The 2019 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Richmond Football Club and Greater Western Sydney Giants at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 28 September 2019. It was the 124th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (formerly Victorian Football League), staged to determine the premiers for the 2019 AFL season. The match, attended by 100,014 spectators, was won by Richmond by a margin of 89 points, marking the club's twelfth VFL/AFL premiership and their second in three seasons. Richmond's Dustin Martin won the Norm Smith Medal as the player judged best on ground. Background After ending a 37-year premiership drought in 2017, then winning the 2018 minor premiership but being eliminated by in the preliminary final, Richmond still entered the season considered a strong chance at the premiership, after retaining the core of its 2017 team and adding key forward Tom Lynch from Gold Coast. Richmond suffered misfortune during the first half of the season, with several of their star players sidelined due to injury – including star defender Alex Rance, and young stars in Jack Higgins, Sydney Stack and Jack Graham. At the conclusion of Round 14, the Tigers were ninth on the ladder with an average 7–6 win–loss record; however, they did not lose again in the home-and-away season, winning their last nine games to finish third with a 16–6 record. The Tigers advanced directly to the preliminary final after a 47-point victory over Brisbane in the qualifying final; then, in the preliminary final, overcame a 21-point half time deficit to defeat by 19 points. started season 2019 having been eliminated from the 2018 season in the semi-finals. The club lost co-captain Callan Ward to an ACL injury early in the season, a season-ending injury to star midfielder Stephen Coniglio later in the year. A strong start to the year saw the Giants placed second after Round 11, but indifferent form and a 5–6 record in the second half of the year, saw the Giants qualify for the finals in sixth with a 13–9 win–loss record. However, strong form in September saw the Giants win three finals to qualify for the grand final: a dominant win against by 58 points in the elimination final, then two thrilling victories – a three-point win over Brisbane in the semi-final, and a four-point win against Collingwood in the preliminary final. It was just the