1987 VFL finals series

1987 premiership season
Date	5–26 September 1987
Teams	5
Premiers	Carlton (15th premiership)
Runners-up	Hawthorn (11th grand final)
Minor premiers	Carlton (16th minor premiership)
Attendance
Matches played	6
Total attendance	429,057 (71,510 per match)
Highest	92,754 (Grand Final, Carlton vs. Hawthorn)

The 1987 Victorian Football League finals series was the 91st annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 1987 VFL Premiership season. The series ran over four weekends in September 1987, culminating with the 1987 VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 1987.

Qualification

See also: 1987 VFL season

Matches

See also: McIntyre System

The 1987 VFL finals series was contested using the McIntyre Final Five system, which had been in use since 1972.

Week one (Qualifying and Elimination finals)

Elimination final (North Melbourne v Melbourne)

Melbourne were making their first VFL finals appearance since 1964, while North Melbourne had last appeared in 1985. This was the second final between the two sides, having previously met in the First Semi-final in 1954 which was won by Melbourne.

Teams

This shows the teams as listed in the The Football Record. Melbourne centreman Brian Wilson was a late withdrawal and was replaced by Russell Richards, while for North Melbourne Jim Krakouer was replaced by Shaun Smith.

North Melbourne

Melbourne

B: 27 Darren Crocker 26 Darren Harris 10 David Ackerly HB: 7 Darren Steele 13 John Law (c) 15 Ross Smith C: 28 Andrew Demetriou 29 Peter German 46 Jeff Chandler HF: 8 Phil Krakouer 34 Mark Hepburn 31 Paul Spargo F: 57 Alastair Clarkson 16 Stephen McCann 25 Donald McDonald Foll: 4 John Mossop 9 Matthew Larkin 3 Jim Krakouer Int: 39 Jason Love 45 Peter Jonas Coach: John Kennedy

B: 27 Sean Wight 10 Danny Hughes 29 Dean Chiron HB: 17 Brett Lovett 35 Earl Spalding 34 Stephen Newport C: 18 Steven Stretch 7 Brian Wilson 8 Graeme Yeats HF: 12 Todd Viney 23 Warren Dean 2 Robert Flower (c) F: 45 Ricky Jackson 15 David Williams 40 Tony Campbell Foll: 37 Jim Stynes 24 Bret Bailey 33 Greg Healy Int: 39 Doug Koop 25 Simon Eishold Coach: John Northey

Scorecard

	Elimination Final
Sunday, 6 September (2:30pm)	North Melbourne	def. by	Melbourne	MCG (crowd: 72628)	Report
	3.2 (20) 4.4 (28) 4.8 (32) 5.10 (40)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.6 (24) 9.11 (65) 16.16 (112) 22.26 (158)	Umpires: Clayton, Robinson Television broadcast: ABC TV
2: P Krakouer 1: Smith, Steele, Hepburn		Goals	5: Flower 3: Dean, Jackson, Williams, Campbell 2: Stynes 1: Richards, Bailey, Viney
P Krakouer, Steele, Law		Best	Wight, Spalding, Dean, Bailey, Newport, Stynes, Jackson, Flower
Ackerly (ankle), Jonas (hamstring)		Injuries
		Reports	Chiron (striking)

Qualifying Final (Hawthorn v Sydney)

The Qualifying Final saw second-placed Hawthorn host third-placed Sydney at VFL Park. The game was significant for Sydney coach Tom Hafey as he reached 500 games as coach. In what was a crushing victory for Hawthorn, Warwick Capper booted four goals to become the second player after Tony Lockett to reach 100 goals for the season, but suffered a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the semi-final. Wingman Merv Neagle also suffered a knee injury.

Scorecard

	Qualifying Final
Saturday, 7 September (7:25pm)	Hawthorn	def.	Sydney	VFL Park (crowd: 47,752)	Report
	5.7 (37) 9.10 (64) 16.13 (109) 23.18 (156)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.4 (16) 5.7 (37) 7.9 (51) 8.9 (57)	Umpires: Sawers, Dore Television broadcast: ABC TV
6: Brereton 5: Dunstall, Buckenara 2: DiPierdomenico, Russo 1: Schwab, Kennedy, Tuck		Goals	4: Capper 1: Bayes, Healy, Wright, Mitchell
Buckenara, Morris, DiPierdomenico, Tuck, Kennedy, Brereton, Collins		Best	Capper, Mitchell, Williams
Robinson (hamstring)		Injuries	Capper (hamstring), Neagle (knee)
Nil		Reports	Nil

Week two (semi-finals)

First Semi-final (Sydney vs Melbourne)

The First Semi-final saw Melbourne host Sydney at the MCG. This was the sixth meeting between the two clubs in finals, meeting previously in two Grand Finals in 1992 and 1994, a semi-final in 1992, and two preliminary finals in 1991 and 2011. West Coast have won four of the five meetings between the clubs, losing the 2011 preliminary final.

Scorecard

	First semi-final
Friday, 13 September (7:50pm)	Geelong	def.	West Coast	MCG (crowd: 51,813)	Report
	5.2 (32) 7.3 (45) 9.9 (63) 13.10 (88)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	1.1 (7) 5.5 (35) 10.7 (67) 10.8 (68)	Umpires: Stephens, Nicholls, Meredith Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)
4: Hawkins 3: Ratugolea 2: Kelly 1: Atkins, Selwood, Bews, Dahlhaus		Goals	3: Darling 2: Gaff 1: Petruccelle, Ryan, Hickey, Masten, Kennedy
Selwood, Guthrie, Ratugolea, Hawkins, Tuohy, Menegola		Best	Gaff, Hurn, Darling, Naitanui, Yeo, Jetta
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Tom Hawkins		Reports	Nil

Second Semi-final (Carlton vs Hawthorn)

The Second Semi-final saw Carlton play Hawthorn at VFL Park. The two clubs have never met in a final before as the two clubs have never been in a finals series together.

Scorecard

	Second semi-final
Saturday, 12 September (2:30pm)	Carlton	def.	Hawthorn	VFL Park (crowd: 64,333)	Report
	1.2 (8) 2.11 (23) 6.12 (48) 11.14 (80)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.2 (20) 6.2 (38) 9.3 (57) 10.5 (65)	Umpires: Clayton, Sawers Television broadcast: ABC TV
3: Kernahan 2: Cameron 1: Hunter, Madden, Johnston, Naley, Sartori		Goals	2: Dunstall, Platten 1: Curran, Loveridge, DiPierdomenico, Brereton, Daniels
Naley, Johnston, Hunter, Bradley, Alvin, Madden, Aitken, Silvagni		Best	Platten, Tuck, Williams, Ayres
		Injuries	Dunstall (ankle)
Nil		Reports	Nil

Week three (Preliminary Final)

Preliminary final (Hawthorn vs Melbourne)

The Preliminary Final saw Hawthorn play Melbourne at VFL Park on Saturday 19 September for the right to contest the Grand Final against Carlton. This game, which was to be the last for Melbourne captain and champion Robert Flower, would become famous for its thrilling and - for Melbourne supporters - tragic ending. After a tight first quarter, Melbourne took control of the game to lead by 22 points at three-quarter time. But the finals-hardened Hawks were determined to make their fifth consecutive Grand Final appearance, and when time-on began in the final quarter Melbourne's lead had been cut to seven points. In the frenetic final minutes, the Demons led by four points and had botched two further opportunities to kick goals which would have made victory almost certain - Simon Eishold hooked a set shot from point blank range and Tony Campbell missed a running shot from 40 metres out. In between those misses, Hawthorn forward Gary Buckenara had kicked his fourth goal of the afternoon.

Scorecard

	Preliminary Final
Saturday, 19 September (2:30pm)	Hawthorn	def.	Melbourne	VFL Park (crowd: 71298)	Report
	1.4 (10) 3.6 (24) 7.8 (50) 11.14 (80)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.3 (15) 6.10 (46) 10.12 (72) 10.18 (78)	Umpires: Robinson, Howlett Television broadcast: ABC TV
5: Buckenara 1: Jencke, Morris, Curran, Brereton, Pritchard, Kennedy		Goals	3: Jackson 2: Wilson, Grinter 1: Viney, Stynes, Dean
Schwab, Buckenara, Tuck, Russo, Langford, Ayres		Best	Jackson, Wight, Viney, Hughes, Spalding, Healy, Chiron
Nil		Injuries	Flower (shoulder)
Nil		Reports	Nil

Week four (Grand Final)

Main article: 1987 VFL Grand Final

This was the second consecutive Grand Final involving Carlton, who were chasing their 15th League premiership, and Hawthorn, who were chasing their 7th premiership and aiming for their first set of back-to-back flags.

	Grand Final
26 September (2:50 pm)	Carlton	def.	Hawthorn	MCG (crowd: 92,754)	Report
	3.5 (23) 6.8 (44) 10.11 (71) 15.14 (104)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	4.2 (26) 4.9 (33) 7.13 (55) 9.17 (71)	Umpires: Robinson, Sawers Norm Smith Medal: David Rhys-Jones Television broadcast: ABC National anthem: Daryl Somers
Kernahan, Bradley 3 Johnston 2 Dorotich, Gleeson, Murphy, Hunter, Naley, McKenzie, Meldrum 1		Goals	3: Kennedy 1: Curran, Collins, Pritchard, Platten, DiPierdomenico, G Dear
Rhys-Jones, Johnston, Glascott, Aitken, Madden, Alvin		Best	Langford, DiPierdomenico, Tuck, Collins, Ayres, Greene
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Johnston (striking), Madden (striking)		Reports	Nil

External links

• 1987 VFL Preliminary Final - Hawthorn Vs Melbourne (Extended Highlights) on YouTube
• AFL finals series official website