1996 AFL season

For the 1996 season of the Arena Football League, see 1996 Arena Football League season.

1996 AFL premiership season
Teams	16
Premiers	North Melbourne 3rd premiership
Minor premiers	Sydney 7th minor premiership
Pre-season cup	St Kilda 1st pre-season cup win
Brownlow Medallist	Michael Voss (Brisbane Bears) James Hird (Essendon)
Coleman Medallist	Tony Lockett (Sydney) 114 goals
Attendance
Matches played	185
Total attendance	5,694,921 (30,783 per match)
Highest	93,102 (Grand Final, North Melbourne v Sydney)

The 1996 Australian Football League season was the 100th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.

See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.

AFL Draft

See 1996 AFL Draft for more information.

Lightning Premiership

In the 1996 AFL Lightning Premiership final, Essendon defeated Brisbane Bears 6.2 (38) to 2.9 (21) at Waverley Park.

Ansett Australia Cup

In the 1996 Ansett Australia Cup final, St Kilda defeated Carlton 20.10 (130) to 10.12 (72) in front of 66,888 at Waverley Park.

Premiership Season

Round 8

Note: Ben Hart took the mark of the year in Adelaide's win over St Kilda.
Note: Fitzroy's victory was the last win they had as a club.

Round 22

Note: Last game of Fitzroy before merger with Brisbane Bears to become Brisbane Lions.

Qualifying Finals

Note: The SCG match was the Swans’ first finals win since the 1945 Second-Semi-Final, when they were known as South Melbourne. This is the longest period for any club in VFL/AFL history without winning even one final, although St. Kilda won only one final between 1914 and 1964 inclusive.

Semi Finals

Note: West Coast Eagles played its “home” final at the MCG despite being ranked above Essendon due to 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.

Preliminary Finals

Note: Last game of Brisbane Bears before merger with Fitzroy Lions to become Brisbane Lions.

Note: Tony Lockett kicked a behind after the siren to send the Swans to the Grand Final for the first time since South Melbourne’s last appearance in 1945.

Note: Essendon became the first team in VFL/AFL history to lose two finals in the same season by one point.

Grand Final

Main article: 1996 AFL Grand Final

Ladder

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	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
1	Sydney	0	0	4	8	12	14	18	18	22	26	30	34	38	42	46	50	50	54	58	62	62	66
2	North Melbourne (P)	4	8	12	12	16	20	20	24	28	32	32	36	40	44	44	48	52	56	56	60	60	64
3	Brisbane Bears	4	8	8	12	16	20	24	28	28	30	30	34	34	34	38	42	46	50	54	58	62	62
4	West Coast Eagles	4	4	4	4	4	8	12	16	20	24	28	32	36	40	44	48	48	52	52	56	60	60
5	Carlton	4	8	8	12	16	20	24	24	28	32	36	40	40	40	44	44	48	52	52	52	56	60
6	Essendon	4	4	8	8	8	10	14	18	22	26	30	30	34	38	38	42	42	42	46	50	54	58
7	Geelong	4	8	8	12	16	16	16	20	24	26	30	34	38	38	38	42	42	46	50	50	54	54
8	Hawthorn	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	10	10	14	18	22	22	26	30	34	34	34	38	38	42	46
9	Richmond	0	4	8	8	8	12	16	16	16	16	20	24	28	28	32	32	36	36	36	40	44	44
10	St Kilda	0	0	0	4	8	12	16	16	16	16	16	16	20	24	24	24	28	32	36	36	36	40
11	Collingwood	0	4	4	8	12	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	20	24	28	28	28	28	32	36
12	Adelaide	4	8	12	16	16	16	20	24	24	24	24	24	24	28	28	28	32	32	32	32	32	32
13	Fremantle	0	4	8	8	12	12	12	12	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	20	20	24	24	24	28
14	Melbourne	0	0	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	8	12	12	16	20	20	20	20	20	24	28	28	28
15	Footscray	0	0	4	6	6	6	6	6	10	10	10	10	10	10	14	14	14	18	18	22	22	22
16	Fitzroy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4

Attendance

Team	Hosted	Average	Highest	Lowest	Total
Essendon	11	49,526	87,549	15,794	544,789
Collingwood	11	44,723	71,663	21,126	491,953
Adelaide	11	39,428	45,266	31,880	433,713
Richmond	11	38,624	61,740	17,157	424,859
Carlton	11	35,891	70,152	15,277	394,802
North Melbourne	11	34,627	68,537	15,453	380,899
West Coast	11	32,448	40,085	22,044	356,932
Melbourne	11	30,315	63,196	8747	333,465
St Kilda	11	27,137	43,925	13,824	298,512
Geelong	11	25,161	50,074	17,538	276,775
Sydney	11	24,574	44,047	10,965	270,309
Hawthorn	11	23,624	38,263	14,286	259,868
Fremantle	11	22,473	33,041	17,513	247,204
Brisbane	11	18,088	21,644	14,222	198,968
Footscray	11	18,073	36,766	7677	198,800
Fitzroy	11	9482	13,497	5083	104,300
Totals	176	29,637	87,549	5083	5216,148

Venue	Hosted	Average	Highest	Lowest	Total
MCG	51	46,114	87,549	15,494	2351,808
Football Park	11	39,428	45,266	31,880	433,713
Subiaco Oval	16	28,289	40,085	17,513	452,616
Waverley Park	24	25,545	43,925	13,824	613,079
WACA	6	25,253	31,411	19,360	151,520
SCG	11	24,574	44,047	10,965	270,309
Victoria Park	4	23,581	26,459	21,126	94,322
Kardinia Park	10	22,670	27,659	17,538	226,701
Gabba	11	18,088	21,644	14,222	198,968
Optus Oval	17	15,641	21,674	6469	265,892
Whitten Oval	15	10,482	16,804	5083	157,224
Totals	176	29,637	87,549	5083	5216,148

Awards

• The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Michael Voss of Brisbane Bears and James Hird of Essendon.
• The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Corey McKernan of North Melbourne.
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to Tony Lockett of Sydney.
• The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Glenn Archer of North Melbourne.
• The AFL Rising Star award was awarded to Ben Cousins of West Coast.
• The Wooden Spoon was "awarded" to Fitzroy in their final season before the club merged with the Brisbane Bears.

Notes

• North Melbourne's Corey McKernan received the same number of Brownlow Medal votes as the joint-winners James Hird and Michael Voss, but was ineligible to receive a medal as McKernan was suspended for one match during the season for kneeing. McKernan went on to win the AFL Players Association MVP, which is not subject to the same eligibility criteria.
• The Round 10 game between St Kilda and Essendon was interrupted at the twenty-minute mark of the third quarter when Waverley Park lost power, causing the floodlights to go off. The remaining 24 minutes was played three nights later on Tuesday, 11 June. Until 2018 it was the only occasion on which a game had been played on a Tuesday night.
  • Subsequently, the AFL introduced contingencies that a game could be abandoned, with the progress result accepted as final at any point beyond half time, at the agreement of the captains when (a) any unexpected incident delays a game by half an hour, or (b) if dangerous weather conditions, most typically lightning, prevail.
• Footscray's 1996 season became the subject of the sports film, Year of the Dogs, which was released theatrically the following year.
  • After their round 17 loss to Collingwood, caretaker coach Terry Wallace infamously sprayed the players during his post-match address.
• North Melbourne received a special gold-coloured premiership cup, instead of the typical silver, to signify what the AFL had represented as its Centenary Season throughout 1996. (Note: 1996 was the VFL/AFL's hundredth season, which by strictest definition is not the same as the centenary season which would have been 1997).
• The season is perhaps best remembered for its preliminary final between minor premiers Sydney and sixth-placed Essendon. With scores level on 10.9 (69), Sydney's Tony Lockett scored a behind with a kick after the siren to win the game.
  • Lockett had been under an injury cloud with a groin problem during the preceding week, and there was some doubt whether he would play.

References

• 1996 Season - AFL Tables