2007 AFL SEASON

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.^[1]

NAB Cup

Main articles: 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.

Premiership season

Round 1 (Season Launch)

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12 (Split Round)

Round 13

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Ladder

Finals Series

Main articles: 2007 AFL Finals Series

Week 1

Awards

★ The Brownlow Medal for the AFL's best and fairest player.

★ The Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFL's most valuable player.

★ 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.

★ 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 awarded to the footballer who holds the greatest mark of the season.

★ The AFL Goal of the Year awarded to the footballer who kicks the greatest goal of the season.

★ The AFL Army Award awarded to the footballer who displays the most courageous and/or team related act of the season.

Notable Events

★ On Thursday 8 February it was announced that the Seven Network (who has not had 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.

★ 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. ^[2]

★ 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. Hawks hammer hapless Blues

★ 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.^[3]

★ 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.

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 allegedly 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 has since been charged with "theft-by-finding", and the Seven Network (and the reporter in question) also face possible charges. The investigation by Victoria Police is continuing.
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

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
! Club
! Captain(s)
! Vice Captain(s)/Leadership Group
|-
|
| Mark Ricciuto
| Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards, Nathan Bassett and Brett Burton^[4]
|-
|
| Simon Black, Jonathan Brown, Chris L. Johnson, Nigel Lappin, Luke Power
|-
|
| Lance Whitnall^[5]
| Nick Stevens^[6]
|-
|
| Nathan Buckley
| James Clement, Josh Fraser, Ben Johnson Nick Maxwell
|-
|
| Matthew Lloyd
| David Hille
|-
|
| Matthew Pavlich
| Josh Carr
|-
|
| Tom Harley
| Cameron Ling, Cameron Mooney (deputy)
|-
|
| Richard Vandenberg^[7]
| Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell
|-
|
| Adam Simpson
| Brent Harvey
|-
|
| David Neitz^[8]
| Cameron Bruce, Brad Green, Brock McLean, James McDonald
|-
|
| Warren Tredrea
| Shaun Burgoyne, Brendon Lade, Michael Wilson, Chad Cornes
|-
|
| Kane Johnson
| Nathan Brown, Joel Bowden (deputy)
|-
|
| Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt
|
|-
|
| Leo Barry, Barry Hall, Brett Kirk
|
|-
|
| Chris Judd
| Andrew Embley, Darren Glass
|-
|
| Brad Johnson^[9]
| Scott West

Umpires

Stephen McBurney,
Matt Stevic,
Simon Meredith,
Stuart Wenn,
Craig Hendrie,
Kieron Nicholls,
Brett Rosebury,
Damien Sully,
Ray Chamberlain,
Chris Donlon,
Dean Margetts,
Shane McInerney,
Stefan Grun,
Matthew Head,
Troy Pannell,
Michael Vozzo,
Shaun Ryan,
Scott Jeffery,
Luke Farmer,
Hayden Kennedy,
Michael Avon,
Matthew Nicholls,
Chris Kamolins,
Martin Ellis,
Darren Goldspink.
Derek Woodcock

Player changes

Debuts

Retirements

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
! Name
! Club
! Date Retired
! Reason
|-
| Jonathan Hay
|
| February 22
| Contractual problems resulting from bi-polar issues.^[10]
|-
| Darren Gaspar
|
| May 4
| To help Richmond's younger players and go for a youth policy^[11]
|-
| Brett Montgomery
|
| May 25
| Disk bulge in neck.^[12]
|-
| Rhys Archard
|
| July 29
| Return to family in rural Victoria.^[13]
|-
| Luke Darcy
|
| July 30
| Frustrated and Angry at game. ^[14]
|-
| Anthony Koutoufides
|
| July 31
| Hip injury, planned to retire at the end of the season.^[15]
|-
| Mark Ricciuto
|
| August 16
| Body could no longer cope with AFL Football. ^[16]
|-
| Matthew Robbins
|
| August 24
| Struggled throughout the year despite having a ripping 2006 season. ^[17]
|-
| Josh Mahoney
|
| August 24
| Unable to hold down a regular position. ^[18]
|-
| Troy Cook
|
| August 24
| It seemed the right time for him to leave the game. ^[19]
|-
| Shane Parker
|
| August 24
| Was always going to struggle to play the year out and there was no way he could continue. ^[19]
|-
| Chris Scott
|
| August 25
| Struggled through Injury. ^[21]
|-
| Ray Hall
|
| August 28
| Serious hip injury sidelined him for the entire 2007 season. ^[22]
|-
| Trent Knobel
|
| August 28
| Due to a persistent ankle injury. ^[22]
|-
| Kent Kingsley
|
| August 28
| Injury. ^[22]
|-
| Darryl Wakelin
|
| August 29
| Struggled with injury this year. ^[25]
|-
| Matthew Lappin
|
| August 29
| Help his club focus on playing younger players. ^[26]
|-
| Nathan D. Brown
|
| August 29
| Ready to Start the next chapter of his life. ^[27]
|-
| Clint Bizzell
|
| August 29
| Right time to do so. ^[27]
|-
| Byron Pickett
|
| August 31
| citing his waning passion for the game. ^[29]
|-
| Chris L. Johnson
|
| August 31
| Decided to leave the game - last Fitzroy player in the AFL. ^[30]
|-
| Fraser Gehrig
|
| September 1
| Body could not cope anymore.^[31]
|-
| Andrew Thompson
|
| September 1
| Right time to do so.^[31]
|-
| Matthew Clarke
|
| September 1
| One year contract expired. Decided to leave the game.^[31]
|-
| James Hird
|
| September 1
| Right time to do so.
|-
Josh wooden
West Coast Eagles
September 5
Nagging hip injury
-
| Richie Vandenberg
|
| September 6
| Troublesome Back injury / Body could not cope anymore. ^[34]
|}

Sackings/Delistings

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
! Name
! Club
! Date Delisted
! Notes
! Stats
|-
| David Teague
|
| September 6
| N/A.^[35]
| Stats
|-
| Dylan McLaren
|
| September 6
| N/A.^[35]
| Stats
|-
| Ross Young
|
| September 6
| N/A.^[35]
|
|-
| Craig Flint
|
| September 6
| N/A.^[35]
|
|-
| Anthony Raso
|
| September 6
| N/A.^[35]
|
|}

Trades

:''Main article: 2007 AFL Draft.''

Coaching changes

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
! Name
! Club
! Date
! Reason
|-
| Neale Daniher
|
| June 29
| Decision he could take the club no further^[40]
|-
| Chris Connolly
|
| July 17
| Quit after run of poor results^[41]
|-
| Denis Pagan
|
| July 23
| Sacked after five heavy losses in a row^[42]
|-
| Kevin Sheedy
|
| July 25
| Contract will not be renewed at end of season^[43]
|-
| Brett Ratten
|
| August 20
| Interim coach Ratten given a two-year contract.^[44]
|-
| Dean Bailey
|
| August 31
| Dean Bailey appointed Melbourne coach^[45]
|}

References

1. Dons upset All Stars
2. Sheedy condemns ugly footy
3. Saints give Harvey great memory
4. Crows stick with Roo, but who’s next?
5. Whitnall confirmed as Blues captain
6. Experiments key for Carlton
7. 2007 preview: Hawthorn
8. Neitz to skipper Demons again
9. Johnson top Dog in 2007
10. Give Hay some breathing space: Laidley
11. Gaspar's career is over
12. Neck injury forces Monty out
13. Perfect time to play Port
14. Old Dog Out of Tricks
15. Kouta calls it a day
16. Ricciuto says enough is enough
17. Veteran Bulldogs announces retirement.
18. Journeyman Mahoney hangs up boots
19. Fremantle lose two loyal servants
20. Fremantle lose two loyal servants
21. Chris Scott finishes the Game
22. The end for a Trio of Tigers
23. The end for a Trio of Tigers
24. The end for a Trio of Tigers
25. Wakelin's season sacrifice.
26. Matthew Lappin calls it a day.
27. Demons defenders call it quits.
28. Demons defenders call it quits.
29. Pickett adds to the exodus
30. Chris Johnson calls it quits.
31. Lyon wants Harvey to stay as three leave
32. Lyon wants Harvey to stay as three leave
33. Lyon wants Harvey to stay as three leave
34. Hawks skipper Richie Vandenberg to retire after finals
35. Changes to the Carlton Team for 2008
36. Changes to the Carlton Team for 2008
37. Changes to the Carlton Team for 2008
38. Changes to the Carlton Team for 2008
39. Changes to the Carlton Team for 2008
40. Demon days almost over for Daniher
41. Connolly falls on his sword
42. Blues part ways with Pagan
43. Sheedy shunted from Bombers
44. Ratten to lead Blues
45. Dean Bailey appointed Melbourne coach

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

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