After Richmond's dominant win in Saturday's Grand Final against the Giants, we take a look at the top five most lopsided Grand Finals in the AFL era.
The Cats’ 2007 triumph of 119-points was the biggest margin in VFL/AFL history, and was by far and away the most one-sided grand final of all time, let alone the AFL era.
Geelong finished three games clear atop the ladder at the end of the season and were clearly the most dominant team for that year, but a Round 22 loss to Port Adelaide on their home turf of Skilled Stadium (Kardinia Park) ensued a week of anticipation once both sides won their way through to the big dance.
But the Power could not have been more disappointing, as the Cats ran over the top of them to end a 44-year premiership drought by the biggest of margins.
After the Giants' brutal finals run which saw them come from sixth position to make it to their maiden Grand Final, the Tigers taught them an almighty lesson as they kept GWS to the lowest score in their short history.
The Tigers were blessed with a seven-game streak at the MCG to conclude their 2019 home-and-away season, and as such, they entered the finals series with all the momentum as they easily accounted for both Brisbane and Geelong.
While the Giants found the going a lot tougher with their last two finals producing wins by under a goal, their brand was talked up to being almost better than Richmond’s as many predicted they would give the Tigers a run for their money.
But that proved to be a terrible prediction in hindsight as the Tigers blitzed them after a tight first quarter to put together one of the more dominant Grand Final displays in recent history.
In a replay of the 1992 Grand Final, the Cats were out to seek revenge but fell drastically short as the Eagles ensured they would win their second premiership in three seasons.
The first quarter was widely entertaining as a dominant start from the Eagles was quickly quelled by the Cats who went into the first change ahead by one-point.
But that would be as close as they would get as the Eagles ended the game with 16 goals to four to win by 80-points in one of the most dominant displays on Grand Final day.
After playing in only the third ever drawn Grand Final the previous week, the Magpies dominated the Saints from the outset in the replay as they secured their club’s 15th premiership cup.
The Saints lost the 2009 Grand Final to Geelong after dominating the season, and finished third in 2010 to make the Grand Final, but after a stunning draw which arguably would have seen the Saints prevail had extra time been allowed, they simply could not put two great performances in as many weeks as the Magpies capped off their season with the premiership.
The game will forever be remembered for the smother Heath Shaw laid on St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt as he was seemingly running into an open goal – a play which ultimately sums up how dominant the Pies were in the replay.
The Swans finished the 2014 season on top of the ladder by percentage over the Hawks and went into the Grand Final as slight favourites, as the Hawks were gunning for their second successive premiership.
Sydney had famously upset the Hawks in the 2012 Grand Final, but after splitting the results during the home-and-away season, the Hawks exacted revenge in one of the most dominant Grand Final displays in recent history.
The Hawks burst out of the blocks to gain a 20-point advantage at quarter-time, before extending that to 42-points and 54-points at the next two breaks to ensure they’d have a chance at winning three premierships in a row – which they ultimately succeeded in.
