Still annoys me to this day that adelaide could be so comprehsively beaten in first week of the finals after finishing 5th and not be eliminated but instead put on the easier side of the finals series and not have to face north until the gf who were the clear premiership favourites ...and where norf choked and gifted the crows back to back flags 

Glad they subsequently changed the format a couple of years later,  but 98 was a golden chance for us to pinch a flag- we were more than capable. Lady luck has not been on our side for a long long time 

  On 05/04/2016 at 20:22, Delusional demon 82 said:

Still annoys me to this day that adelaide could be so comprehsively beaten in first week of the finals after finishing 5th and not be eliminated but instead put on the easier side of the finals series and not have to face north until the gf who were the clear premiership favourites ...and where norf choked and gifted the crows back to back flags 

Glad they subsequently changed the format a couple of years later,  but 98 was a golden chance for us to pinch a flag- we were more than capable. Lady luck has not been on our side for a long long time 

I have dreamt this nightmare many times ...

The 7 news promo at the start of the video is classic too...it wouldnt be 98 if there wasn't a bill clinton and Monica lewensky reference ☺

We'd have smashed North in the GF. They were off that day. Not themselves. They outplayed us in the Prelim but they were very flat on GF day. 

I seriously think Melbourne and Adelaide were the two best teams throughout the GF series. North were unconvincing against the Bombers, and we may have beaten them in the qualifying finals had it been 1 vs 4 instead of 4 vs 5. I suspect that had it been the newer system we'd have played probably Sydney or St Kilda in the Prelim. Adelaide bounced back for three dominating displays leading to the flag.

Damn, it was the one that got away. We needed that extra break after week 1. 

EDIT: We averaged 40,000 at our home games.

Part of the annoying aspect was drawing North on a Friday night. Didn't they have some agreement with the AFL back then? I recall they'd played a few in a row in the Fri night slot inc. te hQualifier and we hadn't had a Friday all season. Also, a shorter turnaround after their week off.

And going by the round 22 ladder positions - North 1, Dogs 2, Dees 4, Crows 5 - we should have played the Dogs in our preliminary final and the Crows should have played North.

That last round and final ladder for 1998 is a thing of beauty. We were the reason for Richmond finishing 9th.

  On 06/04/2016 at 01:52, Skuit said:

That last round and final ladder for 1998 is a thing of beauty. We were the reason for Richmond finishing 9th.

Especially considering that after round 19 we were 9th.

I guess the good thing of the finals system then was that someone from 6th could still win the flag. Bit unfair in how it placed teams and how teams in 3rd and 4th were rather but having to play 1st and 2nd in a Prelim if they won the Qualifying and Semi. 

Just going up the steps at the Punt Rd and saw/ heard Jeff Farmer take an absolute screamer in first 30 seconds, then miss an absolute sitter. 

Just posted part 2 at the top of the thread. Enjoy!

One thing I remember from this game were how significant the input of the Febey twins were. They contributed very well in this game. How good was it to see Viney tackle Riccuito at that first bounce. Apple doesn't fall far from a tree.........#Jack

During '98 I watched Tingay with much interest having him missed so much football. I very clearly remember the game at Princess Park earlier in the season when the Dees beat the Blues - no easy feat! Tingay had just returned to the fold and gradually improved throughout the season.

'98 was a great year and unfortunately ran into a white hot Roos in the PF. Simpson, McKernan were massive. And their backline had our four pronged attack covered. Archer wore Gaz like a glove from memory. 

The Wiz!

I remember the crowd singing the song walking out of the ground at some point during that season and being amazed at the feeling of success and unity that I had not experienced before. The atmosphere at those games was so good, in some ways even better than '00 because it was unexpected.

In the first 10 minutes have counted at least 2 deliberate out of bounces and 1 deliberate rushed behind by today's standards...

1 of my favourite seasons, I remember the week before against Richmond they needed to win to make the 8 was a huge crowd, farmer took that massive mark and we smashed them had a big brawl happen behind me and to my surprise it was Richmond fans fighting each other, my biggest memory from the Adelaide game was the crowd it was so loud and farmer was rediculous back then was a great day 

  On 06/04/2016 at 00:11, Skuit said:

Part of the annoying aspect was drawing North on a Friday night. Didn't they have some agreement with the AFL back then? I recall they'd played a few in a row in the Fri night slot inc. te hQualifier and we hadn't had a Friday all season. Also, a shorter turnaround after their week off.

Yep, the thing was North pioneered the Friday night game and we copped them at night.

Playing them during daylight when games were traditionally played may have given us a different outcome.

Plus the whole thing about us getting the harder game as punishment for wining against Adelaide. That flag would have been ours.

Double dang!!

What a forward line....Lyon, Neitz, Schwartz and Farmer.....and all fit and firing at the same time!

Look at all those players playing like they care about the jumper

 

 

Part 3 now up.

I think everyone forgets that Jeff White got a knee injury within the last 5 minutes of the Saints game when we were cruising and in hindsight he should have resting. Whitey was the most athletic ruckman by a country mile back then and from the bounce would thump the ball into our forward line and to our advantage regularly throughout a game. The knee injury (PCL I think) completely took away our ability to dominate the centre square and also use White as an option around the ground where his high marking could be used as a chop out to get our Daniher run and carry game plan going. I think he had about 3 possies for the game after averaging 15-20 for the rest of the season. To me this is what lost us the game against North and the flag.

On the Friday night against North there was a gale blowing, which certainly didn't help our play.North were far more experienced, and handled the conditions better.    I arrived home after the game to find a huge, heavy window frame blown in.

i have no doubt we'd have beaten North in  normal conditions.

  On 07/04/2016 at 02:07, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

On the Friday night against North there was a gale blowing, which certainly didn't help our play.North were far more experienced, and handled the conditions better.    I arrived home after the game to find a huge, heavy window frame blown in.

i have no doubt we'd have beaten North in  normal conditions.

I still remember Farmer taking a screamer over Robert Scott within the first 30 seconds too, which I thought was a great omen in that Prelim.  He then proceeded to go back and miss from 35 metres out!

Such a great finals series and run in.

Rnd 21 - 52k at the G to watch us beat the Swans to make the finals - plugger kicks his 100th.

Rnd 22 - 76k at the G to watch us beat the tigers by 76 points. Farmer takes a screamer on Garry's head. 

Qualifying final - 60k at the G to watch us beat Adelaide - farmer kicks 7 or 8 on McLeod. 

Semi final - 88k (second biggest crowd of the season) to see us [censored] the Saints. 

Prelim - 73 k to see us lose to North. Too good in the wind and it was a bit wet as well wasn't it? Farmer screamer in the first minute - the crowd noise then was absolutely amazing. 

Malcolm Blight says after the Grand Final "Melbourne were the team we were really worried about". 

  On 07/04/2016 at 02:14, Wiseblood said:

I still remember Farmer taking a screamer over Robert Scott within the first 30 seconds too, which I thought was a great omen in that Prelim.  He then proceeded to go back and miss from 35 metres out!

Haha - I remember going into the game thinking we needed everything to go our way and thought at the time what a bad omen that first miss was. Ditto GF 2000.