Daniel Hannebery

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

200 games: Kade Simpson (CARL)
150 games: Nick Malceski (SYD)
100 games: Daniel Hannebery (SYD)
50 games: Steven Motlop (GEEL)

Club Record Finals: Jude Bolton (SYD) will play his 25th Finals match in the Semi Final, giving him the club record for most Finals games in the history of South Melbourne/Sydney.

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Patersons Stadium, Perth

Sydney and West Coast have fought out some epic battles over the years, including two memorable Grand Finals. The Eagles are playing nowhere near their glory days while the Sydney Swans were the 2012 Premiers. It was expected that Sydney would roll right over top of West Coast and they didn’t disappoint their fans.

Although the Eagles got out to a flying start with the first two goals, their big forwards troubling the Swans’ defense, it went downhill from there. Sydney soon reeled them back and went on with it thanks to some inspired play by Jesse White. He made every post a winner in trying to cement his place in the team and was too strong and nimble for the West Coast’s running brigade. In fact the Swans ran the Eagles ragged all over the ground. They were prepared to spread and lead up to the ball when a teammate had it, making the Eagles look sluggish in comparison. Daniel Hannebery exemplified this when he ran the entire length of the ground to receive a pass and convert it to a goal. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, “It was getting late early” for the West Coast players. Although the Swans only led by seven points at the first break, the signs were there that it was only going to get worse for the home team.

Janet Linn reporting for AFANA from Australia

It was a Grand Final for the ages. A crowd of 99,683 screaming fans was treated to an outstanding contest after a week of talk about the weather potentially spoiling the spectacle. Meteorologists were forecasting bitter cold, strong winds, heavy rain and hail so when the storm clouds held off to provide a windy but otherwise clear afternoon, there were sighs of relief around Australia. Rumors that swirled pre-game about Sydney ruckman Shane Mumford, all-Australian Ted Richards and Hawthorn skipper Luke Hodge under injury clouds also appeared groundless with both teams lining up as expected. In a notable first, goal umpire Chelsea Roffey became the first female and the first Queenslander to officiate at an AFL Grand Final.

Brook “Boris” Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA from Australia

A solid crowd of 40,000 plus pushed through the turnstiles of the MCG to witness the Round 7 twilight clash between the Richmond Tigers and the Sydney Swans. The Richmond faithful, feeling good after a win against Port Adelaide, were once again pinning their hopes on victory against a Top Four contender, this time in the guise of the ultra-consistent Sydney. The Swans on the other hand were looking to rebound after a shock home loss to the Adelaide Crows after previously being undefeated.

Brook Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA from Australia

Hawthorn will meet Collingwood in a Preliminary Final after comfortably defeating Sydney by 36 points at the MCG on Friday night. The Hawks dominated the contest early and at one stage in the third quarter held a 46 point lead before the Swans fought back. In Adam Goodes’ 300th game the Sydneysiders worked their way back to trail by just 18 points late in the third quarter. However Hawthorn showed poise under pressure to wrest back the initiative and cruise home with a six goal victory.

The following is the time line for the the Grand Final day events including key times for match and TV related activities.   All times are listed first in Australian AEST and then in US EDT.  This is based on information from the AFL, AFANA, press reports and past history. : This story will be periodically updated with late information.

Time AEST/US EDT  Event             
11:40 AM / 9:40 PM Gillette AFL Grand Final Sprint heats
12:10 AM / 10:10 PM AIS Academy Squad / TAC Cup presentation and photo
12:55 PM / 10:55 PM Delivery of match footballs to Umpires
1.00 PM / 11:00 PM On-field pre-match set up
1.10 PM – 1.25 PM / 11:10 PM – 11:25 PM Preliminary on-field warm-up opportunity for competing clubs
1:25 PM / 11:25 PM Stage and sound set in centre square
1:30 PM -- 2:00 PM / 11:30 PM --12:00 MN Pre-match entertainment featuring INXS.  Welcome to country by Wurundjeri elder Joy Murphy Wandin.
1:30 PM / 11:30 PM International TV feed begins including coverage on ESPN Classic, TSN2, and ESPN3.com.  The host broadcaster is Channel 7 and the announcers will be lead by Bruce McAvaney and Dennis Cometti.

Sydney's Dan Hannebery is the 2010 Rising Star. Just ahead of the first Finals series, Hannebery was presented with the Ron Evans Medal by 2009 winner Daniel Rich from Brisbane.