# 2012 VFL season

The 131st season of the Victorian Football League/Victorian Football Association was held in 2012. Geelong won the 2012 VFL Premiership, defeating Port Melbourne in the Grand Final.

## Season summary

For the 2012 VFL season, the Bendigo Football Club changed its name to the Bendigo Gold. The change came after it was announced that 2012 would be the final season Bendigo would be aligned with the Essendon Football Club, with the latter to be fielding its own reserves team in the VFL from the 2013 season.
The Northern Bullants also changed their nickname, becoming the Northern Blues and adopting navy blue and white colours in the tenth year of its affiliation with the Carlton Football Club.
The top three teams from the 2011 VFL season – Port Melbourne, Werribee and Williamstown – competed in the 2012 Foxtel Cup, with Werribee losing in the Grand Final to WAFL team Claremont.
Casey Scorpions finished on top of the ladder with fourteen wins, however lost both its finals matches to be knocked out of the finals series. Port Melbourne and Geelong progressed to the Grand Final at Etihad Stadium. Geelong won its third premiership as a stand-alone VFL team, with previous victories in 2002 and 2007.

## Ladder

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Casey | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1633 | 1544 | 105.8 | 56 | Finals |
| 2 | Port Melbourne | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 2051 | 1371 | 149.6 | 52 | Finals |
| 3 | Geelong | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1730 | 1398 | 123.7 | 52 | Finals |
| 4 | Werribee | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1906 | 1441 | 132.3 | 48 | Finals |
| 5 | Williamstown | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1591 | 1406 | 113.2 | 46 | Finals |
| 6 | Sandringham | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1724 | 1650 | 104.5 | 40 | Finals |
| 7 | Box Hill | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1653 | 1500 | 110.2 | 36 | Finals |
| 8 | Bendigo | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1691 | 1686 | 100.3 | 36 | Finals |
| 9 | North Ballarat | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1588 | 1747 | 90.9 | 36 | |
| 10 | Northern Blues | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1459 | 1591 | 91.7 | 24 | |
| 11 | Coburg | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 1336 | 1861 | 71.8 | 16 | |
| 12 | Collingwood | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 1293 | 1934 | 66.9 | 16 | |
| 13 | Frankston | 18 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 1182 | 1708 | 69.2 | 10 | |

## Finals
### Qualifying and Elimination Finals

| | Qualifying Finals | Qualifying Finals | Qualifying Finals | |
| Sunday, 2 September (2:00 pm) | Casey Scorpions 3.10 (28) | def. by | Werribee 6.10 (46) | Casey Fields |
| Sunday, 2 September (2:10 pm) | Port Melbourne 20.12 (132) | def. | Geelong 16.14 (110) | North Port Oval |
| | Elimination Finals | Elimination Finals | Elimination Finals | |
| Sunday, 1 September (2:10 pm) | Williamstown 11.17 (83) | def. | Bendigo Gold 10.11 (71) | North Port Oval |
| Sunday, 1 September (2:00 pm) | Sandringham 14.4 (88) | def. by | Box Hill Hawks 18.10 (118) | Trevor Barker Beach Oval |

### Semi-finals

| | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | |
| Saturday, 8 September (2:10 pm) | Casey Scorpions 5.8 (38) | def. by | Williamstown 11.9 (75) | Casey Fields |
| Sunday, 9 September (2:10 pm) | Geelong 11.10 (76) | def. | Box Hill Hawks 9.8 (62) | Casey Fields |

### Preliminary Finals

| | Preliminary Finals | Preliminary Finals | Preliminary Finals | |
| Saturday, 15 September (2:10 pm) | Port Melbourne 12.15 (87) | def. | Williamstown 7.11 (53) | North Port Oval |
| Sunday, 16 September (2:10 pm) | Werribee 15.13 (103) | def. by | Geelong 16.12 (108) | North Port Oval |

### Grand Final

| | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | | |
| Sunday, 23 September (2:15 pm) | Port Melbourne | def. by | Geelong | Etihad Stadium (crowd: 14,536) | Report |
| | 4.2 (26) 7.6 (48) 10.9 (69) 11.9 (75) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 3.4 (22) 6.10 (46) 10.15 (75) 14.24 (108) | Norm Goss Memorial Medal: George Horlin-Smith (Geelong) | Norm Goss Memorial Medal: George Horlin-Smith (Geelong) |
| D. Galea 4, H. O'Farrell 2, W. Burstin 2, S. Dwyer, C. Cain, A. Bentick | D. Galea 4, H. O'Farrell 2, W. Burstin 2, S. Dwyer, C. Cain, A. Bentick | Goals | S. Kersten 3, M. Brown 2, G. Burbury 2, O. Stephenson, J. Stringer, M. Corrigan, J. Simpkin, S. Byrnes, D. Gleeson, S. Hogan | S. Kersten 3, M. Brown 2, G. Burbury 2, O. Stephenson, J. Stringer, M. Corrigan, J. Simpkin, S. Byrnes, D. Gleeson, S. Hogan |
| A. Bentick, S. Valenti, H. O'Farrell, S. Pleming, J. Baird, W. Burstin | A. Bentick, S. Valenti, H. O'Farrell, S. Pleming, J. Baird, W. Burstin | Best | G. Horlin-Smith, G. Burbury, O. Stephenson, D. Simpson, S. Byrnes, R. Bathie | G. Horlin-Smith, G. Burbury, O. Stephenson, D. Simpson, S. Byrnes, R. Bathie |

## Awards

* The J. J. Liston Trophy was won by Ben Ross (Werribee), who polled 20 votes. Ross finished ahead of Tom Couch (Casey Scorpions), who was second with 19 votes, and John Baird (Port Melbourne), who was third with 18 votes.
* The Frosty Miller Medal was won by Dean Galea (Port Melbourne), who kicked 76 goals for the season.
* The Fothergill–Round Medal was won by Dean Towers (North Ballarat)
* The top two non-AFL clubs – Port Melbourne and Werribee – qualified for the 2013 Foxtel Cup tournament.
* The premiership in the reserves, which was renamed the Development League from 2012, was won by Coburg. Coburg 16.12 (108) defeated Box Hill 15.11 (101) in the Grand Final, played as a curtain-raiser to the seniors first preliminary final on 15 September at North Port Oval.
2012 VFL Team of the Year :
| B: | Michael Searl (North Ballarat) | Kris Pendelbury (Collingwood) | Evan Panozza (Casey) |
| HB: | Brett Goodes (Williamstown) | Sam Pleming (Port Melbourne) | Leigh Osborne (Frankston) |
| C: | Adam Marcon (Northern Blues) | Shane Valenti (Port Melbourne) | Ben Ross (Werribee) |
| HF: | Kyle Martin (Frankston) | Khan Haretuku (Frankston) | Sam Dwyer (Port Melbourne) |
| F: | Matthew Little (Bendigo Bombers) | Dean Galea (Port Melbourne) | Chris Cain (Port Melbourne) |
| Foll: | Nick Meese (Northern Blues) | John Baird (Port Melbourne) (capt) | Ben Jolley (Williamstown) |
| Int: | Myles Sewell (North Ballarat) | Troy Selwood (Geelong) | Luke Tynan (Casey) |
| Int: | Myke Cook (Sandringham) | Lachlan Delahunty (Frankston) | Dean Towers (North Ballarat) |
| Coach: | Brett Lovett (Casey) | Brett Lovett (Casey) | Brett Lovett (Casey) |