2003 AFL season

Last updated

2003 AFL premiership season
Teams16
Premiers Brisbane
3rd premiership
Minor premiers Port Adelaide
2nd minor premiership
Pre-season cup Adelaide
1st pre-season cup win
Brownlow Medallist Nathan Buckley (Collingwood)
Adam Goodes (Sydney)
Mark Ricciuto (Adelaide)
Coleman Medallist Matthew Lloyd (Essendon)
Attendance
Matches played185
Total attendance6,351,655 (34,333 per match)
Highest79,451 (Grand Final, Brisbane Lions vs. Collingwood)
←  2002
2004  →

The 2003 AFL season was the 107th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level of senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 28 March until 27 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

Contents

The premiership was won by the Brisbane Lions for the third time and third time consecutively, after they defeated Collingwood by 50 points in the AFL Grand Final.

AFL Draft

See 2003 AFL draft.

Wizard Home Loans Cup

The 2003 Wizard Home Loans Cup saw Adelaide defeat Collingwood 15.14 (104) to 10.13 (73) in the final.

Premiership season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Ladder

2003 AFL ladder
PosTeamPldWLDPFPAPPPts
1 Port Adelaide 22184022291752127.272 Finals series
2 Collingwood 22157022591858121.660
3 Brisbane Lions (P)22147122951882121.958
4 Sydney 22148021421862115.056
5 Fremantle 22148021432078103.156
6 Adelaide 22139021141754120.552
7 West Coast 22128223261982117.452
8 Essendon 22139021901960111.752
9 Hawthorn 221210020111999100.648
10 Kangaroos 22111012185222398.346
11 St Kilda 22111102095218795.844
12 Geelong 2271411819202589.830
13 Richmond 2271501846207888.828
14 Melbourne 2251701899234481.020
15 Carlton 2241801784267466.716
16 Western Bulldogs 2231812014269374.814
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 ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Port Adelaide 0048121616202428323640404448525660646872
Collingwood 481212121216162024242428323640444848525660
Brisbane Lions 481014182222263034343438384242424650505458
Sydney 444481216202024283232364044484848525256
Fremantle 044881216202428283232363640404448525256
Adelaide 44812121616162024242832364040444852525252
West Coast 4488121620242828303438384242464646485252
Essendon 0448121212161620202024282832364044485252
Hawthorn 044881212121212162024282832323236404448
North Melbourne 481010101014141822263030343434383838384246
St Kilda 044481216161620242424242428283236404444
Geelong 0004444488121212162020202024262630
Richmond 04812161620242424242424242424282828282828
Melbourne 44888812121212121216202020202020202020
Carlton 0044888121212121616161616161616161616
Western Bulldogs 44444444446666610101414141414
Source: [ citation needed ]

Finals series

Qualifying and elimination finalsSemi-finalsPreliminary finalsGrand final
7 Sep, AAMI Stadium
1 Port Adelaide 13.10 (88)
4 Sydney 15.10 (100)13 Sep, AAMI Stadium
Port Adelaide 12.11 (83)
5 Sep, Subiaco Oval Essendon 6.8 (44)20 Sep, Telstra Stadium
5 Fremantle 8.9 (57) Sydney 8.8 (56)
8 Essendon 15.11 (101) Brisbane Lions 14.16 (100)27 Sep, MCG
Brisbane Lions 20.14 (134)
6 Sep, AAMI Stadium 20 Sep, MCG Collingwood 12.12 (84)
6 Adelaide 16.17 (113) Collingwood 17.10 (112)
7 West Coast 8.9 (57)12 Sep, The Gabba Port Adelaide 9.14 (68)
Brisbane Lions 18.16 (124)
6 Sep, MCG Adelaide 12.10 (82)
2 Collingwood 9.12 (66)
3 Brisbane Lions 7.9 (51)

Week one

Qualifying Finals
7 September (2:30 pm) Port Adelaide 13.10 (88)def. by Sydney 15.10 (100) AAMI Stadium (crowd: 33,968)
6 September (7:30 pm) Collingwood 9.12 (66)def. Brisbane Lions 7.9 (51) MCG (crowd: 66,092)
Elimination Finals
5 September (6:40 pm) Fremantle 8.9 (57)def. by Essendon 15.11 (101) Subiaco Oval (crowd: 42,770)
6 September (2:30 pm) Adelaide 16.17 (113)def. West Coast 8.9 (57) AAMI Stadium (crowd: 38,641)

Week two

Semi-finals
12 September (7:30 pm) Brisbane Lions 18.16 (124)def. Adelaide 12.10 (82) The Gabba (crowd: 32,432)
13 September (7:30 pm) Port Adelaide 12.11 (83)def. Essendon 6.8 (44) AAMI Stadium (crowd: 36,557)
  • No game was played at the MCG this week, despite the agreement then in place with the Melbourne Cricket Club that at least one game each week of the finals be played at the MCG. Neither match was considered a viable option to be moved, as one match featured two non-Victorian teams (Brisbane and Adelaide), and the other match featured a first-placed non-Victorian side (Port Adelaide) versus an eighth-placed Victorian side (Essendon).

Week three

Preliminary Finals
20 September (2:30 pm) Collingwood 17.10 (112)def. Port Adelaide 9.14 (68) MCG (crowd: 77,405)
20 September (7:30 pm) Sydney 8.8 (56)def. by Brisbane Lions 14.16 (100) Telstra Stadium (crowd: 71,019)
  • The attendance of 71,019 for the final between Sydney and Brisbane is the largest attendance ever for an AFL game not featuring a Victorian team played outside Victoria.
  • As of 2025, this remains the last time two finals matches were played on the same day after the first week.

Week four

Grand Final
27 September (2:40 pm) Brisbane Lions 20.14 (134)def. Collingwood 12.12 (84) MCG (crowd: 79,451) Report
  • Brisbane's victory was the clubs third successive premiership and were the fourth team to achieve three or more premierships in a row.

Match attendance

Total match attendance for all games was 5,872,352 people. Attendance at the grand final was 79,451 people. The largest non-finals attendance was 72,393 people for the Sydney vs Collingwood game in round 21.

Awards

Notable events

References

  1. ↑ Whiting, Michael (11 April 2016). "Dogs can learn from history on Murphy injury". Australian Football League. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  2. ↑ Pierik, Jon (11 April 2016). "AFL 2016: 'I felt the pop,' says Bob Murphy". Redland City Bulletin. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
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