2007 AFL season

For the 2007 Arena Football League season, see 2007 Arena Football League season.

2007 AFL premiership season
File:2007AFLToyota.png Logo of the 2007 AFL Season
Teams	16
Premiers	Geelong
Attendance
Matches played	185
Total attendance	7,051,733 (38,117 per match)

Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2007.

Pre-Season 2006/2007

Essendon 14.9 (93) def Indigenous All Stars 6.7 (43) at TIO Stadium.

NAB Cup

Main article: 2007 NAB Cup

Carlton Blues 2.12.7 (97) def Brisbane Lions 0.10.12 (72) at Telstra Dome in front of a crowd of 46,094.

Finals Series

Main article: 2007 AFL Finals Series

Grand Final

Main article: 2007 AFL Grand Final

Awards

• The Brownlow Medal for the AFL's best and fairest player was awarded to Jimmy Bartel, of Geelong, who polled 29 votes.
• The Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFL's most valuable player was awarded to Gary Ablett Jnr, of Geelong.
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to Jonathan Brown of Brisbane, who kicked 77 goals.
• The Norm Smith Medal as the player adjudged best afield in the AFL Grand Final was awarded to Steve Johnson, of Geelong.
• The AFL Rising Star award (Ron Evans Medal) was awarded to Joel Selwood, of Geelong.
• The McClelland Trophy was awarded to the Geelong Cats for holding top position on the ladder after 22 rounds.
• The Wooden Spoon was awarded to the Richmond Tigers for coming in last place on the ladder after 22 rounds.
• The 2007 All-Australian Team.
• The AFL Mark of the Year was awarded to Michael Newton of Melbourne.
• The AFL Goal of the Year was awarded to Matthew Lloyd of Essendon.
• The AFL Army Award was awarded to Alwyn Davey for the footballer who displays the most courageous and/or team related act of the season.

Best and Fairests

• Adelaide: Andrew McLeod
• Brisbane: Jonathan Brown
• Carlton: Andrew Carrazzo
• Collingwood: Travis Cloke
• Essendon: James Hird
• Fremantle: Matthew Pavlich
• Geelong: Gary Ablett
• Hawthorn: Brad Sewell

• Kangaroos: Brent Harvey
• Melbourne: James McDonald
• Port Adelaide: Kane Cornes
• Richmond: Matthew Richardson
• St. Kilda: Nick Riewoldt
• Sydney: Brett Kirk
• West Coast: Darren Glass
• Western Bulldogs:Brian Harris

Notable Events

• On Thursday 8 February it was announced that the Seven Network (who had not broadcast AFL for five years) and Ten Network had reached an agreement to on-sell four games per round to pay-TV provider Foxtel.
• In Round 6, Geelong scored 35.12 (222) against Richmond, the highest score kicked in an AFL game since quarters were shortened from twenty-five to twenty minutes in 1994 and the first time a team has scored over 200 points since Round 22, 1995. Their winning margin of 157 points also broke the record for the same period, and they scored an all-time record 23 more goals than behinds. This was also Richmond's biggest loss in its 99 year history.
• In Round 8, Hawthorn and St Kilda were widely criticised for their game, which in perfect weather yielded only seven goals in the first three quarters (before opening up in the final quarter), and was described as boring by Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy.
• Round 12's game between Carlton and Hawthorn attracted 53,459 fans, breaking the record for the highest AFL crowd at Telstra Dome. In the same game, Hawthorn kicked their highest ever score against Carlton: 27.18 (180), and also achieved their greatest winning margin against Carlton, 100 points.
• Robert Harvey became just the 10th player in VFL/AFL history to reach 350 games, helping St Kilda defeat the West Coast Eagles. The win was the second time in 60 games that a Victorian Team had beaten West Coast at Subiaco Oval.
• The Round 16 game between Brisbane Lions against Carlton at The Gabba saw Jonathan Brown become the first Brisbane player to kick 10 goals in a match, booting 10.1 for the game. This surpassed Brad Hardie's (1989 Round 10 v Carlton at MC Labour Park) and Daniel Bradshaw's 2005 v Melbourne at The Gabba) record of nine goals in a match by a Brisbane player. This resulted in the sacking of Carlton coach Denis Pagan.
• In Round 22 a total of 263 goals and 198 behinds were scored for a total of 1776 points, making the Round the fifth highest scoring Round in VFL/AFL history.

Drugs scandal ("Guttergate")

On Friday 24th August, the Seven Network broadcast some details obtained from players' confidential medical records on its nightly news program. It allegedly purchased these details for $3000 from a woman who found them in a gutter outside a medical clinic in Melbourne. The network said that these records contained details of illicit drug-taking by players at a particular club in the AFL, including both the name of the club and the players involved.

The woman in question and a male accomplice have since been charged with "theft-by-finding" and are due to face Heidelberg Magistrates' Court on December 6.

The AFL currently has a "three-strikes" drugs policy (for non-performance-enhancing drugs), under which only the player and the club doctor are aware of any positive tests until a "third strike" is received. After the third strike, the club is made aware of the situation and the player may face disciplinary action. This policy has faced criticism for leniency from anti-doping bodies, particularly the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and as such has attracted much media scrutiny and public debate.

In this case, the name of the club involved was revealed by Seven on air, but not the names of the players. Before the end of the news program (at which time Seven had promised to actually reveal the names of the players), the AFL obtained a court injunction from the Supreme Court of Victoria which prevented this - and will also continue to prevent the publication of any part of the records, including the name of the club (even though it had already been released) and players involved.

At first, Seven vigorously defended its broadcast and stated that it had done only for the purpose of "highlighting" the issue of drugs-in-sport. It challenged the injunction, then faced a backlash both from the AFL and the AFL players themselves. For the whole of the last round of the season, the AFL players boycotted Seven, refusing to answer any questions posed by its journalists. In one case, Seven was not invited to (and, had it still arrived, would have been actively denied entry to) an AFL Players' Association (AFLPA) press conference.

Shortly after the completion of Round 22, faced with ongoing player boycotts and the possibility of a Brownlow Medal snub , the Seven Network issued a statement "regretting" any harm the broadcast may have caused to the AFL, the clubs and the players, and promised not to broadcast or reveal any of the details of the medical records in future.

The AFLPA, which had previously demanded an apology from the network over the incident, said that it understood why Seven could never issue a full apology "for legal reasons" and that it would be taking the "statement of regret" as an apology instead. The player boycott has since been lifted.

The scandal has come to be known in the popular media as "Guttergate" (referring to the Watergate scandal).

Club captains

Club	Captain(s)	Vice Captain(s)/Leadership Group
Adelaide	Mark Ricciuto	Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards, Nathan Bassett and Brett Burton
Brisbane Lions	Simon Black, Jonathan Brown, Chris L. Johnson, Nigel Lappin, Luke Power
Carlton	Lance Whitnall	Nick Stevens, Kade Simpson (interim)
Collingwood	Nathan Buckley	James Clement, Josh Fraser, Ben Johnson Nick Maxwell
Essendon	Matthew Lloyd	David Hille
Fremantle	Matthew Pavlich	Josh Carr
Geelong	Tom Harley	Cameron Ling, Cameron Mooney (deputy)
Hawthorn	Richard Vandenberg	Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell
Kangaroos	Adam Simpson	Brent Harvey
Melbourne	David Neitz	Cameron Bruce, Brad Green, Brock McLean, James McDonald
Port Adelaide	Warren Tredrea	Shaun Burgoyne, Brendon Lade, Michael Wilson, Chad Cornes
Richmond	Kane Johnson	Nathan Brown, Joel Bowden (deputy)
St Kilda	Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt
Sydney	Leo Barry, Barry Hall, Brett Kirk
West Coast	Chris Judd	Andrew Embley, Darren Glass, Dean Cox
Western Bulldogs	Brad Johnson	Scott West, Robert Murphy, Daniel Cross and Daniel Giansiracusa

Umpires

• Michael Avon
• Ray Chamberlain
• Chris Donlon
• Martin Ellis
• Luke Farmer
• Darren Goldspink
• Stefan Grun
• Matthew Head
• Craig Hendrie
• Scott Jeffery
• Chris Kamolins
• Hayden Kennedy
• Dean Margetts

• Stephen McBurney
• Shane McInerney
• Simon Meredith
• Kieron Nicholls
• Matthew Nicholls
• Troy Pannell
• Brett Rosebury
• Shaun Ryan
• Matt Stevic
• Damien Sully
• Michael Vozzo
• Stuart Wenn
• Derek Woodcock

Player changes

Debuts

Main article: List of 2007 AFL debuts

Retirements

The 2007 AFL season is notable for the unusually large number of players who retired, particularly senior and "champion" players.

Name	Club	Date Retired	Reason
Jonathan Hay	Kangaroos	February 22	Contractual problems resulting from bi-polar issues.
Darren Gaspar	Richmond	May 4	To help Richmond's younger players and go for a youth policy
Brett Montgomery	Western Bulldogs	May 25	Disk bulge in neck.
Rhys Archard	Adelaide	July 29	Return to family in rural Victoria.
Luke Darcy	Western Bulldogs	July 30	Frustrated and Angry at game. Plus knee injuries.
Anthony Koutoufides	Carlton	July 31	Hip injury, planned to retire at the end of the season.
Mark Ricciuto	Adelaide	August 16	Body could no longer cope with AFL Football.
Matthew Robbins	Western Bulldogs	August 24	Struggled throughout the year despite having a ripping 2006 season.
Josh Mahoney	Port Adelaide	August 24	Unable to hold down a regular position.
Troy Cook	Fremantle	August 24	It seemed the right time for him to leave the game.
Shane Parker	Fremantle	August 24	Was always going to struggle to play the year out and there was no way he could continue.
Chris Scott	Brisbane Lions	August 25	Struggled through Injury.
Ray Hall	Richmond	August 28	Serious hip injury sidelined him for the entire 2007 season.
Trent Knobel	Richmond	August 28	Due to a persistent ankle injury.
Kent Kingsley	Richmond	August 28	Injury.
Darryl Wakelin	Port Adelaide	August 29	Struggled with injury this year.
Matthew Lappin	Carlton	August 29	Help his club focus on playing younger players.
Nathan D. Brown	Melbourne	August 29	Ready to Start the next chapter of his life.
Clint Bizzell	Melbourne	August 29	Right time to do so.
Byron Pickett	Melbourne	August 31	citing his waning passion for the game.
Chris L. Johnson	Brisbane Lions	August 31	Decided to leave the game - last Fitzroy player in the AFL.
Fraser Gehrig	St Kilda	September 1	Body could not cope anymore. Fraser Gehrig later nominated for the pre-season draft and was re-drafted by St Kilda for the 2008 season.
Andrew Thompson	St Kilda	September 1	Right time to do so.
Matthew Clarke	St Kilda	September 1	One year contract expired. Decided to leave the game.
James Hird	Essendon	September 1	Right time to do so.
Josh Wooden	West Coast	September 5	Nagging hip injury.
Richie Vandenberg	Hawthorn	September 6	Troublesome Back injury / Body could not cope anymore.
Brett Voss	St Kilda	September 18	made the most of his time as an AFL footballer.
Ben Dixon	Hawthorn	September 19	the inability of his body to prepare well enough for senior football .
Rowan Jones	West Coast	September 19	Right time to do so.
Glenn Archer	Kangaroos	September 22	Right time to do so.
James Clement	Collingwood	September 23	Family Health, Right time to do so
Joel Smith	Hawthorn	September 25	thought the time was right – and it’s time to move on
Kasey Green	Kangaroos	September 26	Wanting to move back to Perth
Chris Heffernan	Essendon	October 02	his opportunities to play senior football beyond 2007 were limited
Scott Camporeale	Essendon	October 02	Injury
Chris Grant	Western Bulldogs	October 02	Injury and right time to do so
Aaron Hamill	St Kilda	October 02	Injury and right time to do so "I felt it was in the best interest of the club moving forward"
Mark Bolton	Essendon	October 03	Had been struggling to make the starting 22 in 2007 and recognised the right time to do so.
Nathan Buckley	Collingwood	October 05	Chronic hamstring injuries had curtailed his ability to remain fit for selection.
Paul Licuria	Collingwood	October 05	Battled injury and form problems this season
Justin Longmuir	Fremantle	October 31	Chronic knee injury
Stephen Doyle	Sydney	October 31	series of knee injuries
Lance Whitnall	Carlton	November 12	knee injury

Sackings/Delistings

Name	Club	Date Delisted	Notes
David Teague	Carlton	September 06	N/A.
Dylan McLaren	Carlton	September 06	N/A.
Ross Young	Carlton	September 06	N/A.
Craig Flint	Carlton	September 06	N/A.
Anthony Raso	Carlton	September 06	N/A.
Simon Godfrey	Melbourne Demons	September 11	N/A.
Daniel Ward	Melbourne Demons	September 11	N/A.
Heath Neville	Melbourne Demons	September 11	N/A.
Shane Neaves	Melbourne Demons	September 11	N/A.
Daniel Hayes	Melbourne Demons	September 11	N/A.
Tim Walsh	Western Bulldogs	September 12	N/A.
Cameron Faulkner	Western Bulldogs	September 12	N/A.
Travis Baird	Western Bulldogs	September 12	N/A.
Damian McCormack	Western Bulldogs	September 12	N/A.
Marty Pask	Western Bulldogs	September 12	N/A.
Michael West	Western Bulldogs	September 12	N/A.
Marcus Allan	Brisbane Lions	September 22	N/A.
Ben Fixter	Brisbane Lions	September 22	N/A.
Djaran Whyman	Kangaroos	September 26	N/A
Callum Urch	Kangaroos	September 26	N/A
Daniel McConnell	Kangaroos	September 26	N/A
Justin Sweeney	St Kilda	October 04	N/A.
Phillip Raymond	St Kilda	October 04	N/A
Matthew Bode	Adelaide	October 12	N/A.
Ian Perrie	Adelaide	October 12	N/A
Jason Torney	Adelaide	October 12	N/A
Darren Pfeiffer	Adelaide	October 12	N/A
John Hinge	Adelaide	October 12	N/A
Richard Cole	Essendon	October 12	N/A
Lance Whitnall	Carlton	October 12	N/A
Mark Johnson	Essendon	October 15	N/A
Kepler Bradley	Essendon	October 15	N/A
Lachlan McKinnon	Essendon	October 15	N/A
Ryan Ferguson	Melbourne Demons	October 15	N/A.
Matthew Little	Hawthorn	October 16	N/A.
Josh Thurgood	Hawthorn	October 16	N/A
Simon Phillips	Sydney	October 17	N/A.
Luke Vogels	Sydney	October 17	N/A
Jonathan Simpkin	Sydney	October 17	N/A
Fergus Watts	St Kilda	October 17	N/A
Barry Brooks	St Kilda	October 17	N/A
Ben Cousins	West Coast	October 17	N/A
Joel Reynolds	Geelong	October 18	N/A
Matthew Spencer	Geelong	October 18	N/A
Sam Hunt	Geelong	October 18	N/A
Stephen Owen	Geelong	October 18	N/A
Todd Grima	Geelong	October 18	N/A
Andrew Krakouer	Richmond	October 22	N/A
Patrick Bowden	Richmond	October 22	N/A
Brent Hartigan	Richmond	October 22	N/A
James Walker	Fremantle	October 22	N/A
Robert Haddrill	Fremantle	October 22	N/A
Clayton Collard	Fremantle	October 22	N/A
Calib Mourish	Fremantle	October 22	N/A
Ryley Dunn	Fremantle	October 22	N/A
David Trotter	Kangaroos	October 23	N/A
Ashley Sampi	West Coast	October 30	N/A
Guy Richards	Collingwood	October 31	N/A
Daniel Chick	West Coast	October 31	N/A
Ryan Willits	Port Adelaide	November 15	N/A

Trades

Main article: 2007 AFL Draft.

Coaching changes

Name	Club	Date	Reason
Neale Daniher	Melbourne Demons	June 29	Decision he could take the club no further
Chris Connolly	Fremantle	July 17	Quit after run of poor results
Denis Pagan	Carlton	July 23	Sacked after five heavy losses in a row
Kevin Sheedy	Essendon	July 25	Contract will not be renewed at end of season
Brett Ratten	Carlton	August 20	Interim coach Ratten given a two-year contract.
Dean Bailey	Melbourne	August 31	Dean Bailey appointed Melbourne coach
Mark Harvey	Fremantle	September 17	Fremantle appoint Harvey senior coach
Matthew Knights	Essendon	September 27	Knights promises new direction at Essendon

See also

• 2007 Australian football code crowds
• List of 2007 AFL debuts
• List of Australian Football League premiers

External links

• Official AFL website
• FOXSPORTS Australia AFL section
• Heraldsun site
• The Age Online
• Sportal AFL
• 2007 AFL season - Finalsiren.com
• CSV file of 2007 fixture for use with Microsoft Outlook calendars