2006 AFL Season - Notable Events

Notable Events

• The Melbourne Cricket Ground was unavailable until Round 5, due to its use as the main athletics stadium at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
• Matthew Lloyd, in only his third game as Essendon captain, injured his hamstring against the Western Bulldogs, ending his season. This marked the Bulldogs' first victory over Essendon since inflicting their only defeat of their 2000 season.
• In Round 5, Fremantle and St Kilda's game ended in controversy after the final siren was not heard by umpires, with the extra time allowing St Kilda to level the scores – the result was changed by the AFL commission later in the week on the basis that the timekeeper had failed to perform his duties.
• Richmond suffered three 100-point losses in season 2006, against the Western Bulldogs in round 1 (115 points), Sydney in round 7 (118 points) and St Kilda in round 17 (103 points).
• A struggling Richmond team defeated league-leaders Adelaide in Round 8 in an often-discussed game. To counteract Adelaide's strong flood, Richmond slowly built up a lead by patiently controlling the football without ever kicking to a contest, a move described as both boring and brilliant. In the final quarter, Adelaide were forced to switch to man-on-man tactics, almost erasing the deficit, but falling three points short. In executing this plan, Richmond took 181 marks, which is the highest amount ever (recorded since 1987).
• In Round 8, Brendan Fevola became the first player to kick all of his team's goals in a game since Mark Arceri in 1991. Of Carlton's 4.10 (34), Fevola contributed 4.5 (29), Simon Wiggins scored two behinds, and three behinds were rushed. He also became the first player in 41 years to win a Coleman Medal from the wooden spoon winning side.
• St Kilda broke two long winning droughts at the SCG and the Gabba by beating Sydney and Brisbane in rounds 11 and 22 respectively. The latter match was Michael Voss' final game for the Lions.
• For the first time in VFL/AFL history, four non-Victorian teams filled the top four.
• Bottom teams Essendon and Carlton had a draw in Round 16, 2006. Carlton's Eddie Betts scored the match-tying goal with under one minute remaining to deny Essendon what would have been just their second win for the season. Essendon would eventually achieve that the following week. This match was dubbed the "Bryce Gibbs Cup", named after young Glenelg midfielder Bryce Gibbs who was expected to be, and ultimately was, drafted with the first pick at the end of the year, by the media as both teams were firmly rooted to the bottom of the ladder leading into their match.
• In the second Qualifying Final, Sydney beat minor premiers West Coast by a solitary point, the final scores reading 85 to 84. When the teams met again in the Grand Final, the final scores were also 85 to 84, but it was West Coast that claimed the victory.
• Rohan Smith and Scott West each played their 300th games for the Western Bulldogs in the club's 74-point defeat to West Coast in the semi final. For Smith, this was his final AFL game.