1998 Grand Final (What They Can Do Next Week)

The 1998 AFL Grand Final was a Australian rules football match to determine the premier of the 1998 AFL season. The game was contested between the Adelaide crows and the Western Bulldogs. It was the 102nd annual AFL grand final and was attended by 93,491 spectators. It was won by the Western Bulldogs by a margin of 32 points.

Background
The 1998 Grand Final saw Adelaide playing the Western Bulldogs in their second finals match against each other. The crows were coming into the match after narrowly missing the 1997 Grand Final after being beaten by the Western Bulldogs by 3 points. The Western Bulldogs were coming into the match being minor premier whilst also winning the 1997 AFL premiership.

The Adelaide crows entered the finals after a 24 wins 8 losses season to place them 4th on the ladder. The managed to win their qualifying final against Melbourne by 16 points and sent them into the semi-final against 3rd placed Sydney which they won easily by 36 points. Following these wins, Adelaide had to come from behind to win the 2nd preliminary final against North Melbourne to win by 5 points.

The Western Bulldogs came into the finals on the back of the minor premiership and being the current premiership side. With their 64 point win against St. Kilda in the Qualifying final, the Bulldogs went into preliminary final against Melbourne which the won convicingly by 41 points. The Bulldogs entered the Grand Final as the heavy favourite.

Match Summary
Desite countless inside 50's, the Adelaide crows failed to match the Western Bulldogs in scoring. In a 3.16 first half, the crows had failed to catch up with the run away Bulldogs.

In the second half, the crows managed to drag the 56 point margin at half time to 44 at three quater time, then back down to 32. It was the Bulldogs first half heroics that won them the game, with 14.6 being scored during it. With the victory the Bulldogs became the first team since Hawthorn in 1988-89 to win back to back premierships.

The Norm Smith medal was awarded to Chris Grant for his 7 goal, 39 posession game. Johnson came second with 5 goals, and 29 posessions. The best in the Adelaide lineup was Mark Ricciuto, who bagged himself 5 goals during the game.