The match, attended by 94,796 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 6 points, marking that club's eighth premiership victory.

It is regarded as one of the greatest grand finals of all time, noted for its high scoring, close winning margin, extreme physical toughness, and the courage and on-field heroics displayed by its injured players.

Under new coach Malcolm Blight, Geelong had become the most exciting team in the competition to watch, their all-out attacking style of play setting a point-scoring record for the home-and-away season (425 goals and 366 behinds for a total of 2916 points, at an average of nearly 133 points per game) and making it to their first VFL Grand Final since 1967.

Geelong made their intentions clear right from the start when Mark Yeates ran through Hawthorn's champion centre half-forward and enforcer Dermott Brereton.

As Geelong coach Malcolm Blight would later admit, this had been a premeditated strategy to protect star midfielder Paul Couch and negate Brereton, who constantly used his aggression to unsettle the opposition.

Yeates was chosen to carry out the deed, partly as payback for when Brereton had flattened him in the classic Round 6 clash earlier in the season.

Amidst the chaos in the middle of the ground, the Cats rushed the ball forward to Gary Ablett, who kicked the first of his nine goals for the afternoon.

Barely a minute later, Brereton, only moments ago on the ground and seemingly out of the game, took a strong mark, then steadied and kicked truly.

Brereton's inspirational act lifted the Hawks, and, with the Cats focusing on attacking the man rather than the ball, they slammed on a further six goals to take a commanding 40-point lead at quarter time.

Geelong captain and ruckman Damian Bourke was replaced by Darren Flanigan in the second quarter, and he began to have an immediate impact in the ruck contests.

Just as it looked like Hawthorn was getting away again, Ablett inspired the Geelong supporters with two goals in as many minutes, the second one going down in football folklore: jumping up to grab the ball from a boundary throw-in deep in the forward pocket and snapped truly from a tight angle.