104–73	Footscray	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	14.20 (104)		11.7 (73)	Attendance: 3,763

QF #4 26 June 1984	Carlton	93–78	Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	14.9 (93)		11.12 (78)	Attendance: 5,779

Semi-finals

SF #1 3 July 1984	Essendon	72–57	Hawthorn	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	10.12 (72)		7.15 (57)	Attendance: 5,849

SF #2 10 July 1984	Sydney	102–81	Carlton	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.12 (102)		12.9 (81)	Attendance: 5,303

Australian Football Championships Night Series final

Final 24 July 1984	Essendon	89–38	Sydney	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	1.2 (8) 4.6 (30) 7.9 (51) 13.11 (89)		1.4 (10) 1.5 (11) 2.6 (18) 5.8 (38)	Attendance: 30,824 Umpires: Sawers, James
		Goals
	Merrett, Baker 3 Ezard 2 Neagle, Elshaug, Eustice, Thompson, Madden 1		Hawke, Wright, Mitchell, Rhys-Jones, Capper 1