2013 AFL finals series

2013 premiership season
Date	6–28 September 2013
Teams	8
Premiers	Hawthorn (11th premiership)
Runners-up	Fremantle (1st grand final)
Minor premiers	Hawthorn (9th minor premiership)
Attendance
Matches played	9
Total attendance	558,391 (62,043 per match)
Highest	100,007 (Grand Final, Hawthorn vs. Fremantle )
←  2012 2014  →

The 2013 Australian Football League finals series determined the winner of the 2013 AFL season. The series ran from the 6th to 28 September and culminated in the 117th AFL/VFL Grand Final, held between Fremantle and Hawthorn, which Hawthorn won.

The top eight teams from the home and away season qualified for the finals series. The top four teams (Hawthorn, Geelong, Fremantle and Sydney) all made the preliminary finals. Both Carlton and Port Adelaide made the semi-finals, while Collingwood and Richmond lost their respective elimination finals.

AFL final series have been played under the current format since 2000. The higher a team finishes on the ladder, the more advantages they get. First and second get a "double chance" and a home final. Third and fourth also get a "double chance" but have to play away. Fifth to eighth play elimination finals where the loser's season is over. Fifth and sixth play their elimination finals at home.

Essendon originally finished seventh but were disqualified due to an Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigation into their possible use of un-approved supplements during the 2012 season. This promoted Carlton to eighth and Port Adelaide to seventh.

2013 saw the first time Kardinia Park had hosted a final and only the second time a final had been hosted in Geelong, the previous occurrence being in 1897 at Corio Oval.

Qualification

2013 AFL ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	Hawthorn (P)	22	19	3	0	2523	1859	135.7	76	Finals series
2	Geelong	22	18	4	0	2409	1776	135.6	72
3	Fremantle	22	16	5	1	2035	1518	134.1	66
4	Sydney	22	15	6	1	2244	1694	132.5	62
5	Richmond	22	15	7	0	2154	1754	122.8	60
6	Collingwood	22	14	8	0	2148	1868	115.0	56
7	Port Adelaide	22	12	10	0	2051	2002	102.4	48
8	Carlton	22	11	11	0	2125	1992	106.7	44
9	Essendon	22	14	8	0	2145	2000	107.3	56 [a]
10	North Melbourne	22	10	12	0	2307	1930	119.5	40
11	Adelaide	22	10	12	0	2064	1909	108.1	40
12	Brisbane Lions	22	10	12	0	1922	2144	89.6	40
13	West Coast	22	9	13	0	2038	2139	95.3	36
14	Gold Coast	22	8	14	0	1918	2091	91.7	32
15	Western Bulldogs	22	8	14	0	1926	2262	85.1	32
16	St Kilda	22	5	17	0	1751	2120	82.6	20
17	Melbourne	22	2	20	0	1455	2691	54.1	8
18	Greater Western Sydney	22	1	21	0	1524	2990	51.0	4

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

1. Essendon was relegated to ninth due to irregularities in its supplements program during the 2012 season. ^[1]

Venues

Melbourne	Sydney Perth Geelong Melbourne		Sydney
Melbourne Cricket Ground			ANZ Stadium
Capacity: 100,024			Capacity: 82,500
Geelong			Perth
Simonds Stadium			Patersons Stadium
Capacity: 33,500			Capacity: 43,500

Summary of results

	Qualifying and elimination finals					Semi-finals						Preliminary finals					Grand final
	6 September, MCG
	1	Hawthorn	15.15 (105)
	4	Sydney	7.9 (51)			14 September, ANZ Stadium
						Sydney		13.8 (86)
	8 September, MCG					Carlton		8.14 (62)				20 September, MCG
	5	Richmond	14.12 (96)									Hawthorn		14.18 (102)
	8	Carlton	18.8 (116)									Geelong		15.7 (97)			28 September, MCG
																	Hawthorn		11.11 (77)
	7 September, MCG											21 September, Patersons Stadium					Fremantle		8.14 (62)
	6	Collingwood	9.9 (63)									Fremantle		14.15 (99)
	7	Port Adelaide	12.15 (87)			13 September, MCG						Sydney		11.8 (74)
						Geelong		13.18 (96)
	7 September, Simonds Stadium					Port Adelaide		12.8 (80)
	2	Geelong	9.18 (72)
	3	Fremantle	12.15 (87)

Round one (qualifying & elimination finals)

First qualifying final (Hawthorn vs. Sydney)

	First qualifying final
Friday, 6 September (7:50 pm)	Hawthorn	def.	Sydney	MCG (crowd: 59,615)	Report
	3.4 (22)  4.7 (31)  9.9 (63)  15.15 (105)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.3 (21)  4.7 (31)  5.8 (38)  7.9 (51)	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)
3: Gunston 2: Roughead, Hale 1: Lake, Shiels, Anderson, Hill, Puopolo, Spangher, Breust, Bailey		Goals	2: Tippett 1: White, Jetta, Rohan, O'Keefe, Pyke
Sewell, Mitchell, Gibson, Guerra		Best	Jack, Kennedy, Bird, Parker

Second qualifying final (Geelong vs. Fremantle)

	Second qualifying final
Saturday, 7 September (2:20 pm)	Geelong	def. by	Fremantle	Simonds Stadium (crowd: 32,815)	Report
	4.6 (30)  6.11 (47)  9.13 (67)  9.18 (72)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.5 (17)  7.9 (51)  10.12 (72)  12.15 (87)	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)
3: Podsiadly 2: Johnson 1: Corey, Vardy, Motlop, Duncan		Goals	3: Barlow 2: Pavlich, Hill 1: Walters, Ballantyne, Spurr, Sandilands, Mayne
Mackie, Bartel, Corey, Guthrie, Taylor		Best	Barlow, Fyfe, Spurr, Mundy, Pearce, Crowley

Second elimination final (Collingwood vs. Port Adelaide)

	Second elimination final
Saturday, 7 September (7:45 pm)	Collingwood	def. by	Port Adelaide	MCG (crowd: 51,722)	Report
	1.4 (10) 4.6 (30) 7.7 (49) 9.9 (63)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.4 (16) 6.6 (42) 8.9 (57) 12.15 (87)	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)
3: Swan 2: Cloke 1: Keeffe, Macaffer, Williams, Beams		Goals	3: Wingard, Schulz 2: Boak, Wines 1: Westhoff, Monfries
Swan, Beams, Macaffer, Sidebottom		Best	Logan, Ebert, Cornes, Jonas, Lobbe, Carlile

First elimination final (Richmond vs. Carlton)

	First elimination final
Sunday, 8 September (3:20 pm)	Richmond	def. by	Carlton	MCG (crowd: 94,690)	Report
	3.5 (23) 10.7 (67) 12.10 (82) 14.12 (96)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.3 (15) 6.5 (41) 12.6 (78) 18.8 (116)	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)
2: Vickery, Cotchin, Edwards, Maric 1: Riewoldt, Petterd, Newman, Martin, Tuck, Ellis		Goals	4: Waite, Duigan 3: Betts 2: Garlett, Robinson 1: Warnock, Scotland, Judd
Deledio, Cotchin, Martin, Rance, Newman		Best	Judd, Murphy, Curnow, Duigan, Betts, Waite, Gibbs

Round two (semi-finals)

First semi-final (Sydney vs. Carlton)

	First semi-final
Saturday, 14 September (7:45 pm)	Sydney	def.	Carlton	ANZ Stadium (crowd: 37,980)	Report
	3.3 (21)  8.6 (54)  13.8 (86)  13.8 (86)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.3 (15)  4.8 (32)  4.8 (32)  8.14 (62)	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)
3: Parker 2: McVeigh, Jack, Cunningham 1: O'Keefe, Kennedy, Jetta, Bolton		Goals	3: Waite 2: Betts 1: Armfield, Gibbs, Robinson
McVeigh, Parker, Jack, Hannebery, Grundy, Cunningham		Best	Walker, Murphy, Simpson, Henderson, McLean
Carlton's scoreless 3rd quarter marked the first time since 1959 that they went scoreless in a finals quarter.

Second semi-final (Geelong vs. Port Adelaide)

	Second semi-final
Friday, 13 September (7:50 pm)	Geelong	def.	Port Adelaide	MCG (crowd: 52,744)	Report
	2.2 (14) 3.6 (24) 8.12 (60) 13.18 (96)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.2 (20) 7.5 (47) 8.5 (53) 12.8 (80)	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)
4: Chapman 2: Hawkins, Motlop 1: Duncan, Bartel, Corey, Christensen, Selwood		Goals	3: Westhoff 2: Schulz 1: Ebert, Monfries, Lobbe, Logan, Gray, Broadbent, Hartlett
Chapman, Johnson, Corey, Selwood, Motlop, Kelly		Best	Cornes, Moore, Westhoff, Boak, Monfries

Round three (preliminary finals)

First preliminary final (Hawthorn vs. Geelong)

	First preliminary final
Friday, 20 September (7:50 pm)	Hawthorn	def.	Geelong	MCG (crowd: 85,569)	Report
	3.5 (23) 7.8 (50) 10.10 (70) 14.18 (102)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	4.0 (24) 7.4 (46) 14.6 (90) 15.7 (97)	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)
4: Gunston 3: Burgoyne 2: Hale, Hill 1: Guerra, Breust, Franklin		Goals	4: Johnson 2: Motlop 1: Christensen, Hawkins, Vardy, Bartel, Selwood, Guthrie, Taylor, Murdoch, Caddy
Mitchell, Burgoyne, Gunston, Hale, Birchall, Guerra, Hill		Best	Johnson, Motlop, Guthrie, Selwood, Taylor, Stokes, Duncan
Hawthorn's victory was its first over Geelong in 11 games since the 2008 Grand Final, ending the "Kennett curse". [2]

Second preliminary final (Fremantle vs. Sydney)

	Second preliminary final
Saturday, 21 September (5:45 pm)	Fremantle	def.	Sydney	Patersons Stadium (crowd: 43,249)	Report
	2.9 (21) 7.11 (53) 11.12 (78) 14.15 (99)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.1 (13) 2.2 (14) 5.5 (35) 11.8 (74)	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)
3: Walters 2: Pavlich, Fyfe, Suban 1: Crowley, Duffield, Neale, Barlow, Ballantyne		Goals	2: Rohan 1: Jetta, Cunningham, Parker, Bolton, McGlynn, Pyke, McVeigh, Hannebery
Mundy, Fyfe, Crowley, Walters, Duffield, Mzungu		Best	McVeigh, Kennedy, Parker, Malceski, McGlynn, Mumford
Sydney's half-time score of 2.2 (14) was its lowest ever in a finals match. [3]

Round four (Grand Final)

Main article: 2013 AFL Grand Final

	Grand Final
Saturday, 28 September (2:30 pm)	Hawthorn	def.	Fremantle	MCG (crowd: 100,007)	Report
	2.3 (15) 5.5 (35) 8.8 (56) 11.11 (77)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	0.3 (3) 1.6 (12) 6.10 (46) 8.14 (62)	Umpires: Brett Rosebury, Mathew Nicholls, Simon Meredith Norm Smith Medal: Brian Lake Television broadcast: Seven Network National anthem: Tina Arena
Gunston 4, Roughead 2, Franklin, Rioli, Smith, Breust, Hill		Goals	Pavlich 3, Walters 2, Mzungu, Mayne, Pearce
Lake, Gunston, Lewis, Rioli, Hodge, Birchall		Best	Mundy, Fyfe, Crowley, Johnson, Barlow
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Lake (striking), Rioli (rough conduct)		Reports	Suban (misconduct)

Scheduling Issues

• In Round one, all finals were to be played in Melbourne, usually meaning that one match would be moved to Etihad Stadium; however, the AFL announced that the qualifying final between Geelong and Fremantle would instead be played at Simonds Stadium in Geelong, as a match between these two sides would not have attracted a full capacity crowd at Etihad Stadium. It was the first finals match in Geelong since 1897, and the first ever at Simonds Stadium. ^[4]

Notes and references

1. "Essendon Bombers out of 2013 AFL finals as James Hird accepts 12-month suspension". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
2. Robinson, Mark (23 September 2013). "Hawks break curse, Cats in classic". Herald Sun.
3. Dockers smother Swans to reach first Grand Final, AFL.com.au official website, 21 September 2013
4. "AFL grants Geelong home final". The Australian. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.

External links

• AFL official website
• RealFooty by The Age (Melbourne) Online Archived 25 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
• SportsAustralia (news and views)