The 2014 AFL season was the 118th 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 eighteen clubs, ran from 14 March until 27 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
The premiership was won by the Hawthorn Football Club for the twelfth time and second time consecutively, after it defeated by 63 points in the 2014 AFL Grand Final.
Pre-season From 2014, the AFL abandoned the pre-season premiership, which since 1988 had seen practice matches combined with a (usually knock-out) tournament ending with a winning club.
Instead, the pre-season has featured a series of stand-alone practice matches, which has been the case ever since. Known as the 2014 NAB Challenge, the series featured 27 practice matches played over 25 days, beginning 26 February and ending 22 March. Each team played three pre-season games, many of which were played at suburban or regional venues, with most games televised on Fox Footy. The nine-point super goal was used in these matches.
Practice matches Additionally, each club played a further practice match after the NAB Challenge under the regular AFL season rules, however these matches were not televised.
Premiership season The full fixture was released on Thursday 31 October 2013,AFL Fixture for 2014 season and the premiership season was launched at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval in South Australia on 5 March. Notable features of the draw included: played most of its home games at night in 2014,Night games for Geelong in 2014, AFL.com.au official website, 22 October 2013 with its first game played against on a Thursday night in round 1.AFL doubles TV costs, The Age, 26 October 2013 The Melbourne Cricket Ground was unavailable for round 1 due to cricket commitments.MCG boss disappointed to miss out on round one game, AFL.com.au official website, 22 October 2013 This meant that the ground did not host a round 1 match for the first time since 2006 (due to the Commonwealth Games), and the match between and which had served as the season's first match in Melbourne since 2008 was held in round 2 instead.Blues and Tigers to play once, The Age, 22 October 2013 The AFL trialled five Sunday night matches during the season, two of which were televised on the Seven Network.Footy on Sunday nights set for Seven, The Age, 29 October 2013 Traeger Park in Alice Springs hosted its first premiership match when met in round 11.Dees to play in Alice Springs for premiership points, AFL.com.au official website, 23 October 2013 Match starting times are local.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Round 23
Win/loss table
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 F1 F2 F3 GF Ladder XXXXX10 XXXXX15 XEss0XXXX13 XXXXX11 XXXX7 XXX4 XXX3 XXXXX12 XXXXX16 XX2 XXXXX17 XX6 XX5 XXXX8 XXXXX18 XX1 XXXXX9 XXXXX14 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 F1 F2 F3 GF Ladder
Bold – Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder
Ladder progression
Finals series
Week one
Week two
Week three
Week four
Attendances
By club + 2014 AFL attendances Club Total Games Avg. Per Game Home Total Home Games Home Avg. 821,838 22 37,356 528,508 11 48,046 470,353 22 21,380 217,088 11 19,735 847,470 22 38,521 433,563 11 39,415 1,044,686 22 47,486 528,099 11 48,009 1,056,441 23 45,932 495,741 11 45,067 766,103 24 31,921 395,319 11 35,938 926,681 24 38,612 373,038 11 33,913 458,510 22 20,841 177,017 11 16,092 353,824 22 16,083 101,491 11 9,226 1,155,672 25 46,227 402,300 11 36,573 655,975 22 29,817 282,035 11 25,640 809,870 25 32,395 268,661 11 24,424 941,630 25 37,665 488,006 11 44,364 890,390 23 38,713 475,155 11 43,196 604,772 22 27,490 256,310 11 23,301 916,825 25 36,673 358,541 11 32,595 691,867 22 31,449 376,176 11 34,198 532,197 22 24,191 244,923 11 22,266
By ground Ground Total Games Avg. Per Game Adelaide Oval 23 ANZ Stadium 5 Aurora Stadium 4 Blundstone Arena 2 Cazaly's Stadium 1 Etihad Stadium 48 Gabba 11 MCG 50 Metricon Stadium 11 Patersons Stadium 23 Simonds Stadium 7 Spotless Stadium 8 StarTrack Oval 3 Sydney Cricket Ground 8 TIO Stadium 1 TIO Traeger Park 1 Westpac Stadium 1
Awards The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Matt Priddis of , who received 26 votes. The AFL Rising Star was awarded to Lewis Taylor of the , who received 39 votes. The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Luke Hodge of The AFL Goal of the Year was awarded to Matthew White of . The AFL Mark of the Year was awarded to Chad Wingard of . The McClelland Trophy was awarded to for the first time since 1996. The Wooden Spoon was "awarded" to for the first time since 2000. The AFL Players Association awards The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Nat Fyfe of . The Robert Rose Award was awarded to Joel Selwood of for the third year in a row and fourth time overall. The Best Captain was awarded to Luke Hodge of . The Best First-Year Player was awarded to Marcus Bontempelli of the . The 22under22 Team captaincy was awarded to Dyson Heppell of for the second year in a row. The AFL Coaches Association Awards The Player of the Year Award was given to Robbie Gray of , who received 111 votes. The Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award was awarded to John Longmire of . The Assistant Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Brett Montgomery of . The Development Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Steven King of . The Support Staff Leadership Award was awarded to John Kilby of . The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Neale Daniher. The Best Young Player Award was awarded to Jaeger O'Meara of . The Media Award was awarded to Gerard Whateley for his work on Fox Footy. The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was awarded to Beau Waters of .
Milestones
Name Club Milestone Round
Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal was awarded to Lance Franklin of , who kicked 67 goals during the home and away season. RankPlayerGoals1 Lance Franklin672 Jay Schulz62Tom Hawkins62Jarryd Roughead625 Josh Kennedy616Jack Riewoldt587Luke Breust538Eddie Betts51Jack Gunston5110Hayden Ballantyne49Nick Riewoldt49
Best and fairest Club Award name Player Ref. Malcolm Blight Medal Daniel Talia Merrett–Murray Medal Tom Rockliff John Nicholls Medal Bryce Gibbs Copeland Trophy Scott Pendlebury Crichton Medal Dyson Heppell Doig Medal Nat Fyfe Carji Greeves Medal Joel Selwood Club Champion David Swallow Kevin Sheedy Medal Shane Mumford Peter Crimmins Medal Jordan Lewis Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal Nathan Jones Syd Barker Medal Ben Cunnington John Cahill Medal Robbie Gray Jack Dyer Medal Trent Cotchin Trevor Barker Award Nick Riewoldt Bob Skilton Medal Luke Parker John Worsfold Medal Eric Mackenzie Charles Sutton Medal
Club leadership Club Coach Captain(s) Vice-captain(s) Leadership group Brenton Sanderson Nathan van Berlo Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane Richard Douglas, Sam Jacobs, Scott Thompson, Taylor Walker Justin Leppitsch Jed Adcock Tom Rockliff Daniel Merrett, Joel Patfull, Daniel Rich, Pearce Hanley, Matthew Leuenberger, Dayne Zorko, Jack Redden, Mitchell Golby Mick Malthouse Marc Murphy Andrew Carrazzo, Kade Simpson Bryce Gibbs, Lachie Henderson, Michael Jamison, Brock McLean, Andrew Walker Nathan Buckley Scott Pendlebury Nick Maxwell, Luke Ball, Nathan Brown, Lachlan Keeffe, Steele Sidebottom, Clinton Young, Travis Cloke Mark Thompson Jobe Watson Brendon Goddard, Dyson Heppell, Heath Hocking, Brent Stanton, Jason Winderlich, David Myers Ross Lyon Matthew Pavlich Matt de Boer, David Mundy, Luke McPharlin, Aaron Sandilands, Lee Spurr Guy McKenna Gary Ablett Nathan Bock, Tom Lynch, Dion Prestia, Michael Rischitelli, David Swallow Leon Cameron Phil Davis Callan Ward Heath Shaw, Tom Scully Shane Mumford, Stephen Gilham Chris Scott Joel Selwood Harry Taylor Mitch Duncan, Tom Hawkins, Steve Johnson, James Kelly, Andrew Mackie, Mathew Stokes Alastair Clarkson (Rds 1–10, 16–GF);Brendon Bolton (Rds 11–15) Luke Hodge Jordan Lewis, Jarryd Roughead Sam Mitchell, Josh Gibson Paul Roos Jack Grimes Nathan Jones Mitch Clark (until 23 April 2014), James Frawley, Colin Garland, Jack Trengove, Lynden Dunn (from 23 April 2014), Daniel Cross (from 23 April 2014), Chris Dawes (from 23 April 2014) Brad Scott Andrew Swallow Drew Petrie, Jack Ziebell Scott Thompson, Daniel Wells, Nick Dal Santo, Sam Gibson Ken Hinkley Travis Boak Brad Ebert Robbie Gray, Hamish Hartlett, Jackson Trengove, Angus Monfries, Matthew Lobbe, Tom Jonas Damien Hardwick Trent Cotchin Brett Deledio Troy Chaplin, Daniel Jackson, Ivan Maric Alan Richardson Nick Riewoldt David Armitage, Sean Dempster, Jarryn Geary, Leigh Montagna, Lenny Hayes John Longmire Kieren Jack Jarrad McVeigh Adam Goodes, Josh Kennedy, Ryan O'Keefe, Ted Richards, Rhyce Shaw, Nick Smith, Ben McGlynn Adam Simpson Darren Glass Josh Kennedy, Scott Selwood Dean Cox, Matt Priddis Brendan McCartney Ryan Griffen No official leadership group
Club financials
+ 2014 AFL membership figures Club Members Changefrom 2013 % changefrom 2013 Revenue Profit (loss) 54,249 $39,366,673 24,012 $46,538,187 47,485 $56,641,156 79,347 $76,819,714 60,646 $61,258,047 48,777 $49,161,997 43,803 $51,356,479 13,478 $33,798,618 13,040 $32,448,830 68,650 $53,603,479 35,911 $42,093,064 39,060 $34,390,355 48,968 $48,219,475 66,122 $44,408,127 30,739 $30,235,195 40,126 $46,519,605 58,529 $57,616,027 31,538 $37,538,814 Total 804,480 47,660 6.31%
Coach changes Coach Club Date Notes Caretaker New coach Sacked None (end of regular season) Phil Walsh Sacked None (end of regular season) Rodney Eade Resigned None (end of regular season) Luke Beveridge
Post-season
International Rules Series
The International Rules Series returned for 2014 at the later time of November. Ahead of the series, the AFL adopted a new rule permitting only those who had been selected in an All-Australian team in their careers playing for the Australian team. The series was also reduced to a single test match and several rule changes were made so as to enable greater participation from key position players in the AFL.All Australian reps only for International Rules Australia defeated Ireland by 10 points, 56–46, to claim their first win in International rules football since the 2010 series.International Rules 2014: Australia beats Ireland by 10 points in entertaining Test
Notable events On 3 March 2014, it was announced that CEO of the AFL, Andrew Demetriou, would be resigning from the post following the conclusion of the season, after eleven years in the role. Gillon McLachlan was later named his successor. On 13 May 2014, Greater Western Sydney midfielder Toby Greene was charged with a number of offences including assault with a dangerous weapon and intentionally causing serious injury over an alleged assault in a Melbourne licensed venue the previous night. He was later suspended by the club for five weeks. Just a year after being racially abused in a match against , 's Adam Goodes was once again the target of a racial vilification, this time by an supporter. While the incident went unheard during the weekend, it only came to light on 20 May 2014; the Essendon club responded by terminating that supporter's membership.Essendon cancels membership of fan who racially vilified Sydney's Adam Goodes during AFL match, ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 20 May 2014 On 26 May 2014, Hawthorn head coach Alastair Clarkson was hospitalised after being diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome. Brendon Bolton was appointed as the acting head coach for several matches while Clarkson recovered.Club statement: Alastair Clarkson , hawthornfc.com.au, 27 May 2014afl.com.au