Background
St Kilda entered the 2009 premiership season after having lost its preliminary final in 2008 against eventual premiers Hawthorn. The Saints' home-and-away season was outstanding and they won their first 19 games (the longest winning streak in the club's history) before losing consecutive close games in Rounds 20 and 21 against Essendon and North Melbourne. They won their final game and earned the McClelland Trophy for the first time since 1997. Their record of 20-2 is the equal-third most wins of all time, behind the 2008 Cats and the 2000 Bombers. They accounted for fourth-placed Collingwood by 28 points in their qualifying final and won a hard-fought and low scoring preliminary final against the Western Bulldogs by seven points to earn their place in the Grand Final.
Geelong entered the 2009 season after two consecutive minor premierships and two consecutive grand final appearances: a victory against Port Adelaide in the 2007 AFL Grand Final and a loss against Hawthorn in the 2008 AFL Grand Final. They won their four pre-season games to win the NAB Cup and their first 13 home-and-away games. Their first loss came in Round 14 against St Kilda (who at that stage were also undefeated) by six points, with Michael Gardiner kicking the winning goal in the dying minutes for the Saints. Following that loss the Cats entered a form slump, caused in part by several key injuries; their eight games from Rounds 14 to 21 yielded four wins and four losses, but only one of those wins (a 46-point victory against eventual wooden spooners Melbourne) was by a margin greater than one goal. Geelong won their final game comfortably to finish with a record of 18-4. They defeated a fast-finishing Bulldogs team by 14 points in their qualifying final and then comfortably beat Collingwood by 73 points in their preliminary final to advance to the Grand Final.
In the week leading up to the Grand Final, Geelong's Gary Ablett was awarded the Brownlow Medal.
This Grand Final appearance was the sixteenth in Geelong's history and the third in succession, with the club attempting to win its eighth premiership and second in three years. It was sixth Grand Final appearance in St Kilda's history and the first since the 1997 Grand Final, with the club attempting to win its second premiership. Its only flag to date was won 43 years earlier in the 1966 Grand Final.
This was the first time that St Kilda and Geelong had met in a Grand Final. In spite of their respective ladder positions, Geelong entered the game as the favourite team to win amongst most bookmakers.
It was also the first Grand Final to be played since the death of cartoonist William Ellis Green (better known as WEG), who had been drawing victory posters after VFL/AFL Grand Finals since 1954. The posters had been sold after each Grand Final with the proceeds going to the Royal Children's Hospital. Beginning in 2009, the posters were drawn by cartoonist Mark Knight of the Herald Sun.
Read more about this topic: 2009 AFL Grand Final
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