# 1989 VFL reserves season

The 1989 VFL reserves season was the 70th season of the VFL reserve grade competition, the Australian rules football competition operating as the second-tier competition to the Victorian Football League (VFL).
The premiership was won by Fitzroy after they defeated Geelong in the 1989 VFL reserves grand final, held as a curtain-raiser to the 1989 VFL Grand Final at the MCG on 30 September. This was the last time Fitzroy won a VFL/AFL premiership in any grade before their 1996 merger with the Brisbane Bears.
This was also the last season under the VFL reserves name, before the competition was renamed to the AFL reserves when the VFL was renamed to the Australian Football League (AFL) in 1990.

## Ladder

Following their Round 1 match on 1 April, both St Kilda and Brisbane were found to have fielded unregistered players. As a result, the VFL fined both clubs and ordered that they receive zero premiership points for the match.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | NR | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Carlton | 20 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2312 | 1781 | 129.81 | 64 | Finals series |
| 2 | Geelong | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2721 | 1770 | 153.73 | 60 | Finals series |
| 3 | Essendon | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2057 | 1645 | 125.05 | 60 | Finals series |
| 4 | Footscray | 20 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2096 | 1541 | 136.02 | 52 | Finals series |
| 5 | Fitzroy (P) | 20 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2119 | 1711 | 123.85 | 52 | Finals series |
| 6 | North Melbourne | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2062 | 1731 | 119.12 | 48 |
| 7 | Collingwood | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1989 | 1781 | 115.77 | 44 |
| 8 | Hawthorn | 20 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1987 | 2136 | 93.02 | 38 |
| 9 | Sydney | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1652 | 1790 | 92.29 | 36 |
| 10 | Richmond | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1561 | 2370 | 65.86 | 28 |
| 11 | Melbourne | 20 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1581 | 2307 | 68.53 | 16 |
| 12 | Brisbane Bears | 20 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1779 | 2336 | 76.16 | 12 |
| 13 | St Kilda | 20 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1708 | 2788 | 61.26 | 6 |
Source: Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.

## Finals series
### Qualifying and elimination finals

| | Elimination final | Elimination final | Elimination final | |
| Saturday, 9 September (11:10am) | Footscray 15.14 (104) | def. | Fitzroy 6.10 (46) | VFL Park |
| | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | |
| Sunday, 10 September (11:10am) | Geelong 16.10 (106) | def. | Essendon 11.14 (80) | MCG |

### Semi-finals

| | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | |
| Saturday, 16 September (11:10am) | Essendon 8.11 (59) | def. by | Fitzroy 8.18 (66) | VFL Park |
| Saturday, 17 September (11:10am) | Carlton 12.16 (88) | def. by | Geelong 17.13 (115) | MCG |

### Preliminary final

| | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | |
| Saturday, 23 September (11:10am) | Carlton 11.15 (81) | def. | Fitzroy 16.16 (112) | VFL Park |

### Grand Final

| | 1989 VFL reserves Grand Final | 1989 VFL reserves Grand Final | 1989 VFL reserves Grand Final | |
| Saturday, 30 September (11:10am) | Geelong | def. by | Fitzroy | MCG |
| | 3.3 (21) 9.5 (59) 15.10 (100) 16.16 (112) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 2.4 (16) 7.7 (49) 11.10 (76) 17.12 (114) | |