The 2008 AFL season was the 112th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 20 March until 27 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs. A significant feature of the season was the celebration of the 150th anniversary since the sport of Australian rules football was first established in 1858.
The match between North Melbourne and Melbourne was originally fixtured to be played at Gold Coast Stadium, however, due to North Melbourne's refusal to relocate north to the Gold Coast, the match was moved to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[1]
The AFL Army Award was awarded to Brett Deledio for the footballer who displays the most courageous and/or team related act of the season, for running with the flight of the ball to attempt a mark in the final minutes of Richmond's round 7 loss to St Kilda.[5]
Coleman Medaledit
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the count in that round.
This was the first season in which Carlton and Richmond faced off in what is now the traditional first clash of the season.
This was the first season since 1998 in which NMFC competed as "North Melbourne" instead of "Kangaroos", following the end of their decade-long experiment with home-away-from-home venues in Sydney, Canberra and the Gold Coast.
The Western Bulldogs came back from a 37-point deficit against St Kilda at quarter time to win the game by 38 points, a 75-point turnaround, in round 3.
The Brisbane Lions produced its biggest ever comeback in round 4 against Port Adelaide when they were down by 47 points late in the third quarter to win by 20 points, a 67-point turnaround.
Sydney forward Barry Hall was suspended for seven weeks, then the equal-longest suspension handed out since the tribunal was reconfigured to a points-based system in 2005, for striking West Coast defender Brent Staker with a clean punch to the head. Later in the season, Fremantle's Dean Solomon beat that record, being suspended for eight weeks after hitting Geelong's Cameron Ling in the cheekbone with an elbow.
Melbourne won its first game for the season in round 7 against Fremantle by six points, after recovering from a 50-point half-time deficit, the second-largest half-time deficit ever overcome in VFL/AFL history.[12] This was the second in a VFL/AFL-record string of five consecutive games which Fremantle lost after holding a three-quarter time lead.
West Coast suffered its worst ever loss at Subiaco Oval, and worst loss anywhere since 1989, in round 13, losing to Geelong by 135 points.
In round 13, Dustin Fletcher (in his 288th game) and his father, Ken (264 games), claimed the record of most VFL/AFL games played by a father-son combination (552 games).
In round 16, Richmond player Joel Bowden deliberately conceded two behinds directly from the kick-in, to waste time while protecting his team's four-point lead over Essendon. This was a major motivation for the introduction of a rule from 2009 that allows the umpire to give award free kick for a deliberate rushed behind.
With its final-round victory, Geelong matched Essendon's 2000 record of 21 wins in a home-and-away season. Ironically, Geelong also set the record for the highest average losing margin in a VFL/AFL season, with its only loss coming by 86 points against Collingwood.
In the round 22 match between Carlton and Hawthorn, Hawthorn forward Lance Franklin became the first player since Tony Lockett in 1998 to kick 100 goals in the home-and-away Season. Franklin became the 28th player in VFL/AFL history to reach this milestone, and the first indigenous player to do so.
In the same game, Brendan Fevola scored seven second-half goals to fall one goal short of the same milestone, becoming the first person in VFL/AFL history to finish on 99 goals for a season.
The final game of the home and away season saw the 8th-placed St Kilda requiring a win of 90+ points over Essendon to claim 4th place going into the finals. St Kilda recorded a then-record winning margin over Essendon of 108 points which saw the Saints replace Adelaide in 4th place for the finals series.
The second elimination final between Sydney and North Melbourne was, at the time, the lowest crowd number for a final outside Victoria with only 19,127 despite being at ANZ Stadium where Sydney had averaged 50,000 for finals.
The Grand Final between Geelong and Hawthorn drew a crowd of 100,012, the first crowd over 100,000 people since the 1986 Grand Final.
By losing the Grand Final after finishing with a home-and-away record of 21–1, Geelong broke the record set in 1935 and 1936 by South Melbourne (16–2) for best record by a non-premier, and the record for most wins by a non-premier held jointly by Collingwood (1973) and West Coast (1991) (both 19 wins).
Sydney played in a controversial draw against North Melbourne at Telstra Dome in round 6; it was later revealed that Sydney had nineteen men on the field for a brief period of play before, during and after the behind that tied the scores was scored.[13] As a direct consequence of this, the league amended the interchange laws in round 9, appointing interchange stewards to police the players and to signal to the field umpires if an infringement has occurred. Any infringement now results in a free kick being awarded.[14]
The AFL introduced an additional two boundary umpires in round 21 in order to reduce the error rate and enable the umpires to keep up with the play.[30]
Surprising some, Leigh Matthews announced his retirement as coach of the Brisbane Lions two days after their final game of the season in what was replaced as a move to make way for potential coaching candidate, Michael Voss.[36]
Despite being newly signed for two years as assistant coach of West Coast, as expected, former Brisbane Lions captain Michael Voss was appointed as coach of the Brisbane Lions, one day after Leigh Matthews resigned.[37]
^"Carrara game moved". Perth Now. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
^Cats demolish Eagles by 99 points 15 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^Eagles, Dockers picked for All Australian squad 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
^ ab. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
^Richmond's Deledio wins 2008 Army Award 9 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^"Docker Rhys Palmer wins 2008 Rising Star award". PerthNow. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
^"Club best and fairest results". Realfooty. 5 October 2008. from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
^AAP (5 October 2008). "Brown top Lion". Realfooty. from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
^AAP (5 October 2008). "Pavlich named Dockers' best". Realfooty. from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
^Arup, Thomas (5 October 2008). "Franklin is top Hawk in year of personal and team accolades". Realfooty. from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
^AAP (5 October 2008). "Fisher voted best Saint". Realfooty. from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
^Roos returns fire on North's reaction [dead link]
^AFL interchange rules overhauled 9 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^"Goodwin to captain the Crows". AdelaideNow. 12 December 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
^. The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 February 2008. Archived from the original on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
^. AFL.com.au. 19 February 2008. Archived from the original on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
^. Ben Broad. 23 January 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
^. Sebastian Hassett. 6 March 2008. Archived from the original on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
^. 7 October 2007. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^. The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 January 2008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
^"North leadership group adds two true Roos". Michael Tormey. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
^"Tredrea to lead Power again". AFL. 12 March 2008. from the original on 29 March 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
^. AFL. 2 November 2008. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2008.
^. AFL. 12 March 2008. Archived from the original on 13 March 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
^"Bolton steps up". Herald Sun. Australia. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
^Mic Cullen (9 November 2007). "Glass to captain West Coast". Retrieved 22 January 2008.[dead link]
^"Embley loses leadership role at Eagles". The Age. Melbourne. 4 December 2007. from the original on 6 January 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
^"Boyd and Morris take the lead at Bulldogs". Jennifer Witham. 22 January 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.[dead link]
^Matthews, Bruce (15 September 2008). "More umpires mean fewer mistakes". Herald Sun. Australia. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
^. The Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
^. AAP. 9 April 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
^. AFLUA. 20 September 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
^Morrison, Joel (2 September 2008). . AFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
^Morrison, Joel (2 September 2008). . AFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
^Lutton, Phil; Matthews walks away from Lions[permanent dead link]; Realfooty; 1 September 2008
^AAP; Lions hand reins to Voss; Foxsports; 2 September 2008
Referencesedit
2008 Season – AFL Tables
2008 AFL season – Finalsiren.com
External linksedit
AFL (Australian Football League)
January 01, 1970
2008, season, 2008, season, arena, football, league, 2008, arena, football, league, season, 112th, season, australian, football, league, highest, level, senior, australian, rules, football, competition, australia, which, known, victorian, football, league, unt. For the 2008 season of the Arena Football League see 2008 Arena Football League season The 2008 AFL season was the 112th season of the Australian Football League AFL the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989 The season featured sixteen clubs ran from 20 March until 27 September and comprised a 22 game home and away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs A significant feature of the season was the celebration of the 150th anniversary since the sport of Australian rules football was first established in 1858 2008 AFL premiership seasonTeams16PremiersHawthorn10th premiershipMinor premiersGeelong13th minor premiershipPre season cupSt Kilda3rd pre season cup winBrownlow MedallistAdam CooneyWestern Bulldogs 24 votes Coleman MedallistLance FranklinHawthorn 102 goals AttendanceMatches played185Total attendance7 082 949 38 286 per match Highest100 012 Grand Final Geelong vs Hawthorn 20072009 The premiership was won by the Hawthorn Football Club for the tenth time after they defeated Geelong by 26 points in the 2008 AFL Grand Final Contents 1 NAB Cup 2 Premiership season 2 1 Round 1 2 2 Round 2 2 3 Round 3 2 4 Round 4 2 5 Round 5 2 6 Round 6 2 7 Round 7 2 8 AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match 2 9 Round 8 2 10 Round 9 2 11 Round 10 2 12 Round 11 2 13 Round 12 2 14 Round 13 2 15 Round 14 2 16 Round 15 2 17 Round 16 2 18 Round 17 2 19 Round 18 2 20 Round 19 2 21 Round 20 2 22 Round 21 2 23 Round 22 3 Win loss table 4 Ladder 4 1 Ladder progression 5 Finals series 5 1 Week one 5 2 Week two 5 3 Week three 5 4 Week four 6 Statistics 6 1 Leading goalkickers 6 2 Disposals 6 3 Kicks 6 4 Handballs 6 5 Marks 6 6 Tackles 6 7 Hitouts 7 Awards 7 1 Coleman Medal 7 2 Rising Star Nominees 7 3 Club Best and Fairests 8 Notable events 9 Club leadership 10 Umpires 11 Coach changes 12 See also 13 Footnotes 14 References 15 External linksNAB Cup editMain article 2008 NAB Cup 2008 NAB Cup Grand Final Saturday 8 March Adelaide 0 9 10 64 def by St Kilda 2 7 9 69 AAMI Stadium crowd 26 823 Premiership season editRound 1 edit Round 1 Easter and Season Launch Thursday 20 March Carlton 11 13 79 def by Richmond 17 7 109 MCG crowd 72 552 Report Thursday 20 March Port Adelaide 14 12 96 def by Geelong 15 15 105 AAMI Stadium crowd 28 206 Report Saturday 22 March Collingwood 16 15 111 def Fremantle 13 7 85 MCG crowd 45 383 Report dead link Saturday 22 March West Coast 14 8 92 def Brisbane Lions 11 10 76 Subiaco Oval crowd 39 591 Report Saturday 22 March St Kilda 6 15 51 def Sydney 6 13 49 Telstra Dome crowd 36 614 Report Sunday 23 March Western Bulldogs 19 12 126 def Adelaide 18 15 123 Telstra Dome crowd 24 835 Report Sunday 23 March Hawthorn 23 16 154 def Melbourne 6 14 50 MCG crowd 40 141 Report Monday 24 March North Melbourne 9 13 67 def by Essendon 19 8 122 Telstra Dome crowd 48 100 Report Round 2 edit Round 2 Friday 28 March Brisbane Lions 13 18 96 def Collingwood 13 16 94 The Gabba crowd 33 867 Report Saturday 29 March Melbourne 9 12 66 def by Western Bulldogs 24 17 161 MCG crowd 27 821 Report dead link Saturday 29 March Adelaide 21 7 133 def West Coast 8 9 57 AAMI Stadium crowd 38 162 Report Saturday 29 March Fremantle 14 13 97 def by Hawthorn 16 16 112 Subiaco Oval crowd 38 022 Report Saturday 29 March St Kilda 19 11 125 def Carlton 12 13 85 Telstra Dome crowd 43 396 Report Sunday 30 March Sydney 22 14 146 def Port Adelaide 11 12 78 SCG crowd 24 700 Report Sunday 30 March Geelong 22 18 150 def Essendon 6 15 51 Telstra Dome crowd 50 636 Report Sunday 30 March Richmond 13 8 86 def by North Melbourne 20 7 127 MCG crowd 39 292 Report Round 3 edit Round 3 Rivalry Round Friday 4 April Western Bulldogs 19 11 125 def St Kilda 13 9 87 Telstra Dome crowd 38 667 Report Saturday 5 April North Melbourne 13 8 86 def by Hawthorn 15 12 102 Telstra Dome crowd 39 816 Report dead link Saturday 5 April West Coast 10 13 73 def by Fremantle 12 15 87 Subiaco Oval crowd 39 027 Report Saturday 5 April Brisbane Lions 10 11 71 def by Sydney 13 10 88 The Gabba crowd 29 061 Report Saturday 5 April Essendon 23 12 150 def Carlton 21 8 134 MCG crowd 64 388 Report Sunday 6 April Geelong 16 16 112 def Melbourne 12 10 82 Skilled Stadium crowd 23 569 Report Sunday 6 April Richmond 11 12 78 def by Collingwood 18 14 122 MCG crowd 70 802 Report Sunday 6 April Adelaide 12 13 85 def Port Adelaide 11 13 79 AAMI Stadium crowd 45 524 Report Round 4 edit Round 4 Friday 11 April Essendon 14 14 98 def by Western Bulldogs 19 14 128 Telstra Dome crowd 47 641 Report Saturday 12 April St Kilda 13 16 94 def by Geelong 21 10 136 Telstra Dome crowd 44 368 Report Saturday 12 April North Melbourne 18 19 127 def Melbourne 11 13 79 MCG crowd 23 427 Moved from Gold Coast Stadium Report Saturday 12 April Sydney 16 11 107 def West Coast 5 15 45 ANZ Stadium crowd 44 235 Report Saturday 12 April Port Adelaide 16 8 104 def by Brisbane Lions 18 16 124 AAMI Stadium crowd 25 205 Report dead link Sunday 13 April Hawthorn 17 12 114 def Adelaide 10 10 70 Aurora Stadium crowd 15 124 Report Sunday 13 April Carlton 17 9 111 def Collingwood 13 10 88 MCG crowd 77 873 Report Sunday 13 April Fremantle 10 13 73 def by Richmond 20 17 137 Subiaco Oval crowd 37 541 Report The match between North Melbourne and Melbourne was originally fixtured to be played at Gold Coast Stadium however due to North Melbourne s refusal to relocate north to the Gold Coast the match was moved to the Melbourne Cricket Ground 1 Round 5 edit Round 5 Friday 18 April St Kilda 18 15 123 def Essendon 14 3 87 Telstra Dome crowd 46 792 Report Saturday 19 April Geelong 16 18 114 def Sydney 10 12 72 Skilled Stadium crowd 24 368 Report Saturday 19 April Adelaide 12 16 88 def Fremantle 10 11 71 AAMI Stadium crowd 39 554 Report Saturday 19 April Brisbane Lions 17 16 118 def by Hawthorn 19 16 130 The Gabba crowd 30 019 Report Saturday 19 April Collingwood 15 15 105 def by North Melbourne 16 16 112 MCG crowd 51 990 Report Sunday 20 April Melbourne 9 14 68 def by Carlton 15 11 101 MCG crowd 44 759 Report Sunday 20 April Western Bulldogs 19 16 130 drew with Richmond 20 10 130 Telstra Dome crowd 37 767 Report Sunday 20 April West Coast 16 8 104 def by Port Adelaide 19 14 128 Subiaco Oval crowd 38 302 Report Round 6 edit Round 6 ANZAC Round Friday 25 April Collingwood 23 16 154 def Essendon 12 9 81 MCG crowd 88 999 Report Friday 25 April Fremantle 13 10 88 def by Geelong 13 11 89 Subiaco Oval crowd 38 022 Report dead link Saturday 26 April Carlton 11 15 81 def by Adelaide 16 15 111 MCG crowd 41 033 Report Saturday 26 April Western Bulldogs 20 14 134 def West Coast 11 8 74 Telstra Dome crowd 29 927 Report Saturday 26 April Port Adelaide 12 10 82 def St Kilda 9 7 61 AAMI Stadium crowd 20 517 Report Sunday 27 April Brisbane Lions 19 23 137 def Melbourne 13 7 85 The Gabba crowd 22 878 Report Sunday 27 April North Melbourne 9 10 64 drew with Sydney 8 16 64 Telstra Dome crowd 28 392 Report Sunday 27 April Hawthorn 14 22 106 def Richmond 15 4 94 MCG crowd 46 076 Report Round 7 edit Round 7 Friday 2 May West Coast 10 14 74 def by Carlton 17 9 111 Subiaco Oval crowd 41 254 Report dead link Saturday 3 May Geelong 15 15 105 def Brisbane Lions 11 12 78 Skilled Stadium crowd 23 388 Report Saturday 3 May Hawthorn 24 10 154 def Collingwood 13 11 89 MCG crowd 76 048 Report Saturday 3 May Richmond 16 11 107 def by St Kilda 17 8 110 Telstra Dome crowd 40 585 Report dead link Saturday 3 May Adelaide 15 17 107 def North Melbourne 11 8 74 AAMI Stadium crowd 41 898 Report Sunday 4 May Sydney 14 10 94 def by Western Bulldogs 18 4 112 SCG crowd 29 018 Report Sunday 4 May Melbourne 17 17 119 def Fremantle 15 23 113 MCG crowd 19 423 Report Sunday 4 May Essendon 15 4 94 def by Port Adelaide 24 14 158 Telstra Dome crowd 28 409 Report AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match edit Main article AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match Saturday 10 May Victoria 21 11 137 def Dream Team 18 12 120 MCG crowd 69 294 Report Round 8 edit Round 8 Friday 16 May St Kilda 14 10 94 def by Collingwood 16 7 103 Telstra Dome crowd 48 417 Report Saturday 17 May Hawthorn 17 15 117 def Port Adelaide 15 12 102 Aurora Stadium crowd 15 682 Report Saturday 17 May Richmond 10 9 69 def by Geelong 14 15 99 MCG crowd 37 275 Report Saturday 17 May Carlton 12 20 92 def by Brisbane Lions 18 17 125 Telstra Dome crowd 38 675 Report Saturday 17 May North Melbourne 13 11 89 def West Coast 12 11 83 Gold Coast Stadium crowd 6 354 Report Sunday 18 May Adelaide 22 18 150 def Melbourne 11 8 74 AAMI Stadium crowd 35 649 Report Sunday 18 May Sydney 21 17 143 def Essendon 7 10 52 ANZ Stadium crowd 34 904 Report Sunday 18 May Fremantle 17 9 111 def by Western Bulldogs 17 12 114 Subiaco Oval crowd 35 624 Report Round 9 edit Round 9 Indigenous Round Friday 23 May Collingwood 20 14 134 def Geelong 7 6 48 MCG crowd 78 206 Report Saturday 24 May Carlton 14 13 97 def Fremantle 14 4 88 Telstra Dome crowd 28 955 Report Saturday 24 May Port Adelaide 14 10 94 def by Sydney 16 9 105 AAMI Stadium crowd 25 013 Report Saturday 24 May Essendon 10 12 72 def by Richmond 16 14 110 MCG crowd 60 333 Report Saturday 24 May West Coast 14 13 97 def Adelaide 5 17 47 Subiaco Oval crowd 35 348 Report Sunday 25 May Brisbane Lions 21 15 141 def St Kilda 14 11 95 The Gabba crowd 27 566 Report Sunday 25 May Melbourne 12 6 78 def by Hawthorn 14 13 97 MCG crowd 41 341 Report Sunday 25 May Western Bulldogs 16 14 110 def by North Melbourne 16 17 113 Telstra Dome crowd 35 471 Report Round 10 edit Round 10 Friday 30 May Adelaide 9 20 74 def Essendon 10 9 69 AAMI Stadium crowd 41 897 Report Saturday 31 May Collingwood 27 11 173 def West Coast 10 13 73 MCG crowd 52 968 Report dead link Saturday 31 May Hawthorn 12 2 74 def by Western Bulldogs 15 16 106 Aurora Stadium crowd 19 378 Report Saturday 31 May Brisbane Lions 18 21 129 def North Melbourne 15 8 98 The Gabba crowd 22 118 Report Saturday 31 May Geelong 19 19 133 def Carlton 12 5 77 Telstra Dome crowd 46 231 Report Sunday 1 June Sydney 21 13 139 def Richmond 8 9 57 SCG crowd 26 852 Report Sunday 1 June St Kilda 19 15 129 def Melbourne 7 8 50 Telstra Dome crowd 27 854 Report Sunday 1 June Fremantle 10 15 75 def by Port Adelaide 16 7 103 Subiaco Oval crowd 34 236 Report Round 11 edit Round 11 Queens Birthday Friday 6 June North Melbourne 17 12 114 def by Geelong 19 13 127 Telstra Dome crowd 38 373 Report Saturday 7 June Richmond 14 12 96 def by Adelaide 22 14 146 MCG crowd 32 767 Report Saturday 7 June Essendon 12 7 79 def by Hawthorn 19 16 130 Telstra Dome crowd 46 377 Report Saturday 7 June West Coast 11 12 78 def by Sydney 12 11 83 Subiaco Oval crowd 38 802 Report Sunday 8 June Brisbane Lions 14 12 96 def Fremantle 10 14 74 The Gabba crowd 24 506 Report Sunday 8 June St Kilda 11 13 79 def by Western Bulldogs 15 16 106 Telstra Dome crowd 38 914 Report Sunday 8 June Port Adelaide 8 15 63 def by Carlton 10 15 75 AAMI Stadium crowd 29 240 Report Monday 9 June Melbourne 13 17 95 def by Collingwood 17 14 116 MCG crowd 59 548 Report Round 12 edit Round 12 Friday 13 June Essendon 16 17 113 def West Coast 13 13 91 Telstra Dome crowd 33 386 Report Saturday 14 June Western Bulldogs 19 17 131 def Brisbane Lions 10 8 68 MCG crowd 39 320 Report Saturday 14 June Fremantle 18 12 120 def North Melbourne 9 13 67 Subiaco Oval crowd 34 105 Report Saturday 14 June Sydney 14 18 102 def St Kilda 9 13 67 SCG crowd 25 996 Report Saturday 14 June Adelaide 10 12 72 def by Hawthorn 11 10 76 AAMI Stadium crowd 44 559 Report dead link Sunday 15 June Geelong 15 18 108 def Port Adelaide 7 7 49 Skilled Stadium crowd 21 642 Report Sunday 15 June Collingwood 12 17 89 def by Carlton 17 17 119 MCG crowd 80 310 Report Sunday 15 June Richmond 16 20 116 def Melbourne 14 10 94 Telstra Dome crowd 27 348 Report Round 13 edit Round 13 Friday 20 June St Kilda 10 5 65 def Fremantle 8 9 57 Telstra Dome crowd 22 440 Report Saturday 21 June Hawthorn 10 16 76 def by North Melbourne 15 13 103 MCG crowd 42 508 Report Saturday 21 June Port Adelaide 19 9 123 def by Richmond 20 7 127 AAMI Stadium crowd 20 923 Report Saturday 21 June Brisbane Lions 11 17 83 def Adelaide 10 10 70 The Gabba crowd 29 964 Report Saturday 21 June West Coast 5 17 47 def by Geelong 28 14 182 Subiaco Oval crowd 38 414 Report Sunday 22 June Melbourne 11 8 74 def by Sydney 17 12 114 Manuka Oval crowd 11 437 Report Sunday 22 June Carlton 15 11 101 def by Essendon 20 16 136 MCG crowd 59 177 Report Sunday 22 June Collingwood 13 11 89 def by Western Bulldogs 15 9 99 Telstra Dome crowd 44 885 Report Round 14 edit Round 14 Split Round Friday 27 June Hawthorn 18 18 126 def West Coast 9 15 69 MCG crowd 29 138 Report Saturday 28 June Richmond 12 16 88 def by Carlton 17 16 118 MCG crowd 73 503 Report Saturday 28 June North Melbourne 9 15 69 def by St Kilda 12 12 84 Gold Coast Stadium crowd 9 128 Report Saturday 28 June Western Bulldogs 20 15 135 def Port Adelaide 11 15 81 TIO Stadium crowd 11 373 Report Sunday 29 June Melbourne 14 9 93 def Brisbane Lions 13 14 92 MCG crowd 23 278 Report Sunday 29 June Fremantle 13 13 91 def by Essendon 14 11 95 Subiaco Oval crowd 34 239 Report Friday 4 July Adelaide 8 8 56 def by Geelong 18 16 124 AAMI Stadium crowd 44 377 Report dead link Saturday 5 July Sydney 6 14 50 def by Collingwood 11 13 79 ANZ Stadium crowd 59 202 Report Round 15 edit Round 15 Friday 11 July Carlton 12 15 87 def by St Kilda 18 11 119 MCG crowd 55 658 Report Saturday 12 July Collingwood 15 16 106 def Adelaide 11 8 74 MCG crowd 52 592 Report Saturday 12 July Geelong 18 10 118 def Fremantle 6 8 44 Skilled Stadium crowd 21 286 Report Saturday 12 July Essendon 24 11 155 def Brisbane Lions 18 10 118 Telstra Dome crowd 40 053 Report Saturday 12 July Port Adelaide 10 14 74 def by North Melbourne 10 16 76 AAMI Stadium crowd 19 851 Report Sunday 13 July Hawthorn 15 16 106 def Sydney 10 15 75 MCG crowd 49 529 Report Sunday 13 July Western Bulldogs 14 11 95 def Melbourne 9 10 64 Telstra Dome crowd 27 446 Report Sunday 13 July West Coast 11 9 75 def by Richmond 24 8 152 Subiaco Oval crowd 37 085 Report Round 16 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Ground Crowd Date Report North Melbourne 17 12 114 Collingwood 14 12 96 Telstra Dome 46 610 Friday 18 July AFL com au Geelong 19 17 131 Western Bulldogs 10 10 70 Skilled Stadium 24 801 Saturday 19 July AFL com au Richmond 16 12 108 Essendon 15 14 104 MCG 56 746 Saturday 19 July AFL com au Brisbane Lions 17 11 113 West Coast 9 13 67 The Gabba 27 784 Saturday 19 July AFL com au St Kilda 18 11 119 Hawthorn 13 11 89 Telstra Dome 41 886 Saturday 19 July AFL com au Carlton 18 11 119 Sydney 18 13 121 Telstra Dome 38 401 Sunday 20 July AFL com au Port Adelaide 13 14 92 Adelaide 11 14 80 AAMI Stadium 31 662 Sunday 20 July AFL com au Fremantle 16 18 114 Melbourne 10 8 68 Subiaco 31 638 Sunday 20 July AFL com au Round 17 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Ground Crowd Date Report Hawthorn 11 11 77 Geelong 12 16 88 MCG 86 179 Friday 25 July AFL com au Essendon 19 14 128 Collingwood 11 14 80 MCG 64 785 Saturday 26 July AFL com au West Coast 15 13 103 St Kilda 12 14 86 Subiaco 34 037 Saturday 26 July AFL com au Richmond 18 9 117 Brisbane Lions 16 18 114 Telstra Dome 31 275 Saturday 26 July AFL com au Sydney 6 17 53 Adelaide 11 11 77 SCG 26 260 Saturday 26 July AFL com au Port Adelaide 15 11 101 Fremantle 20 9 129 AAMI Stadium 19 072 Sunday 27 July AFL com au Melbourne 10 10 70 North Melbourne 14 14 98 MCG 21 330 Sunday 27 July AFL com au Western Bulldogs 15 8 98 Carlton 18 18 126 Telstra Dome 37 879 Sunday 27 July AFL com au Round 18 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Ground Crowd Date Report Collingwood 8 14 62 Hawthorn 17 14 116 MCG 58 307 Friday 1 August AFL com au Essendon 19 10 124 Melbourne 17 6 108 MCG 46 334 Saturday 2 August AFL com au Adelaide 13 16 94 Carlton 12 14 86 AAMI Stadium 40 730 Saturday 2 August AFL com au Geelong 20 14 134 Richmond 10 11 71 Telstra Dome 42 238 Saturday 2 August AFL com au North Melbourne 13 14 92 Brisbane Lions 11 18 84 Gold Coast Stadium 10 037 Saturday 2 August AFL com au Western Bulldogs 17 11 113 Sydney 14 13 97 Manuka Oval 13 550 Sunday 3 August AFL com au St Kilda 14 17 101 Port Adelaide 14 9 93 Telstra Dome 22 878 Sunday 3 August AFL com au Fremantle 17 14 116 West Coast 12 11 83 Subiaco 42 096 Sunday 3 August AFL com au Round 19 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Ground Crowd Date Report Melbourne 5 11 41 Geelong 24 13 157 MCG 34 610 Friday 8 August AFL com au dead link Carlton 18 24 132 Port Adelaide 9 12 66 Telstra Dome 29 696 Saturday 9 August AFL com au Hawthorn 16 14 110 Brisbane Lions 5 11 41 Aurora Stadium 19 929 Saturday 9 August AFL com au Collingwood 14 13 97 St Kilda 12 11 83 MCG 52 135 Saturday 9 August AFL com au Sydney 17 10 112 Fremantle 15 18 108 SCG 20 846 Saturday 9 August AFL com au North Melbourne 21 10 136 Western Bulldogs 18 8 116 Telstra Dome 31 957 Sunday 10 August AFL com au Adelaide 16 12 108 Richmond 6 9 45 AAMI Stadium 37 562 Sunday 10 August AFL com au West Coast 17 11 113 Essendon 16 7 103 Subiaco 35 288 Sunday 10 August AFL com au Round 20 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Ground Crowd Date Report Port Adelaide 10 15 75 Collingwood 16 10 106 AAMI Stadium 23 694 Friday 15 August AFL com au dead link Essendon 10 13 73 Adelaide 19 15 129 Telstra Dome 32 184 Saturday 16 August AFL com au Melbourne 11 13 79 West Coast 5 15 45 MCG 17 958 Saturday 16 August AFL com au Brisbane Lions 13 12 90 Western Bulldogs 10 19 79 The Gabba 27 315 Saturday 16 August AFL com au dead link Sydney 14 10 94 Geelong 20 13 133 ANZ Stadium 44 955 Saturday 16 August AFL com au Richmond 16 9 105 Hawthorn 10 16 76 MCG 44 523 Sunday 17 August AFL com au Carlton 14 6 90 North Melbourne 22 9 141 Telstra Dome 43 406 Sunday 17 August AFL com au Fremantle 9 15 69 St Kilda 17 10 112 Subiaco 34 014 Sunday 17 August AFL com au Round 21 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Ground Crowd Date Report Western Bulldogs 23 13 151 Essendon 15 15 105 Telstra Dome 37 294 Friday 22 August AFL com au Richmond 15 15 105 Fremantle 15 8 98 MCG 24 881 Saturday 23 August AFL com au Port Adelaide 18 21 129 Melbourne 7 9 51 AAMI Stadium 18 875 Saturday 23 August AFL com au Brisbane Lions 16 13 109 Carlton 18 7 115 The Gabba 34 327 Saturday 23 August AFL com au Collingwood 18 10 118 Sydney 10 13 73 Telstra Dome 45 507 Saturday 23 August AFL com au Geelong 17 13 115 North Melbourne 13 4 82 Skilled Stadium 24 288 Sunday 24 August AFL com au St Kilda 13 17 95 Adelaide 6 11 47 Telstra Dome 33 811 Sunday 24 August AFL com au West Coast 9 8 62 Hawthorn 19 19 133 Subiaco 37 040 Sunday 24 August AFL com au Round 22 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Ground Crowd Date Report Fremantle 12 8 80 Collingwood 8 8 56 Subiaco 35 106 Friday 29 August AFL com au North Melbourne 10 12 72 Port Adelaide 23 10 148 MCG 22 144 Saturday 30 August AFL com au Geelong 24 20 164 West Coast 10 5 65 Skilled Stadium 21 752 Saturday 30 August AFL com au Adelaide 10 16 76 Western Bulldogs 9 13 67 AAMI Stadium 37 545 Saturday 30 August AFL com au Carlton 12 9 81 Hawthorn 24 15 159 Telstra Dome 49 057 Saturday 30 August AFL com au Sydney 17 12 114 Brisbane Lions 6 17 53 SCG 24 076 Saturday 30 August AFL com au Melbourne 6 5 41 Richmond 18 13 121 MCG 37 046 Sunday 31 August AFL com au Essendon 5 9 39 St Kilda 21 21 147 Telstra Dome 46 161 Sunday 31 August AFL com auWin loss table editTeam 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 F1 F2 F3 GF Ladder Adelaide WB 3 WCE 76 PA 6 Haw 44 Frem 17 Carl 30 NM 33 Melb 76 WCE 50 Ess 5 Rich 50 Haw 4 BL 13 Geel 68 Coll 32 PA 12 Syd 24 Carl 8 Rich 63 Ess 56 StK 48 WB 9 Coll 31 X X X 5 Brisbane Lions WCE 16 Coll 2 Syd 17 PA 20 Haw 12 Melb 52 Geel 27 Carl 33 StK 46 NM 31 Frem 22 WB 63 Adel 13 Melb 1 Ess 37 WCE 46 Rich 3 NM 8 Haw 69 WB 11 Carl 6 Syd 61 X X X X 10 Carlton Rich 20 StK 40 Ess 16 Coll 23 Melb 33 Adel 30 WCE 37 BL 33 Frem 9 Geel 56 PA 12 Coll 30 Ess 35 Rich 30 StK 32 Syd 2 WB 28 Adel 8 PA 66 NM 51 BL 6 Haw 78 X X X X 11 Collingwood Frem 26 BL 2 Rich 44 Carl 23 NM 7 Ess 73 Haw 65 StK 9 Geel 86 WCE 100 Melb 21 Carl 30 WB 10 Syd 29 Adel 32 NM 18 Ess 48 Haw 54 StK 14 PA 31 Syd 45 Frem 24 Adel 31 StK 34 X X 8 Essendon NM 55 Geel 99 Carl 16 WB 30 StK 36 Coll 73 PA 64 Syd 91 Rich 38 Adel 5 Haw 51 WCE 22 Carl 35 Frem 4 BL 37 Rich 4 Coll 48 Melb 16 WCE 10 Adel 56 WB 46 StK 108 X X X X 12 Fremantle Coll 26 Haw 15 WCE 14 Rich 64 Adel 17 Geel 1 Melb 6 WB 3 Carl 9 PA 28 BL 24 NM 53 StK 8 Ess 4 Geel 74 Melb 46 PA 28 WCE 33 Syd 4 StK 43 Rich 7 Coll 24 X X X X 14 Geelong PA 9 Ess 99 Melb 30 StK 42 Syd 42 Frem 1 BL 27 Rich 30 Coll 86 Carl 56 NM 13 PA 59 WCE 135 Adel 68 Frem 74 WB 61 Haw 11 Rich 63 Melb 116 Syd 39 NM 33 WCE 99 StK 58 X WB 29 Haw 26 1 Hawthorn Melb 104 Frem 15 NM 16 Adel 44 BL 12 Rich 12 Coll 65 PA 15 Melb 19 WB 32 Ess 51 Adel 4 NM 27 WCE 57 Syd 31 StK 30 Geel 11 Coll 54 BL 69 Rich 29 WCE 71 Carl 78 WB 51 X StK 54 Geel 26 2 Melbourne Haw 104 WB 95 Geel 30 NM 48 Carl 33 BL 53 Frem 6 Adel 76 Haw 19 StK 79 Coll 21 Rich 22 Syd 40 BL 1 WB 31 Frem 46 NM 28 Ess 16 Geel 116 WCE 34 PA 78 Rich 80 X X X X 16 North Melbourne Ess 55 Rich 41 Haw 16 Melb 48 Coll 7 Syd 0 Adel 33 WCE 6 WB 3 BL 31 Geel 13 Frem 53 Haw 27 StK 15 PA 2 Coll 18 Melb 28 BL 8 WB 20 Carl 51 Geel 33 PA 76 Syd 35 X X X 7 Port Adelaide Geel 9 Syd 68 Adel 6 BL 20 WCE 24 StK 21 Ess 64 Haw 15 Syd 11 Frem 28 Carl 12 Geel 59 Rich 4 WB 54 NM 2 Adel 12 Frem 28 StK 8 Carl 66 Coll 31 Melb 78 NM 76 X X X X 13 Richmond Carl 30 NM 41 Coll 44 Frem 64 WB 0 Haw 12 StK 3 Geel 30 Ess 38 Syd 82 Adel 50 Melb 22 PA 4 Carl 30 WCE 77 Ess 4 BL 3 Geel 63 Adel 63 Haw 29 Frem 7 Melb 80 X X X X 9 St Kilda Syd 2 Carl 40 WB 38 Geel 42 Ess 36 PA 21 Rich 3 Coll 9 BL 46 Melb 79 WB 27 Syd 35 Frem 8 NM 15 Carl 32 Haw 30 WCE 17 PA 8 Coll 14 Frem 43 Adel 48 Ess 108 Geel 58 Coll 34 Haw 54 X 4 Sydney StK 2 PA 68 BL 17 WCE 62 Geel 42 NM 0 WB 18 Ess 91 PA 11 Rich 82 WCE 5 StK 35 Melb 40 Coll 29 Haw 31 Carl 2 Adel 24 WB 16 Frem 4 Geel 39 Coll 45 BL 61 NM 35 WB 37 X X 6 West Coast BL 16 Adel 76 Frem 14 Syd 62 PA 24 WB 60 Carl 37 NM 6 Adel 50 Coll 100 Syd 5 Ess 22 Geel 135 Haw 57 Rich 77 BL 46 StK 17 Frem 33 Ess 10 Melb 34 Haw 71 Geel 99 X X X X 15 Western Bulldogs Adel 3 Melb 95 StK 38 Ess 30 Rich 0 WCE 60 Syd 18 Frem 3 NM 3 Haw 32 StK 27 BL 63 Coll 10 PA 54 Melb 31 Geel 61 Carl 28 Syd 16 NM 20 BL 11 Ess 46 Adel 9 Haw 51 Syd 37 Geel 29 X 3 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 F1 F2 F3 GF Ladder Win Qualified for finals Loss X Bye Draw Eliminated Bold Home gameLadder edit2008 AFL ladder Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts 1 Geelong 22 21 1 0 2672 1651 161 8 84 Finals series 2 Hawthorn P 22 17 5 0 2434 1846 131 9 68 3 Western Bulldogs 22 15 6 1 2506 2112 118 7 62 4 St Kilda 22 13 9 0 2126 1923 110 6 52 5 Adelaide 22 13 9 0 2017 1838 109 7 52 6 Sydney 22 12 9 1 2095 1863 112 5 50 7 North Melbourne 22 12 9 1 2121 2187 97 0 50 8 Collingwood 22 12 10 0 2267 2038 111 2 48 9 Richmond 22 11 10 1 2228 2288 97 4 46 10 Brisbane 22 10 12 0 2156 2200 98 0 40 11 Carlton 22 10 12 0 2217 2354 94 2 40 12 Essendon 22 8 14 0 2130 2608 81 7 32 13 Port Adelaide 22 7 15 0 2118 2208 95 9 28 14 Fremantle 22 6 16 0 1988 2121 93 7 24 15 West Coast 22 4 18 0 1670 2535 65 9 16 16 Melbourne 22 3 19 0 1629 2602 62 6 12Source AFL ladderRules for classification 1 points 2 percentage 3 number of points for P Premiers Ladder progression edit 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 Round12345678910111213141516171819202122Geelong481216202428323236404448525660646872768084Hawthorn481216202428323636404444485252525660606468Western Bulldogs481216182226303034384246505454545858586262St Kilda4888121216161620202024283236364040444852Adelaide0488121620242428323232323232364044484852Sydney04812121414182226303438383842424246464650North Melbourne0448121414182222222226263034384246505050Collingwood448881212162024282828323636363640444848Richmond4448101010101414141822222630343434384246Brisbane Lions044881212162024282832323236363636404040Carlton00048812121616202424282828323236364040Essendon448888888881216202424283232323232Port Adelaide00004812121216161616161620202020202428Fremantle00444444444888812162020202024West Coast4444444488888888121216161616Melbourne0000004444444888888121212Source citation needed Finals series editMain article 2008 AFL finals series Qualifying and elimination finalsSemi finalsPreliminary finalsGrand FinalSep 7 MCG1Geelong17 17 119 4St Kilda8 13 61 Sep 13 MCGSt Kilda17 4 106 Sep 6 AAMI StadiumCollingwood9 18 72 Sep 19 MCG5Adelaide14 10 94 Geelong12 11 83 8Collingwood19 11 125 Western Bulldogs7 12 54 Sep 27 MCGGeelong11 23 89 Sep 6 ANZ StadiumSep 20 MCGHawthorn18 7 115 6Sydney17 8 110 Hawthorn18 10 118 7North Melbourne11 9 75 Sep 12 MCGSt Kilda9 10 64 Western Bulldogs16 10 106 Sep 5 MCGSydney9 15 69 2Hawthorn18 19 127 3Western Bulldogs11 10 76 Week one edit Qualifying finals QF2 Friday 5 September Hawthorn 18 19 127 def Western Bulldogs 11 10 76 MCG crowd 76 703 QF1 Sunday 7 September Geelong 17 17 119 def St Kilda 8 13 61 MCG crowd 71 653 Elimination finals EF1 Saturday 6 September Adelaide 14 10 94 def by Collingwood 19 11 125 AAMI Stadium crowd 37 685 EF2 Saturday 6 September Sydney 17 8 110 def North Melbourne 11 9 75 ANZ Stadium crowd 19 127 Week two edit Semi finals SF2 Friday 12 September Seven Network Western Bulldogs 16 10 106 def Sydney 9 15 69 MCG crowd 42 731 SF1 Saturday 13 September Network Ten St Kilda 17 4 106 def Collingwood 9 18 72 MCG crowd 76 707 Week three edit Preliminary finals PF1 Friday 19 September Seven Network Geelong 12 11 83 def Western Bulldogs 7 12 54 MCG crowd 70 143 PF2 Saturday 20 September Network Ten Hawthorn 18 10 118 def St Kilda 9 10 64 MCG crowd 77 002 Week four edit Main article 2008 AFL Grand Final Grand Final GF Saturday 27 September Seven Network Geelong 11 23 89 def by Hawthorn 18 7 115 MCG crowd 100 012 Statistics editLeading goalkickers edit updated after grand final The Coleman Medal was awarded to Lance Franklin for kicking the most goals at the end of the home and away season Player Club Games Goals Best Performance Season Finals Total Goals Opponent s Round s 1 Lance Franklin Hawthorn 25 102 11 113 9 Essendon 11 2 Brendan Fevola Carlton 22 99 99 8 Essendon Collingwood 3 11 3 Daniel Bradshaw Brisbane Lions 20 75 75 7 Hawthorn 5 4 Jarryd Roughead Hawthorn 24 66 9 75 6 Collingwood West Coast 7 14 5 Jonathan Brown Brisbane Lions 21 70 70 6 Carlton St Kilda North Melbourne 8 9 10 6 Matthew Pavlich Fremantle 19 67 67 8 North Melbourne 12 7 Nick Riewoldt St Kilda 24 56 9 65 6 Hawthorn 16 8 Matthew Lloyd Essendon 21 62 62 8 Melbourne 18 9 Stephen Milne St Kilda 24 54 6 60 7 Richmond Essendon 7 22 10 Daniel Motlop Port Adelaide 21 57 57 7 Essendon 7 Disposals edit Rank Player Team Total 1 Joel Corey Geelong 730 2 Jimmy Bartel Geelong 702 3 Sam Mitchell Hawthorn 667 4 Daniel Cross Western Bulldogs 663 5 Adam Cooney Western Bulldogs 637 6 Matthew Boyd Western Bulldogs 629 7 Kane Cornes Port Adelaide 613 8 Joel Selwood Geelong 607 9 Gary Ablett Jr Geelong 606 10 Dane Swan Collingwood 590 Kicks edit Rank Player Team Total 1 Leigh Montagna St Kilda 388 2 Jimmy Bartel Geelong 382 3 Dane Swan Collingwood 368 4 Sam Fisher St Kilda 359 5 Lindsay Gilbee Western Bulldogs 352 6 Brent Harvey North Melbourne 339 7 Joel Corey Geelong 339 7 Brendon Goddard St Kilda 337 9 Nick Dal Santo St Kilda 336 10 Marc Murphy Carlton 335 Handballs edit Rank Player Team Total 1 Daniel Cross Western Bulldogs 422 2 Joel Corey Geelong 391 3 Sam Mitchell Hawthorn 354 4 Kane Cornes Port Adelaide 345 5 Adam Cooney Western Bulldogs 326 6 Joel Selwood Geelong 324 7 Lenny Hayes St Kilda 322 8 Jimmy Bartel Geelong 320 9 Shane Tuck Richmond 318 10 Gary Ablett Jr Geelong 318 Marks edit Rank Player Team Total 1 Nick Riewoldt St Kilda 240 2 Samuel Fisher St Kilda 228 3 Matthew Richardson Richmond 220 4 Robert Murphy Western Bulldogs 204 5 Cameron Mooney Geelong 201 6 Brendon Goddard St Kilda 182 7 Paul Medhurst Collingwood 179 8 Brian Lake Western Bulldogs 175 9 Brad Johnson Western Bulldogs 172 10 Clinton Young Hawthorn 172 Tackles edit Rank Player Team Total 1 Brett Kirk Sydney 151 2 Lenny Hayes St Kilda 144 3 Jude Bolton Sydney 143 4 Joel Corey Geelong 138 5 Domenic Cassisi Port Adelaide 133 6 Jimmy Bartel Geelong 124 7 Daniel Cross Western Bulldogs 117 8 Martin Mattner Sydney 126 9 James Kelly Geelong 112 10 Daniel Harris North Melbourne 109 Hitouts edit Rank Player Team Total 1 Aaron Sandilands Fremantle 646 2 Dean Cox West Coast 571 3 Darren Jolly Sydney 543 4 Mark Blake Geelong 525 5 Jamie Charman Brisbane Lions 434 6 Steven King St Kilda 408 7 Dean Brogan Port Adelaide 397 8 David Hille Essendon 364 9 Troy Simmonds Richmond 359 10 Robert Campbell Hawthorn 358Awards editThe 2008 Brownlow Medal for the AFL s fairest and best player was awarded to Adam Cooney of the Western Bulldogs who polled 24 votes The Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFL s most valuable player was awarded to Gary Ablett Jr of Geelong The Coleman Medal was awarded to Lance Franklin of Hawthorn who kicked 102 goals during the home and away season The Norm Smith Medal as the player adjudged best afield in the AFL Grand Final was awarded to Luke Hodge of Hawthorn The McClelland Trophy was awarded to Geelong for holding top position on the ladder after 22 rounds 2 The Wooden Spoon was obtained by Melbourne who finished the season in last place on the ladder after 22 rounds Chris Judd from Carlton was named the captain of the 2008 All Australian Team with seven Geelong players named and nine players made their All Australian debuts 3 The AFL Mark of the Year and Alex Jesaulenko Medal was awarded to Matthew Lloyd of Essendon for a spectacular high mark against Melbourne in round 19 4 The AFL Goal of the Year and Phil Manassa Medal was awarded to Leon Davis of Collingwood for his chase tackle and goal against Fremantle in round 22 4 The AFL Army Award was awarded to Brett Deledio for the footballer who displays the most courageous and or team related act of the season for running with the flight of the ball to attempt a mark in the final minutes of Richmond s round 7 loss to St Kilda 5 Coleman Medal edit Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the count in that round 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 Lance Franklin 6 4 5 6 8 1 6 6 3 5 9 1 1 5 4 3 4 8 6 3 4 4 102 2 Brendan Fevola 2 2 8 7 7 1 4 5 1 3 2 8 7 4 3 5 6 5 4 6 2 7 99 3 Daniel Bradshaw 3 3 5 5 7 6 1 1 6 6 0 4 4 4 3 5 2 2 6 2 75 4 Jonathan Brown 6 2 1 4 0 2 6 6 6 3 3 2 5 5 3 3 5 1 3 4 0 70 5 Matthew Pavlich 1 3 5 3 0 5 5 4 4 1 3 8 5 6 1 5 4 1 3 67 6 Jarryd Roughead 3 4 4 1 1 5 6 3 1 4 3 3 2 6 3 3 2 4 1 0 2 5 66 7 Matthew Lloyd 6 0 4 0 3 5 1 4 1 2 2 4 1 4 2 4 8 3 3 4 1 62 8 Daniel Motlop 2 2 2 0 4 3 7 2 2 5 1 3 6 0 1 4 2 2 1 5 3 57 9 Nick Riewoldt 2 2 2 3 3 3 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 3 6 5 3 2 5 3 4 56 10 Stephen Milne 1 4 2 2 2 0 7 2 2 3 1 1 4 5 1 2 1 2 3 2 7 54 Rising Star Nominees edit Main article 2008 AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star award for 2008 was awarded to Rhys Palmer from Fremantle 6 Club Best and Fairests edit Club Award Name Winner 7 Adelaide Malcolm Blight Medal Nathan Bock Brisbane Lions Merrett Murray Medal Jonathan Brown 8 Carlton John Nicholls Medal Chris Judd Collingwood Copeland Trophy Dane Swan Essendon Crichton Medal David Hille Fremantle Doig Medal Matthew Pavlich 9 Geelong Carji Greeves Medal Joel Corey Hawthorn Peter Crimmins Medal Lance Franklin 10 Melbourne Keith Bluey Truscott Medal Cameron Bruce North Melbourne Syd Barker Medal Brent Harvey Port Adelaide John Cahill Medal Kane Cornes Richmond Jack Dyer Medal Brett Deledio St Kilda Trevor Barker Award Sam Fisher 11 Sydney Bob Skilton Medal Jarrad McVeigh West Coast Club Champion Award Dean Cox Western Bulldogs Charles Sutton Medal Daniel CrossNotable events editThis was the first season in which Carlton and Richmond faced off in what is now the traditional first clash of the season This was the first season since 1998 in which NMFC competed as North Melbourne instead of Kangaroos following the end of their decade long experiment with home away from home venues in Sydney Canberra and the Gold Coast The Western Bulldogs came back from a 37 point deficit against St Kilda at quarter time to win the game by 38 points a 75 point turnaround in round 3 The Brisbane Lions produced its biggest ever comeback in round 4 against Port Adelaide when they were down by 47 points late in the third quarter to win by 20 points a 67 point turnaround Sydney forward Barry Hall was suspended for seven weeks then the equal longest suspension handed out since the tribunal was reconfigured to a points based system in 2005 for striking West Coast defender Brent Staker with a clean punch to the head Later in the season Fremantle s Dean Solomon beat that record being suspended for eight weeks after hitting Geelong s Cameron Ling in the cheekbone with an elbow Melbourne won its first game for the season in round 7 against Fremantle by six points after recovering from a 50 point half time deficit the second largest half time deficit ever overcome in VFL AFL history 12 This was the second in a VFL AFL record string of five consecutive games which Fremantle lost after holding a three quarter time lead West Coast suffered its worst ever loss at Subiaco Oval and worst loss anywhere since 1989 in round 13 losing to Geelong by 135 points In round 13 Dustin Fletcher in his 288th game and his father Ken 264 games claimed the record of most VFL AFL games played by a father son combination 552 games In round 16 Richmond player Joel Bowden deliberately conceded two behinds directly from the kick in to waste time while protecting his team s four point lead over Essendon This was a major motivation for the introduction of a rule from 2009 that allows the umpire to give award free kick for a deliberate rushed behind With its final round victory Geelong matched Essendon s 2000 record of 21 wins in a home and away season Ironically Geelong also set the record for the highest average losing margin in a VFL AFL season with its only loss coming by 86 points against Collingwood In the round 22 match between Carlton and Hawthorn Hawthorn forward Lance Franklin became the first player since Tony Lockett in 1998 to kick 100 goals in the home and away Season Franklin became the 28th player in VFL AFL history to reach this milestone and the first indigenous player to do so In the same game Brendan Fevola scored seven second half goals to fall one goal short of the same milestone becoming the first person in VFL AFL history to finish on 99 goals for a season The final game of the home and away season saw the 8th placed St Kilda requiring a win of 90 points over Essendon to claim 4th place going into the finals St Kilda recorded a then record winning margin over Essendon of 108 points which saw the Saints replace Adelaide in 4th place for the finals series On Monday 1 September Leigh Matthews announced his resignation from his senior coaching position at the Brisbane Lions Michael Voss took up this position despite committing to West Coast for 2009 The second elimination final between Sydney and North Melbourne was at the time the lowest crowd number for a final outside Victoria with only 19 127 despite being at ANZ Stadium where Sydney had averaged 50 000 for finals The Grand Final between Geelong and Hawthorn drew a crowd of 100 012 the first crowd over 100 000 people since the 1986 Grand Final By losing the Grand Final after finishing with a home and away record of 21 1 Geelong broke the record set in 1935 and 1936 by South Melbourne 16 2 for best record by a non premier and the record for most wins by a non premier held jointly by Collingwood 1973 and West Coast 1991 both 19 wins Sydney played in a controversial draw against North Melbourne at Telstra Dome in round 6 it was later revealed that Sydney had nineteen men on the field for a brief period of play before during and after the behind that tied the scores was scored 13 As a direct consequence of this the league amended the interchange laws in round 9 appointing interchange stewards to police the players and to signal to the field umpires if an infringement has occurred Any infringement now results in a free kick being awarded 14 Club leadership editClub Coach Captain s Vice Captain s Leadership Group Adelaide Neil Craig Simon Goodwin 15 Nathan Bassett Brett Burton Tyson Edwards Ben Rutten and Nathan van Berlo Brisbane Lions Leigh Matthews Simon Black Jonathan Brown Nigel Lappin and Luke Power 16 N A Carlton Brett Ratten Chris Judd 17 Nick Stevens vc Andrew Carrazzo Heath Scotland and Kade Simpson 18 Collingwood Mick Malthouse Scott Burns 19 Josh Fraser vc Tarkyn Lockyer Nick Maxwell and Scott Pendlebury Essendon Matthew Knights Matthew Lloyd Mark McVeigh and David Hille vc Fremantle Mark Harvey Matthew Pavlich Josh Carr vc Geelong Mark Thompson Tom Harley Cameron Ling vc Cameron Mooney vc Joel Corey Paul Chapman and Max Rooke Hawthorn Alastair Clarkson Sam Mitchell 20 Luke Hodge vc Shane Crawford Chance Bateman and Brad Sewell Melbourne Dean Bailey Cameron Bruce and James McDonald Brock McLean and Brad Miller 21 North Melbourne Dean Laidley Adam Simpson 22 Brady Rawlings Daniel Harris Michael Firrito Nathan Thompson Drew Petrie Corey Jones Daniel Pratt and Brent Harvey Port Adelaide Mark Williams Warren Tredrea 23 Brendon Lade vc Chad Cornes vc Shaun Burgoyne vc Michael Wilson Kane Cornes and Dom Cassisi Richmond Terry Wallace Kane Johnson Chris Newman vc Nathan Foley vc Nathan Brown Troy Simmonds Joel Bowden and Kayne Pettifer 24 St Kilda Ross Lyon Nick Riewoldt 25 Lenny Hayes Sydney Paul Roos Leo Barry Craig Bolton and Brett Kirk 26 N A West Coast John Worsfold Darren Glass 27 Dean Cox vc Tyson Stenglein vc Matt Priddis Ashley Hansen and Adam Selwood 28 Western Bulldogs Rodney Eade Brad Johnson Scott West Robert Murphy Daniel Cross Daniel Giansiracusa Matthew Boyd and Dale Morris 29 Umpires editThe AFL introduced an additional two boundary umpires in round 21 in order to reduce the error rate and enable the umpires to keep up with the play 30 Brett Rosebury was appointed the 2008 All Australian umpire the first West Australian umpire to receive that honour Controversially however he was not appointed to umpire the AFL Grand Final with Scott McLaren Michael Vozzo and Shaun Ryan selected ahead of Rosebury 31 Scott McLaren umpired his 300th game 32 and Shane McInerney umpired his 250 game in round 4 33 Experienced field umpires Martin Ellis and Matthew Head both announced their retirements during the year 34 35 Coach changes editSurprising some Leigh Matthews announced his retirement as coach of the Brisbane Lions two days after their final game of the season in what was replaced as a move to make way for potential coaching candidate Michael Voss 36 Despite being newly signed for two years as assistant coach of West Coast as expected former Brisbane Lions captain Michael Voss was appointed as coach of the Brisbane Lions one day after Leigh Matthews resigned 37 See also edit2008 Australian football code crowdsFootnotes edit Carrara game moved Perth Now 20 December 2007 Retrieved 26 June 2022 Cats demolish Eagles by 99 points Archived 15 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine Eagles Dockers picked for All Australian squad Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine a b Looyd Davis make their mark Archived from the original on 9 October 2008 Retrieved 10 October 2008 Richmond s Deledio wins 2008 Army Award Archived 9 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine Docker Rhys Palmer wins 2008 Rising Star award PerthNow 2 September 2008 Retrieved 16 September 2016 Club best and fairest results Realfooty 5 October 2008 Archived from the original on 5 October 2008 Retrieved 5 October 2008 AAP 5 October 2008 Brown top Lion Realfooty Archived from the original on 6 October 2008 Retrieved 5 October 2008 AAP 5 October 2008 Pavlich named Dockers best Realfooty Archived from the original on 6 October 2008 Retrieved 5 October 2008 Arup Thomas 5 October 2008 Franklin is top Hawk in year of personal and team accolades Realfooty Archived from the original on 7 October 2008 Retrieved 5 October 2008 AAP 5 October 2008 Fisher voted best Saint Realfooty Archived from the original on 8 October 2008 Retrieved 5 October 2008 AFL Tables Game Records Roos returns fire on North s reaction dead link AFL interchange rules overhauled Archived 9 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine Goodwin to captain the Crows AdelaideNow 12 December 2007 Retrieved 22 January 2008 Four co captains may be enough for Lions The Sydney Morning Herald 12 February 2008 Archived from the original on 30 March 2008 Retrieved 13 February 2008 Judd will skipper Blues Stevens to deputy AFL com au 19 February 2008 Archived from the original on 30 March 2008 Retrieved 19 February 2008 Each man will get his chance Ratten Ben Broad 23 January 2008 Archived from the original on 6 July 2011 Retrieved 23 January 2008 Burns to captain Pies Sebastian Hassett 6 March 2008 Archived from the original on 30 March 2008 Retrieved 6 March 2008 Mitchell to captain Hawks 7 October 2007 Archived from the original on 6 October 2012 Retrieved 12 September 2012 Neitz decides to stay as Demon s skipper The Sydney Morning Herald 17 January 2008 Archived from the original on 18 January 2008 Retrieved 1 February 2008 North leadership group adds two true Roos Michael Tormey 30 January 2008 Retrieved 30 January 2007 Tredrea to lead Power again AFL 12 March 2008 Archived from the original on 29 March 2008 Retrieved 12 March 2008 Newman ready for the challenge AFL 2 November 2008 Archived from the original on 28 September 2008 Retrieved 5 May 2008 Saints appoint Riewoldt sole skipper AFL 12 March 2008 Archived from the original on 13 March 2008 Retrieved 12 March 2008 Bolton steps up Herald Sun Australia 13 February 2008 Retrieved 14 February 2008 Mic Cullen 9 November 2007 Glass to captain West Coast Retrieved 22 January 2008 dead link Embley loses leadership role at Eagles The Age Melbourne 4 December 2007 Archived from the original on 6 January 2008 Retrieved 22 January 2008 Boyd and Morris take the lead at Bulldogs Jennifer Witham 22 January 2008 Retrieved 22 January 2008 dead link Matthews Bruce 15 September 2008 More umpires mean fewer mistakes Herald Sun Australia Retrieved 24 September 2008 All Australian umpire axed for decider The Sydney Morning Herald AAP 23 September 2008 Archived from the original on 22 May 2011 Retrieved 24 September 2008 AFL umpire to officiate in 300th match AAP 9 April 2008 Archived from the original on 5 June 2011 Retrieved 24 September 2008 Milestones 2008 AFLUA 20 September 2008 Archived from the original on 21 July 2008 Retrieved 24 September 2008 Morrison Joel 2 September 2008 Ellis calls it a day AFL com au Archived from the original on 24 May 2011 Retrieved 24 September 2008 Morrison Joel 2 September 2008 Head looks to the future AFL com au Archived from the original on 24 May 2011 Retrieved 24 September 2008 Lutton Phil Matthews walks away from Lions permanent dead link Realfooty 1 September 2008 AAP Lions hand reins to Voss Foxsports 2 September 2008References edit2008 Season AFL Tables 2008 AFL season Finalsiren comExternal links editAFL Australian Football League 2008 Interactive Fixture in Excel 2008 Schedule By Week as a PDF 2008 Schedule By Team as a PDF AFL Venue Information Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2008 AFL season amp oldid 1214394363, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
