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Every VFL/AFL Grand Final ever, ranked in order of greatness

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Which was the best Grand Final of all time? It’s a good question - and one that’s pretty hard to answer, unless you’ve seen them all, which no one has. That’s why we built a detailed model, using statistics from Champion Data®, to produce a definitive ranking of the Best Grand Finals of All Time.

Each Grand Final was ranked on a number of metrics, such as final margin (closer is better), number of goals kicked (more is better), whether Collingwood lost ("yes" is better), and whether Meatloaf sang ("no" is better).

Now, once and for all, let's count down to the indisputably Best VFL/AFL Grand Final of All Time.

Number 5: 1970 Carlton vs Collingwood

The 1970 VFL Grand Final was an absolute ripper. In front of a crowd of 121,696 at the MCG, Carlton defeated Collingwood in a nail-biter. After heroics from both sides, the Blues snuck home by 10 points, 17.9.111 to 14.17.101.

Number 4: 1977 North Melbourne vs Collingwood

The 1977 VFL Grand Final was an absolute ripper. In front of a crowd of 98,491 at the MCG, North Melbourne defeated Collingwood in a nail-biter. After heroics from both sides, the Roos snuck home by 27 points, 21.25.151 to 19.10.124.

Number 3: 2006 West Coast vs Sydney

The 2006 AFL Grand Final was an absolute ripper. In front of a crowd of 97,431 at the MCG, West Coast defeated Sydney in a nail-biter. After heroics from both sides, the Eagles snuck home by 1 point, 12.13.85 to 12.12.84.

Number 2: 1989 Hawthorn vs Geelong

The 1989 VFL Grand Final was an absolute ripper. In front of a crowd of 94,796 at the MCG, Hawthorn defeated Geelong in a nail-biter. After heroics from both sides, the Hawks snuck home by 6 points, 21.18.144 to 21.12.138.

Number 1. 1966 St Kilda vs Collingwood

The 1966 VFL Grand Final was an absolute ripper. In front of a crowd of 102,055 at the MCG, St Kilda defeated Collingwood in a nail-biter. After heroics from both sides, the Saints snuck home by 1 point, 10.14.74 to 10.13.73.

And which Grand Final was the worst? The 2007 Grand Final between Geelong and Port Adelaide. No matter how special it must have been for Cats fans, there’s nothing exciting about a 119 point thrashing.

The full list is below (or you can download it in Excel format).

Ranking Points Year Winner Runner-up Margin Total goals Crowd Years since last premiership Years since runner up's previous appearance Rematch? Did Collingwood lose? Did Meatloaf sing?
1 65152 1966 St Kilda Collingwood 1 20 102055 69 2 No Yes No
2 60397 1989 Hawthorn Geelong 6 42 94796 1 22 No No No
3 59554 2006 West Coast Sydney 1 24 97431 12 1 Yes No No
4 59145 1977 North Melbourne Collingwood 27 40 98491 1 0 Yes Yes No
5 58875 1970 Carlton Collingwood 10 31 121696 2 4 No Yes No
6 58686 2005 Sydney West Coast 4 15 91828 72 11 No No No
7 57484 1979 Carlton Collingwood 5 22 113545 7 2 No Yes No
8 57340 1938 Carlton Collingwood 15 28 96486 23 1 No Yes No
9 57105 1967 Richmond Geelong 9 31 109396 24 4 No No No
10 56336 1948 Melbourne Essendon 0 17 86198 7 1 Yes No No
11 56162 2010 St Kilda Collingwood 0 19 100016 0 20 No ish No
12 55627 1977 North Melbourne Collingwood 0 19 108224 2 7 No ish No
13 55395 1925 Geelong Collingwood 10 19 64288 28 3 No Yes No
14 55378 1943 Richmond Essendon 5 23 42100 9 1 Yes No No
15 55084 1972 Carlton Richmond 27 50 112393 2 3 No No No
16 55042 1964 Melbourne Collingwood 4 16 102471 4 4 No Yes No
17 54281 2002 Brisbane Lions Collingwood 9 19 91817 1 12 No Yes No
18 54122 1953 Collingwood Geelong 12 19 89149 17 1 Yes No No
19 53632 1947 Carlton Essendon 1 24 85793 2 1 No No No
20 53621 1981 Carlton Collingwood 20 22 112964 2 1 ish Yes No
21 53619 1971 Hawthorn St Kilda 7 23 118192 10 5 No No No
22 53445 1968 Carlton Essendon 3 15 116828 23 3 No No No
23 52803 1984 Essendon Hawthorn 24 26 92685 19 1 Yes No No
24 52743 1936 Collingwood South Melbourne 11 21 74091 1 1 Yes No No
25 52712 1918 South Melbourne Collingwood 5 16 39262 9 1 No Yes No
26 52655 2001 Brisbane Lions Essendon 26 27 91482 57 1 No No No
27 52475 1932 Richmond Carlton 9 25 69724 11 11 No No No
28 52196 1920 Richmond Collingwood 17 12 53908 12 1 Yes Yes No
29 52173 1922 Fitzroy Collingwood 11 20 50064 6 2 No Yes No
30 52167 2012 Sydney Hawthorn 10 25 99683 7 4 No No No
31 51610 1978 Hawthorn North Melbourne 18 33 101704 3 1 No No No
32 50511 1973 Richmond Carlton 30 28 116956 4 1 Yes No No
33 50426 1951 Geelong Essendon 11 21 85795 14 1 No No No
34 50086 1911 Essendon Collingwood 6 9 43905 10 1 No Yes No
35 50043 2009 Geelong St Kilda 12 21 99251 2 12 No No No
36 49729 1937 Geelong Collingwood 32 30 88540 6 1 No Yes No
37 49470 1958 Collingwood Melbourne 18 21 97956 5 1 ish No No
38 49107 1982 Carlton Richmond 18 26 107536 1 2 No No No
39 48999 1909 South Melbourne Carlton 2 8 37759 12 1 ish No No
40 48990 1997 Adelaide St Kilda 31 32 99645 6 26 No No No
41 48923 2008 Hawthorn Geelong 26 29 100012 17 1 No No No
42 48550 1976 Hawthorn North Melbourne 30 23 110143 5 1 Yes No No
43 48120 1996 North Melbourne Sydney 43 32 93102 19 51 No No No
44 47808 2013 Hawthorn Fremantle 15 19 100007 5 2 No No No
45 47706 1941 Melbourne Essendon 29 32 79687 1 18 No No No
46 47455 2003 Brisbane Lions Collingwood 50 32 79451 1 1 Yes Yes No
47 47155 1905 Fitzroy Collingwood 13 6 30000 1 2 ish Yes No
48 47095 1987 Carlton Hawthorn 33 24 92754 4 1 Yes No No
49 46800 1907 Carlton South Melbourne 5 12 45477 1 8 No No No
50 46671 2011 Geelong Collingwood 38 30 99537 2 1 No Yes "Yes"
51 46561 1944 Fitzroy Richmond 15 16 43000 22 1 No No No
52 46397 1992 West Coast Geelong 28 28 95007 5 3 No No No
53 46284 1934 Richmond South Melbourne 39 31 65335 2 1 Yes No No
54 46263 1965 Essendon St Kilda 35 23 104846 3 52 No No No
55 45982 1913 Fitzroy St Kilda 13 12 59556 8 16 No No No
56 45721 1921 Richmond Carlton 4 9 43122 1 5 No No No
57 45264 1914 Carlton South Melbourne 6 10 30495 6 2 No No No
58 45232 1959 Melbourne Essendon 37 28 103506 2 2 ish No No
59 45136 1903 Collingwood Fitzroy 2 7 32363 1 3 No No No
60 45108 1955 Melbourne Collingwood 28 13 88053 7 2 No Yes No
61 44897 1969 Richmond Carlton 25 20 119165 2 1 No No No
62 44875 1929 Collingwood Richmond 29 18 63336 1 1 Yes No No
63 44856 1945 Carlton South Melbourne 28 25 62986 7 9 No No No
64 44843 1974 Richmond North Melbourne 41 31 113839 1 24 No No No
65 44831 1999 Kangaroos Carlton 35 31 94228 3 4 No No No
66 44750 1910 Collingwood Carlton 14 15 42790 7 1 No No No
67 44574 1939 Melbourne Collingwood 53 35 78110 13 1 No Yes No
68 44433 1928 Collingwood Richmond 33 22 50026 1 1 Yes No No
69 44206 1962 Essendon Carlton 32 21 98385 12 13 No No No
70 44053 1900 Melbourne Fitzroy 4 7 20181 3 1 No No No
71 44046 1908 Carlton Essendon 9 8 53400 1 6 No No No
72 44029 1899 Fitzroy South Melbourne 1 6 4823 1 2 No No No
73 43938 1923 Essendon Fitzroy 17 14 46566 11 1 No No No
74 43902 1935 Collingwood South Melbourne 20 18 54154 5 1 No No No
75 43613 1931 Geelong Richmond 20 16 60712 6 2 No No No
76 43236 1993 Essendon Carlton 44 33 96862 8 6 No No No
77 43188 1919 Collingwood Richmond 25 18 45413 2 22 No No No
78 42865 1975 North Melbourne Hawthorn 55 28 110551 50 4 No No No
79 42667 1961 Hawthorn Footscray 43 20 107935 36 7 No No No
80 42458 1915 Carlton Collingwood 33 17 39343 1 4 No Yes No
81 42435 1912 Essendon South Melbourne 14 9 54536 1 3 No No No
82 41942 2010 Collingwood St Kilda 56 23 93853 20 44 ish No No
83 41708 1930 Collingwood Geelong 30 23 45022 1 5 No No No
84 41507 1998 Adelaide North Melbourne 35 23 94431 1 2 No No No
85 41305 1901 Essendon Collingwood 27 8 30031 4 4 No Yes No
86 41296 1927 Collingwood Richmond 12 3 34551 8 6 No No No
87 41217 2004 Port Adelaide Brisbane Lions 40 27 77671 7 1 No No No
88 40933 1950 Essendon North Melbourne 38 20 85869 1 25 No No No
89 40737 1926 Melbourne Collingwood 57 26 59632 26 1 No Yes No
90 40728 1904 Fitzroy Carlton 24 14 32688 5 7 No No No
91 40705 1902 Collingwood Essendon 33 12 35202 5 1 Yes No No
92 40567 1952 Geelong Collingwood 46 18 82890 1 13 No Yes No
93 40437 1986 Hawthorn Carlton 42 25 101861 3 4 No No No
94 40266 1940 Melbourne Richmond 39 25 70330 1 6 No No No
95 40151 1898 Fitzroy Essendon 15 8 16538 1 1 No No No
96 39993 1916 Fitzroy Carlton 29 20 21130 3 1 No No No
97 39387 1948 Melbourne Essendon 39 20 52226 0 1 ish No No
98 39190 1990 Collingwood Essendon 48 18 98944 32 5 No No No
99 38707 1960 Melbourne Collingwood 48 10 97457 1 2 ish Yes No
100 38652 1954 Footscray Melbourne 51 22 80897 29 6 No No No
101 38591 2015 Hawthorn West Coast 46 24 98632 0 9 No No No
102 38371 1991 Hawthorn West Coast 53 33 75230 2 4 No No No
103 38173 1942 Essendon Richmond 53 30 49000 19 2 No No No
104 37993 1963 Geelong Hawthorn 49 23 101209 11 2 No No No
105 37358 1956 Melbourne Collingwood 73 23 115902 1 1 Yes Yes No
106 37220 2014 Hawthorn Sydney 63 32 99460 1 2 ish No No
107 37001 1906 Carlton Fitzroy 49 21 44437 9 1 ish No No
108 36925 1985 Essendon Hawthorn 78 40 100042 1 1 Yes No No
109 36826 2000 Essendon Melbourne 60 30 96249 7 12 No No No
110 36422 1917 Collingwood Fitzroy 35 14 28512 7 1 No No No
111 36319 1995 Carlton Geelong 61 32 93670 8 1 No No No
112 36271 1933 South Melbourne Richmond 42 13 75754 15 1 No No No
113 35828 1946 Essendon Melbourne 63 35 73743 4 5 No No No
114 34026 1980 Richmond Collingwood 81 32 113461 6 1 No Yes No
115 33213 1957 Melbourne Essendon 61 24 100324 1 6 No No No
116 29650 1994 West Coast Geelong 80 28 93860 2 2 ish No No
117 28477 1983 Hawthorn Essendon 83 28 110332 5 15 No No No
118 28445 1949 Essendon Carlton 73 24 88718 3 2 No No No
119 23649 1988 Hawthorn Melbourne 96 28 93754 2 24 No No No
120 19647 2007 Geelong Port Adelaide 119 30 97302 44 3 No No No