The 2006 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 30 September 2006. It was the 110th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League),^[1] staged to determine the premiers for the 2006 AFL season. The match, attended by 97,431 spectators, was won by West Coast by a margin of one point, marking the club's third premiership victory.

Quick Facts Sydney, West Coast ...

2006 AFL Grand Final
Pre-match entertainment before the game. Giant banners were unfurled featuring the colours and emblems of all 16 clubs of the 2006 AFL Premiership season.
Sydney West Coast 12.12 (84) 12.13 (85)
1 2 3 4 SYD 1.4 (10) 4.6 (30) 8.11 (59) 12.12 (84) WCE 4.2 (26) 8.7 (55) 10.10 (70) 12.13 (85)
Date	30 September 2006
Stadium	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Attendance	97,431
Favourite	West Coast
Umpires	Michael Vozzo (2), Brett Allen (10), Darren Goldspink (32)
Coin toss won by	West Coast
Kicked toward	City End
Ceremonies
Pre-match entertainment	Brian Mannix, John Paul Young, Sean Kelly, Daryl Braithwaite, Shane Howard and Irene Cara
National anthem	Brian Mannix, John Paul Young, Daryl Braithwaite and Shane Howard
Accolades
Norm Smith Medallist	Andrew Embley (West Coast)
Jock McHale Medallist	John Worsfold
Broadcast in Australia
Network	Network 10
Commentators	Stephen Quartermain (Host) Anthony Hudson (Commentator) Robert Walls (Expert Commentator) Malcolm Blight (Expert Commentator) Neil Cordy (Boundary Rider) Tim Gossage (Boundary Rider)
← 2005 AFL Grand Final 2007 →

Close

This was the second consecutive year that these two teams played in the premiership decider, with the Swans having won the 2005 AFL Grand Final by a margin of 4 points. At the conclusion of the home and away season, West Coast had finished first on the AFL ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses, winning the McClelland Trophy. Sydney had finished fourth with 14 wins and 8 losses.

In the week leading up to the grand final, Sydney's Adam Goodes was awarded the Brownlow Medal.

Prior to the match, at 10:00 a.m. the TAC Cup grand final was played.

The Red Berets parachuted into the MCG delivering the match balls, followed by a team warm up and the beginning of pre-match entertainment. The entertainment included a performance of the song "Flashdance (What A Feeling)", performed by Irene Cara, as well as appearances from Brian Mannix, John Paul Young, Daryl Braithwaite and Shane Howard (lead singer of Goanna). The medley of songs they performed included "Solid Rock", Yesterday's Hero", "The Horses", "Everybody Wants to Work" and "I Hear Motion".

West Coast started the better, and outplayed the Swans in the first half and led by a convincing 25 points at half time. The Swans fought back in the third quarter and the margin was just 11 points at 3/4 time. Goodes goaled within the first 15 seconds of the last quarter and the margin was suddenly less than a kick. It was goal-for-goal in one of the most intense final quarters of modern grand final history, with West Coast hanging on by a single point to win its first premiership since 1994 and avenge its heartbreaking 4-point loss to the Swans in the previous year's grand final.

It was the fifth consecutive match between the two teams to be decided by less than a goal, and the first grand final to be decided by a point since St. Kilda edged out Collingwood in the 1966 VFL Grand Final (two other grand finals have been decided by a point, in 1899 and 1947). The match has been labelled as a 'classic'.^[2]

Andrew Embley was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for being judged the best player afield. He recorded 26 disposals, 6 marks, and 2 goals. Also polling votes were Brett Kirk (27 disposals and 9 tackles), Dean Cox (20 disposals and 34 hitouts), Daniel Kerr (20 disposals and 5 tackles), Tadhg Kennelly (21 disposals), and Beau Waters (26 disposals and 10 marks).

The voters and their choices were as follows:^[3]

The 2006 grand final placed Sydney vs West Coast games further in the VFL/AFL record books for closeness, with the five most recent margins up to and including this game standing at 4, 4, 2, 1 and 1. With 12 points' total difference across five games, Sydney vs West Coast comprehensively beat the previous five-game record of 19 points, set by Hawthorn versus Collingwood in 1958–60. They also became the seventh pair of teams in VFL/AFL history (and the second in 2006 after Geelong vs Western Bulldogs) to contest two consecutive one-point games.

These records were further improved in the grand final rematch in Round 1, 2007, which was again decided by a single point, giving the pair the record for four games, five games and six games (5 points, 9 points and 13 points, respectively),^{[clarification needed][citation needed]} and positioning them equal second for three games behind Brisbane vs Port Adelaide (2 points, 1997–98) and Hawthorn vs Footscray (3 points, 1956–57).

The 2006 grand final also marked the fourth time in VFL/AFL history that consecutive games between two teams were decided by the same total scores, with both the qualifying final and the grand final decided by 85–84. This previously occurred between South Melbourne vs Melbourne (1903–04), St Kilda vs Collingwood (1913–14) and Melbourne vs Richmond (1954–55). On none of the four occasions have the goals and behinds tallies been identical (Sydney outscored West Coast by 13.7 (85) – 12.12 (84) in the qualifying final, whilst West Coast pipped Sydney by 12.13 (85) – 12.12 (84) in 2006).

The post-match presentation was carried out by Craig Willis. The Jock McHale Medal was presented by former St. Kilda and Hawthorn Premiership coach Allan Jeans to the 2006 Premiership coach John Worsfold. The Norm Smith Medal was presented by former Essendon player and 1984 winner Billy Duckworth to 2006 winner Andrew Embley. The premiership cup was presented by former West Coast Eagle two-time premiership player Glen Jakovich.

The following television networks covered the event.

• Papua New Guinea – EM TV, Australia Network (live)
• New Zealand – SKY Sport 1 (NZ) (live)
• Southeast Asia – Australia Network (live)
• Middle East – Australia Network. Israel – Fox Sports Israel
• Indian subcontinent – Australia Network
• North America – United States – Setanta Sports North America (live), MHz Worldview (delayed).
• Canada – Fox Sports World Canada (live). See also Australian Football Association of North America.
• United Kingdom – British Sky Broadcasting (live)
• Ireland – TG4 (delayed)
• Spain – Canal+ Spain

West Coast's premiership victory, which marked the eighth time in ten years, and the sixth consecutive year dating back to 2001 that a non-Victorian club had won the premiership, saw then-AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou order an investigation into the under-performance of the Victorian clubs in the competition; to that point of time in history, Essendon were the last Victorian club to win a flag, in 2000, and Collingwood were the last Victorian club to play in a Grand Final, in 2003.^[5][6] In the seventeen ensuing seasons since, only two non-Victorian clubs – Sydney in 2012 and West Coast in 2018 – have managed to win the premiership, defeating Hawthorn and Collingwood respectively, exactly six years apart.^[7][8] As of 2023^[update], this is also the most recent AFL Grand Final to not feature a Victorian club.^[9]

• 2006 AFL finals series
• 2006 AFL season