In an era of the AAMI Community Series and “match simulations,” it’s hard to believe that pre-season footy once mattered.
Not so long ago, the Foster’s Cup, Ansett Cup, Wizard Cup, and NAB Cup captured the imagination of footy fans.
Waverley Park would be packed for the Grand Final, clubs used the competition to make a statement, and in some cases, a poor pre-season performance even cost coaches their jobs.
But as pre-season footy faded into off-Broadway, low-stakes kick-and-giggle matches, its legacy—premierships, best-on-ground performances, and dynasties—has been pushed to the fringes of the modern, ultra-professional, 24/7 footy news cycle.
But not in this blog, we pay tribute to the great pre-season dynasties of the AFL.
Five-time Day/Five-time night Dermott Brereton
“The Kid” Dermott Brereton is remembered for many things—his high-flying, flamboyant style during Hawthorn’s 1980s glory days, his fearless toughness, his frequent visits to the tribunal, and, of course, his iconic moment in the 1989 Grand Final when he was knocked out by Geelong’s Mark Yeates, played on with broken ribs, and still made an impact.
He’s also a five-time day premiership player with the Hawks.
But there’s one stat that always follows Dermie in his media career—five-time day, FIVE-TIME NIGHT premiership player.
Although, when the Hawks won the Foster’s Cup in 1991, Dermott had actually lost count!
While his exploits in the actual Grand Finals are well remembered, there’s a case to be made that Dermott Brereton is the greatest night premiership player of all time.
He was a key part of Hawthorn’s 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, and 1992 night premiership triumphs, earning him the unique distinction of being Five-Day, Five-Night Dermott.
Michael Tuck Medalists
When Michael Tuck retired after Hawthorn’s day premiership in 1991, he held the AFL’s all-time games record with 426 appearances (a record later broken by Brent “Boomer” Harvey in 2016 with 432).
To honour his legendary career, the AFL introduced the Michael Tuck Medal, awarded to the best-on-ground in the night Grand Final.
From 1992 until the final pre-season Grand Final in 2013, some of the game’s biggest names claimed the Michael Tuck Medal—including Gavin Wanganeen, who completed the rare Tuck/Brownlow double in 1993, Nicky Winmar in 1996, Wayne Carey in 1998, Andrew McLeod in 2003, Robert Harvey in 2004, and Joel Selwood in 2009.
Daniel Rich remains the reigning Tuck Medalist, having claimed the honour in 2013 when the Lions won what would be the final NAB Cup premiership.
Fevola’s 2005 win is perhaps the most memorable—not just for his performance, but for the moment when Michael Tuck himself presented the medal and mistakenly called it the Norm Smith.
St Kilda
You could argue that St Kilda both made the pre-season and ended it.
When the Saints defeated Carlton to win the 1996 Ansett Cup, their fans stormed the vast spaces of Waverley Park, celebrating as if they’d won the real thing. It’s easy to mock, but the sheer joy of those long-suffering supporters remains a cherished memory at Moorabbin.
Eight years later, St Kilda beat Geelong to claim the 2004 Wizard Cup. This time, when Grant Thomas and Lenny Hayes took the stage to accept the trophy, they showed zero emotion. Many see that moment as the beginning of pre-season footy’s slow and painful decline.
Fittingly, St Kilda holds three pre-season premierships from three different sponsors—1996 Ansett Cup, 2004 Wizard Cup, and 2008 NAB Cup—to go with the club’s lone senior premiership from 1966, an all-too-rare addition to the sparse trophy cabinet at Moorabbin.
Carlton
As 2025 marks 30 years since Carlton’s last premiership triumph on the final Saturday in September, the Blues have at least tasted pre-season success—three times, in fact.
The first came in the 1997 Ansett Cup, when they defeated Geelong at a packed MCG.
Many Carlton fans saw it as a classic case of being too old, too slow, too good—only for the team to miss the finals that season.
Then came their infamous pre-season dominance of the mid-2000s.
Carlton won the 2005 Wizard Cup, only to go on and claim that season’s wooden spoon.
Two years later, they snagged the 2007 NAB Cup and finished 15th in the home-and-away season—further denting the credibility of the once-coveted night premiership.
Despite winning the Tuck Medal in 2005, Brendan Fevola has never been hailed as a two-time night flag winner.
However, his legendary 12-goal haul in the infamous Millennium Match against Collingwood on New Year’s Eve 1999 infront of 16,000 people at the MCG—part of the 2000 Ansett Cup—is still celebrated 25 years later.
Day/Night Doubles
While Carlton holds the honour of completing the Wizard Cup/Wooden Spoon double, a select few clubs have managed to win both the pre-season competition and the premiership in the same year—a feat achieved seven times across the competition’s history.
Carlton also won the 1982 Grand Final and went on to win the following night series (which was then a midweek in-season tournament) in 1983.
Essendon pulled off the double in 1984, 1993, and 2000, Hawthorn in 1986, 1988, and 1991, while Geelong accomplished it in 2009.
Some teams even carried their premiership momentum into the following year’s pre-season, keeping the celebrations going with a night flag—such as Essendon in 1994 and Collingwood in 2011.
The 1993 Fosters Cup
The 1993 season has been widely celebrated by footy historians, including in the brilliant podcast The Greatest Season That Was—a must-listen if you haven’t already.
But you could argue that the 1993 Foster’s Cup was pre-season footy at its absolute peak.
For starters, the surface at Waverley Park was a disaster.
Carlton’s Luke O’Sullivan suffered a season-ending knee injury due to the poor turf, forcing the AFL to shift games away from League HQ to alternative venues like Kardinia Park and Princes Park.
Meanwhile, North Melbourne traveled to Adelaide for a pre-season clash with the Crows at Football Park—and were obliterated by 140 points (Adelaide 27.21.183 to North 5.6.36).
The result was so dire that it led to the sacking of coach Wayne Schimmelbusch, paving the way for Dennis Pagan to take over just weeks before the 1993 season began.
But the biggest storyline of the ’93 Foster’s Cup was the rise of Richmond—then deep in its dark years—making a shock run to the Grand Final against Essendon.
The hype at Tigerland was real. 3,000 fans showed up just to watch the team train, believing this was the start of something big.
Richmond had finished 13th in 1992, endured constant coaching upheaval, and faced internal turmoil, yet their success in the pre-season hinted at the club’s potential.
On Grand Final night, over 75,000 fans packed into Waverley Park (where the turf had finally been fixed), forcing the gates to be locked.
The Tigers, despite all the excitement, fell 23 points short against Essendon—who would go on to complete the pre-season/home-and-away double that year.
For Richmond, it wasn’t the promised land just yet. But for where the Tigers were at in that era, the 1993 Fosters Cup was as good as it got, as for Essendon, they just went on to win the real thing in September of that year…no big deal.
Port Adelaide Goes back-to-back
In the early 2000s, Port Adelaide developed a reputation for choking in September—until they finally broke through in 2004.
However, before that, the Power did claim back-to-back pre-season titles, winning the 2001 Ansett Cup and 2002 Wizard Cup.
…and yes, legitimate memorabilia from that triumph does exist.
If you happen to own any Port Adelaide pre-season memorabilia from their back-to-back wins, feel free to slide into our DMs!
Melbourne 1987
For a certain generation of Melbourne supporters, the 1987 night premiership holds a special place in their hearts. In the midst of a long premiership and finals drought, the victory was a rare moment of triumph.
The Demons edged out their opponents by two points, and their long-suffering fans celebrated as if it were the real thing.
While club legend and captain Robbie Flower missed the game due to injury, he was still given the honour of receiving the Panasonic Cup.
In a fitting tribute, his teammates chaired him off the ground as the jubilant Melbourne faithful cheered him on.
Supergoals
To add some extra spice to pre-season footy, the AFL introduced the nine-point Supergoal, which was in play from 2003 to 2017.
A Supergoal was awarded for any goal kicked from outside the 50-metre arc (within reason and under various rules), giving the team nine points instead of the standard six.
For the record, Melbourne’s Paul Wheatley kicked the first-ever Supergoal in 2003, while Geelong’s Andrew Mackie kicked the last in the 2017 JLT Community Series.
Brisbane 2013
While the Lions are the reigning AFL premiers, they have also held the title of reigning pre-season premiers for the past 12 years—having won the last-ever NAB Cup Grand Final in 2013, defeating Carlton by 40 points.
Trailing by 13 points at half-time, Brisbane stormed home with a five-goal-to-one third quarter to secure a 0.16.3 (109) to 2.7.9 (69) victory in front of just 24,884 fans at the then-Etihad Stadium.
Daniel Rich claimed the Michael Tuck Medal, while Dayne Zorko now holds a Dermott Brereton-esque distinction of being a one-time day (2024) and one-time night (2013) premiership player.
Lighting Premiership and AFLX
Who could ever forget the 1996 Lightning Premiership and AFLX?
Well… almost everyone.
To kick off the AFL’s centenary season, the league staged a one-off knockout tournament at Waverley Park, featuring all 16 teams playing 15-minute halves.
Essendon emerged victorious—and then the competition was never heard of again.
Then came AFLX. What more can be said about it that hasn’t already been said?
It was terrible.
Still, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide can at least claim to have a big X trophy in their cabinets.
And in 2019, the “Rampage” won the final edition in an all-stars format
Let’s never speak of it again.