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2006 AFL season

110th season of the Australian Football League (AFL) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2006 AFL season
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The 2006 AFL season was the 110th 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 30 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

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The premiership was won by the West Coast Eagles for the third time, after it defeated Sydney by one point in the 2006 AFL Grand Final.

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Pre-season competition

Week One Week Two Semifinals Final
Brisbane Lions 1 8 13 70
Essendon 1 8 12 69 Brisbane Lions 0 12 9 81
Western Bulldogs 1 7 12 63 Melbourne 0 13 12 90
Melbourne 0 9 15 69 Melbourne 1 5 5 44
Hawthorn 1 11 10 85 Adelaide 1 16 21 129
Richmond 0 11 9 75 Hawthorn 1 7 7 58
Adelaide 2 16 13 127 Adelaide 2 7 11 71
Port Adelaide 0 8 7 55 Adelaide 1 10 15 84
Kangaroos 1 8 11 68 Geelong 3 10 5 92
Sydney 0 5 7 37 Kangaroos 1 8 3 60
Carlton 1 8 13 70 Geelong 1 10 17 86
Geelong 0 15 8 98 Geelong 3 10 14 101
Collingwood 2 8 8 74 Fremantle 1 10 12 81
St Kilda 1 9 10 73 Collingwood 2 10 6 84
West Coast 1 7 14 65 Fremantle 0 15 10 100
Fremantle 1 18 10 127

Geelong 3.10.5 (92) defeated Adelaide 1.10.15 (84) in the 2006 NAB Cup Final. The game was held at AAMI Stadium, with an attendance of 30,707.

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Home-and-away season

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

More information Round 3 (Easter Round) ...

Round 4

More information Round 4 (ANZAC Day Round) ...

Round 5

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Round 6

More information Round 6 (Rivalry Round) ...

Round 7

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Round 8

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Round 9

More information Round 9 (Green Round) ...

Round 10

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Round 11

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Round 12

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Round 13

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Round 14

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Round 15

More information Round 15 ...

Round 16

More information Round 16 (Heritage Round) ...

Round 17

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Round 18

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Round 19

More information Round 19 ...

Round 20

More information Round 20 ...

Round 21

More information Round 21 ...

Round 22

More information Round 22 ...
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Ladder

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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.
More information Team ╲ Round, West Coast ...
Source: [citation needed]
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Finals series

Qualifying and elimination finalsSemi-finalsPreliminary finalsGrand final
9 Sep, Subiaco Oval
1West Coast12.12 (84)
4Sydney13.7 (85)16 Sep, Subiaco Oval
West Coast16.17 (113)
10 Sep, MCGWestern Bulldogs5.9 (39)22 Sep, Telstra Stadium
5Collingwood11.14 (80)Sydney19.13 (127)
8Western Bulldogs18.13 (121)Fremantle14.8 (92)30 Sep, MCG
Sydney12.12 (84)
8 Sep, MCG23 Sep, AAMI StadiumWest Coast12.13 (85)
6St Kilda10.12 (72)Adelaide11.9 (75)
7Melbourne13.12 (90)15 Sep, Subiaco OvalWest Coast11.19 (85)
Fremantle14.18 (102)
9 Sep, AAMI StadiumMelbourne11.8 (74)
2Adelaide10.16 (76)
3Fremantle7.4 (46)

Week one

More information Qualifying finals ...
More information Elimination finals ...

Week two

More information Semi-finals ...

Week three

More information Preliminary Finals ...

Week four

More information Grand final ...
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Awards

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Best and fairests

[3]

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Notable events

  • The Melbourne Cricket Ground was unavailable until round 4, due to its use as the main athletics stadium at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which concluded just four days prior to the season starting.
  • Matthew Lloyd, in only his third game as Essendon captain, injured his hamstring against the Western Bulldogs, ending his season.[4][5] This marked the Bulldogs' first victory over Essendon since inflicting their only defeat of the 2000 season. Despite a first round thrashing of reigning premiers Sydney, in which Lloyd kicked eight goals on Leo Barry,[6][7] Essendon would suffer its worst season since 1933, winning only two further matches and drawing one against Carlton, and just avoiding the wooden spoon to the Blues on percentage.[8]
  • In Round 5, Fremantle and St Kilda's game ended in controversy after the final siren was not heard by umpires, with the extra time allowing St Kilda to level the scores – the result was changed by the AFL commission later in the week on the basis that the timekeeper had failed to perform his duties.
    • The amended result proved crucial to the end-of-season ladder standings, because had the draw stood, St Kilda would have finished in the top four at the expense of reigning premiers Sydney, which would've finished fifth and therefore missed out on the double chance in the finals.[9]
  • Richmond suffered three 100-point losses in season 2006, against the Western Bulldogs in round 1 (115 points), Sydney in round 7 (118 points) and St Kilda in round 17 (103 points).
  • A struggling Richmond team defeated league-leaders Adelaide in round 8 in an often-discussed game. To counteract Adelaide's strong flood, Richmond slowly built up a lead by patiently controlling the football without ever kicking to a contest, a move described as both boring and brilliant. In the final quarter, Adelaide were forced to switch to man-on-man tactics, almost erasing the deficit, but falling three points short. In executing this plan, Richmond took 181 marks, which is the highest amount ever (recorded since 1987).
  • In round 8, Brendan Fevola became the first player to kick all of his team's goals in a game since Mark Arceri in 1991 (also while playing for Carlton, kicking their only goal). Of Carlton's 4.10 (34), Fevola contributed 4.5 (29), Simon Wiggins scored two behinds, and three behinds were rushed. He also became the first player in 41 years to win a Coleman Medal from the wooden spoon winning side.
  • St Kilda broke two long winning droughts at the SCG and the Gabba by beating Sydney and Brisbane in rounds 11 and 22 respectively. The latter match was Michael Voss' final game for the Lions.
  • For the first time in VFL/AFL history, four non-Victorian teams filled the top four with West Coast, Adelaide, Fremantle and Sydney all earning the double chance. The remainder of the top eight were filled by teams based in Victoria.
  • Bottom teams Essendon and Carlton had a draw in round 16, 2006. Carlton's Eddie Betts scored the match-tying goal with under one minute remaining to deny Essendon what would have been just their second win for the season. Essendon would eventually achieve that the following week. This match was dubbed the "Bryce Gibbs Cup", named after the young Glenelg midfielder who was expected to be, and ultimately was, drafted with the first pick at the end of the year, by the media as both teams were firmly rooted to the bottom of the ladder leading into their match.
  • In the second Qualifying Final, Sydney beat minor premiers West Coast by a solitary point, the final scores reading 85 to 84. When the teams met again in the grand final, the final scores were also 85 to 84, but it was West Coast that claimed the victory.
  • Rohan Smith and Scott West each played their 300th games for the Western Bulldogs in the club's 74-point defeat to West Coast in the semi-final. For Smith, this was his final AFL game.
  • A major flaw of the fixture was that the previous season's Grand Finalists, West Coast and Sydney, did not meet until round 15 of the regular season.[10] The 294-day wait between the 2005 Grand Final and their round 15 rematch on July 15 set a record for the longest wait between a Grand Final and the rematch, until this was surpassed in 2020 (a 300-day wait for Richmond and Greater Western Sydney between their meeting in the 2019 Grand Final and their rematch in Round 8 of the COVID-19-affected 2020 season).[11]
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Player changes

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Debuts

Retirements

More information Name, Date of Birth ...

End of season

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Club captains

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Delistings

Trades

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See also

References

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