The 1987 VFL season was the 91st season of the Victorian Football League (VFL). The season ran from 27 March until 26 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.
1987 VFL premiership season | |
---|---|
Teams | 14 |
Premiers | Carlton 15th premiership |
Minor premiers | Carlton 16th minor premiership |
Night series | Melbourne 1st Night series win |
Brownlow Medallist | Tony Lockett (St Kilda) John Platten (Hawthorn) |
Coleman Medallist | Tony Lockett (St Kilda) |
Attendance | |
Matches played | 160 |
Total attendance | 3,411,846 (21,324 per match) |
Highest | 92,754 (Grand Final, Carlton vs. Hawthorn) |
The season saw the beginning of a decade-long period of expansion of the Victorian league to the rest of Australia, with the admission of two newly established clubs: the West Coast Eagles, based in Perth, Western Australia, and the Brisbane Bears, based in South East Queensland. While the league remained the highest level senior Australian rules football competition and administrative body in Victoria, it also became the de facto highest level senior competition in Australia, with representation across four states. In the pre-season, the first modern VFL draft was held.
The premiership was won by the Carlton Football Club for the 15th time, after it defeated Hawthorn by 33 points in the 1987 VFL Grand Final.
Melbourne defeated Essendon 8.10 (58) to 8.6 (54), to win the Night Series Grand Final at VFL Park.
Rounds 16 and 17 were played concurrently over three weekends: five matches were played on the weekends of 11 and 18 July, and four matches were played on the weekend of 25 July. This fixturing effectively gave each team one bye during the three-week period. However, the matches are still grouped into two complete rounds rather than three partial rounds, which results in a chronological anomaly in which six teams played their Round 17 matches before their Round 16 matches.
Round 16 | |||||
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Saturday, 11 July (2:10 pm) | Essendon 21.11 (137) | def. | Richmond 12.11 (83) | Windy Hill (crowd: 13593) | Report |
Saturday, 11 July (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne 23.18 (156) | def. | Fitzroy 19.9 (123) | MCG (crowd: 15244) | Report |
Sunday, 12 July (2:10 pm) | Brisbane Bears 14.9 (93) | def. by | St Kilda 18.13 (121) | Carrara (crowd: 9106) | Report |
Saturday, 18 July (2:10 pm) | Carlton 20.13 (133) | def. | Footscray 12.6 (78) | Princes Park (crowd: 21388) | Report |
Saturday, 18 July (2:10 pm) | Collingwood 5.13 (43) | def. by | Hawthorn 25.18 (168) | Victoria Park (crowd: 17370) | Report |
Sunday, 19 July (2:10 pm) | Sydney 30.21 (201) | def. | West Coast 10.11 (71) | SCG (crowd: 24199) | Report |
Saturday, 25 July (2:10 pm) | Melbourne 18.9 (117) | def. | Geelong 11.11 (77) | VFL Park (crowd: 15253) | Report |
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The final round of the 1987 VFL home-and-away season turned out to be one of the most dramatic and significant in VFL/AFL history. The composition of the final five would be determined by a number of scenarios:
The round began on the Friday night with Richmond and the fledgling Brisbane Bears playing for the wooden spoon; the Bears won easily to ensure they didn't come last in their first season. The significant matches to determine the final five were all played on Saturday afternoon, and they were all thrillers.
Round 22 | |||||
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Friday, 28 August (7:40 pm) | Richmond 17.11 (113) | def. by | Brisbane Bears 26.13 (169) | MCG (crowd: 12079) | Report |
Saturday, 29 August (2:10 pm) | Carlton 20.9 (129) | def. | North Melbourne 19.11 (125) | VFL Park (crowd: 30444) | Report |
Saturday, 29 August (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy 20.13 (133) | def. by | Sydney 20.21 (141) | Princes Park (crowd: 11170) | Report |
Saturday, 29 August (2:10 pm) | Footscray 10.8 (68) | def. by | Melbourne 12.11 (83) | Western Oval (crowd: 31249) | Report |
Saturday, 29 August (2:10 pm) | Geelong 17.21 (123) | def. by | Hawthorn 19.12 (126) | Kardinia Park (crowd: 27030) | Report |
Sunday, 30 August (12:10 pm) | West Coast 26.19 (175) | def. | St Kilda 13.9 (87) | Subiaco Oval (crowd: 17617) | Report |
Sunday, 30 August (2:10 pm) | Essendon 21.13 (139) | def. by | Collingwood 23.6 (144) | MCG (crowd: 28887) | Report |
|
(P) | Premiers |
Qualified for finals |
# | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlton (P) | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 2599 | 1883 | 138.0 | 72 |
2 | Hawthorn | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2781 | 1891 | 147.1 | 68 |
3 | Sydney | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2846 | 2197 | 129.5 | 60 |
4 | North Melbourne | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 2402 | 2417 | 99.4 | 54 |
5 | Melbourne | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2189 | 2026 | 108.0 | 48 |
6 | Geelong | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 2355 | 2348 | 100.3 | 46 |
7 | Footscray | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 1959 | 2046 | 95.7 | 46 |
8 | West Coast | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2386 | 2438 | 97.9 | 44 |
9 | Essendon | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 2075 | 2318 | 89.5 | 38 |
10 | St Kilda | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2150 | 2369 | 90.8 | 36 |
11 | Fitzroy | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 2328 | 2544 | 91.5 | 32 |
12 | Collingwood | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1853 | 2425 | 76.4 | 28 |
13 | Brisbane Bears | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 2113 | 2666 | 79.3 | 24 |
14 | Richmond | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 2199 | 2667 | 82.5 | 20 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 104.7
Source: AFL Tables
Qualifying Final | |||||
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Saturday, 5 September (2:30 pm) | Hawthorn 23.18 (156) | def. | Sydney 8.9 (57) | VFL Park (crowd: 47752) | Report |
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Elimination Final | |||||
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Sunday, 6 September (2:30 pm) | North Melbourne 5.10 (40) | def. by | Melbourne 22.26 (158) | MCG (crowd: 72628) | Report |
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Semi-finals | |||||
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SF1: Sunday, 13 September (2:30 pm) | Sydney 10.13 (73) | def. by | Melbourne 21.23 (149) | MCG (crowd: 80292) | Report |
SF2: Saturday, 12 September (2:30 pm) | Carlton 11.14 (80) | def. | Hawthorn 10.5 (65) | VFL Park (crowd: 64333) | Report |
Preliminary final | |||||
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Saturday, 19 September (2:30 pm) | Hawthorn 11.14 (80) | def. | Melbourne 10.18 (78) | VFL Park (crowd: 71298) | Report |
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Grand final | |||||
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Saturday, 26 September (2:50 pm) | Carlton 15.14 (104) | def. | Hawthorn 9.17 (71) | MCG (crowd: 92754) | Report |
Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tony Lockett | 22 | 57 | 310 | 1222 | 527 | 027 | 633 | 740 | 242 | 547 | 956 | 359 | 362 | 163 | 568 | 876 | 985 | 893 | 8101 | 3104 | 8112 | 5117 | 117 |
2 | Warwick Capper | 99 | 312 | 517 | 320 | 727 | 229 | 332 | 638 | 442 | 749 | 453 | 558 | 664 | 266 | 268 | 573 | 679 | 584 | 185 | 489 | 695 | 499 | 99 |
3 | Jason Dunstall | 66 | 39 | 312 | 214 | 519 | 322 | 022 | 729 | 130 | 636 | 541 | 1152 | 153 | 255 | 358 | 361 | 667 | 572 | 476 | 379 | 382 | 587 | 87 |
4 | Simon Beasley | 22 | 24 | 37 | 310 | 212 | 012 | 517 | 522 | 325 | 126 | 430 | 838 | 240 | 343 | 346 | 349 | 352 | 153 | 659 | 362 | 1072 | 173 | 73 |
5 | Stephen Kernahan | 44 | 26 | 17 | 613 | 619 | 524 | 327 | 128 | 028 | 230 | 232 | 234 | 135 | 439 | 342 | 446 | 248 | 149 | 251 | 859 | 261 | 667 | 67 |
6 | Richard Osborne | 00 | 55 | 27 | 714 | 014 | 317 | 421 | 425 | 631 | 031 | 536 | 238 | 038 | 240 | 343 | 245 | 247 | 552 | 355 | 257 | 360 | 262 | 62 |
Bruce Lindner | 00 | 00 | 77 | 613 | 720 | 121 | 324 | 327 | 532 | 537 | 340 | 444 | 145 | 348 | 250 | 050 | 050 | 353 | 255 | 357 | 260 | 262 | ||
8 | Brian Taylor | 22 | 57 | 310 | 616 | 420 | 424 | 327 | 027 | 027 | 027 | 633 | 740 | 242 | 143 | 447 | 249 | 453 | 255 | 257 | 259 | 160 | 060 | 60 |
9 | Dermott Brereton | 11 | 01 | 01 | 01 | 12 | 13 | 36 | 612 | 618 | 624 | 327 | 532 | 133 | 336 | 238 | 139 | 443 | 346 | 349 | 453 | 255 | 156 | 56 |
10 | Gary Ablett | 22 | 810 | 313 | 316 | 117 | 219 | 120 | 424 | 226 | 531 | 435 | 540 | 343 | 245 | 247 | 047 | 653 | 053 | 053 | 053 | 053 | 053 | 53 |