2001 Ansett Australia Cup

The 2001 Ansett Australia Cup was contested by all sixteen clubs of the Australian Football League prior to the beginning of the 2001 AFL season. It ran for five weeks in February and March 2001. The competition took a round-robin format to provide all teams with at least 3 practice games to prepare for the 2001 regular season, with all clubs divided into four groups of four, and the group winners qualifying for the knockout semi finals. Group A comprised the defending premiers, , and. Group B featured, , and. Group C featured, , and  while finally Group D comprised , ,  and.

In the group stages, the, , and  finished top of their respective groups and qualified for the semi-finals. won Group A with 3 wins out of 3, qualifying ahead of and. The win over that secured  a place in the semi-finals was marred however by a serious broken leg suffered by key ruckman Brendon Lade. In Group B, won their place in the semi-finals after a 28-point win in the final group game against. Group C was won by after they defeated  by 13 points in the deciding game of the group. Group D was secured by after a 100-point thumping of  meant they qualified ahead of  on percentage.

In the knockout semi-finals, and  beat  and  respectively to qualify for the Grand Final. trailed at three-quarter time but kicked the first 5 goals of the final term to secure a 16-point victory in front of their own fans at Football Park. In the other semi-final at Colonial Stadium, the kicked the final 4 goals of the game against  to win by 15 points. The win by was significant. as it broke a finals hoodoo in Melbourne, and it set up the first grand final between two non-Victorian teams in VFL/AFL history.

Group 2

 * - bgcolor="#CCCCFF"
 * Home team||Home team score||Away team||Away team score||Ground||Date||Crowd
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 12.14 (86) || || 10.8 (68) || Colonial Stadium || Friday, 16 February || 30,072
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 * || 6.11 (47) ||  || 14.12 (96) || Subiaco Oval || Friday, 16 February || 16,905
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 14.12 (96) || || 12.9 (81) || Manuka Oval || Saturday, 24 February || 8157
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 * || 12.6 (78) ||  || 12.8 (80) || Subiaco Oval || Saturday, 24 February || 16,090
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 19.9 (123) || || 15.7 (97) || Colonial Stadium || Friday, 2 March || 8642
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 18.12 (120) || || 14.8 (92) || Colonial Stadium || Saturday, 3 March || 28,983

Group 3

 * - bgcolor="#CCCCFF"
 * Home team||Home team score||Away team||Away team score||Ground||Date||Crowd
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 * || 10.13 (73) ||  || 16.18 (114) || Westpac Stadium || Saturday, 17 February || 8000
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 * || 14.8 (92) ||  || 16.10 (106) || Colonial Stadium || Saturday, 17 February || 15,815
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 10.12 (72) || || 9.12 (66) || Optus Oval || Saturday, 24 February || 7291
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 * || 5.15 (45) ||  || 9.7 (61) || Bundaberg Rum Stadium || Saturday, 24 February || 5800
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 11.11 (77) || || 9.5 (59) || Football Park || Friday, 2 March || 20,169
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 10.14 (74) || || 9.7 (61) || Gabba || Saturday, 3 March || 22,957

Group 4

 * - bgcolor="#CCCCFF"
 * Home team||Home team score||Away team||Away team score||Ground||Date||Crowd
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 * || 8.9 (57) ||  || 14.14 (98) || Subiaco Oval || Saturday, 17 February || 11,392
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 13.11 (89) || || 6.9 (45) || York Park || Sunday, 18 February || 13,958
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 14.13 (97) || || 9.11 (65) || Optus Oval || Sunday, 25 February || 7875
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 10.12 (72) || || 5.16 (46) || Subiaco Oval || Sunday, 25 February || 9193
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 22.13 (145) || || 7.9 (51) || Optus Oval || Sunday, 4 March || 4391
 * - bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
 *  || 21.17 (143) || || 6.7 (43) || Colonial Stadium || Sunday, 4 March || 9813