2014 AFL Grand Final

The 2014 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and the Hawthorn Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 2014. It was the 119th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League), staged to determine the premiers for the 2014 AFL season. The match, attended by 99,460 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 63 points, marking the club's second consecutive premiership and twelfth VFL/AFL premiership victory overall. Hawthorn's Luke Hodge was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.

Having finished the home and away season as minor premiers, Sydney advanced to the Grand Final with a hard-fought victory over Fremantle, followed by a 71-point victory over North Melbourne in their preliminary final. Defending premiers Hawthorn, which finished second behind Sydney on the ladder, advanced after defeating Geelong by 36 points in their qualifying final, followed by a three-point victory over Port Adelaide in the second preliminary final.

The two teams met twice during the home-and-away season, with Sydney winning by 19 points at ANZ Stadium in Round 8 and Hawthorn winning by 10 points at the MCG in Round 18.

It was the second time that Sydney and Hawthorn had met in a grand final, having faced each other two years earlier in the 2012 AFL Grand Final when Sydney won by 10 points. The match was Hawthorn's third grand final appearance in a row, having also appeared in the 2013 AFL Grand Final when it defeated Fremantle by 15 points.

Welsh singer Sir Tom Jones and English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran both performed as pre-match entertainment at the 2014 AFL Grand Final. The two were the first international acts to perform at a grand final since American singer Meat Loaf's infamous performance at the 2011 AFL Grand Final. Both Sheeran and Jones were the first acts to be offered the sets by the AFL, with both acts accepting without hesitation. Jones said about the offer to perform at the game: "I understand there will be over 100,000 people in the stadium for the grand final which makes this spectacular sporting event something I'm really looking forward to. I also know that Australian football has really passionate fans so it'll be great to be a part of the atmosphere and excitement on the day."^{[citation needed]} Sheeran said that the decision to play was not a hard decision to make, saying that "Having spent some time in Australia recently I know just how popular the game is and how big an event this will be."

Sheeran performed "Sing" and "The A Team" and was then joined by Jones to sing "Kiss", followed by "Mama Told Me Not to Come", "Delilah" and "If I Only Knew". Mike Brady performed "Up There Cazaly", a grand final tradition. Olivia Newton-John performed the Australian National Anthem, "Advance Australia Fair".

A post-match entertainment show featuring Sheeran and Jones was also held. There was no half-time musical entertainment. The traditional Grand Final sprint held at half-time was won by Jordan Murdoch of Geelong, breaking Patrick Dangerfield's streak of three consecutive victories from 2011 to 2013.

The first quarter began with the teams going goal for goal in the first 15 mins. Josh Kennedy kicked the first goal for Sydney with a long bomb, before Paul Puopolo kicked a long-range shot for Hawthorn. Lance Franklin kicked the next goal for Sydney, and Luke Breust replied to make the score two goals apiece. From that moment onwards, Hawthorn controlled the quarter, with Brad Hill, Jack Gunston and Will Langford each kicking a goal in the second half of the quarter. At quarter time, Hawthorn 5.5 (35) led Sydney 2.3 (15) by 20 points.