Great to watch

We really should have won the flag in 1990 but we fluffed it.

Garry Lyon in his book says 1990 is the year that they were kicking themselves for not winning the flag. They had a really good side, it was an even comp and the eventual premier Collingwood wasn't that great. 

I think 2017 was a similar year (altho our 2017 side wasn't as good as the 1990 side) and we will kick ourselves for a longtime over our stupid capitulation to Collingwood in the last round. Had we made finals anything could have happened.

I have always believed we were the best side in that year. Our inability to play waverly properly cost us. The filth side that won the flag was the worst premiership side that I can remember.

"Craig Starcevic, premiership centre half forward" .... oh the mediocrity.

That's like saying "Matthew Bate, premiership centre half forward" ... no offence, Bater, but you're nowhere near a premiership centre half forward......

"Craig Starcevic, premiership centre half forward" ....

Only rivalled by "Karl Langdon, premiership centre half forward" for sheer egregious perversity.

Same old thing though. 

In 1990 we lost games we should have won. We had to beat Whorethorn on consecutive weeks. 

It took to much energy. 

Yes we were a dam good side that year, but that underbelly was still very vulnerable when shown

  On 21/11/2017 at 03:52, Big Carl said:

 

Lovely bit of very good football by the Dees - runners galore.

  On 21/11/2017 at 07:30, Sir Why You Little said:

Same old thing though. 

In 1990 we lost games we should have won. We had to beat Whorethorn on consecutive weeks. 

It took to much energy. 

Yes we were a dam good side that year, but that underbelly was still very vulnerable when shown

Its a while ago..but my memory is that we had a week off after beating the hawks for a second time and before that final against WC. They had drawn with collingwood and the AFL had to replay that  game teh following week so we got a week off. Everyone said WC couldn't win due to the travel etc.  So, being out of energy wasnt our problem....it should have been theirs.  O"Dwyer accidentilly knocked out Gary lyon on the Thursday night at training before the Sat and he missed the game, which didnt help. But we also played Waverley poorly that year and to my mind went into the game thinking of the following weeks . To this day 1990 is still the 2nd biggest disappointment of my 46 years  following the dees. It remains the one year of those 46 that  I thought  we were arguably  the best side in the comp and should have won it. 1987 comes first for the sheer intensity of the moment. The two losing GF's equal third ( I expected to lose both) and losing to the pies in  the last game last year 5th. 

1990 was the first year that we had a real chance of a flag since our resurrection began in 1987. In 1987 the lolly blues (think jumper colour change as a promotion for lolly manufacturer sponsor) were waiting to smash us even if we had got over the dorks.

In 1990, I recall that we had to play the dorks in the final round and the again in the first week of the finals. Two weeks in a row against the reigning premiers. Tony Campbell at full back (for those who remember set positions and man on man contests) beat the gorilla both weeks which made a major contribution to our successes.

The drawn final between the filth and wet toast caused us to lose any momentum and advantage in that finals series. Not for the first, or the last, time did over confidence seem to affect our game and we lost to the toasts and were eliminated.

The other years where we real chances were 1994 and, especially, 1998. In 1994 we had Schwarz and Lyon firing and, after smashing lolly blues and doggies, we had to confront the toast in WA at a time when they were dominant but still vulnerable. We ran out of puff.

In 1998 we beat the black birds by eight goals in the first week of the finals but did not get another crack at them after losing the prelim final to the marsupials due to being out-coached on the day.

In both years our team was good enough but couldn't last the four weeks of the finals. Since then we have struggled to put together a team and coach combination likely to contest. Things could be changing. 

  On 21/11/2017 at 05:19, jnrmac said:

Garry Lyon in his book says 1990 is the year that they were kicking themselves for not winning the flag. They had a really good side, it was an even comp and the eventual premier Collingwood wasn't that great. 

I think 2017 was a similar year (altho our 2017 side wasn't as good as the 1990 side) and we will kick ourselves for a longtime over our stupid capitulation to Collingwood in the last round. Had we made finals anything could have happened.

We beat Essendon west coast and Hawthorn twice each in 1990. Had knocked the Pies out of the finals in 1988 and 1989. 1990 was the one that got away.

  On 21/11/2017 at 22:30, tiers said:

1990 was the first year that we had a real chance of a flag since our resurrection began in 1987. In 1987 the lolly blues (think jumper colour change as a promotion for lolly manufacturer sponsor) were waiting to smash us even if we had got over the dorks.

In 1990, I recall that we had to play the dorks in the final round and the again in the first week of the finals. Two weeks in a row against the reigning premiers. Tony Campbell at full back (for those who remember set positions and man on man contests) beat the gorilla both weeks which made a major contribution to our successes.

The drawn final between the filth and wet toast caused us to lose any momentum and advantage in that finals series. Not for the first, or the last, time did over confidence seem to affect our game and we lost to the toasts and were eliminated.

The other years where we real chances were 1994 and, especially, 1998. In 1994 we had Schwarz and Lyon firing and, after smashing lolly blues and doggies, we had to confront the toast in WA at a time when they were dominant but still vulnerable. We ran out of puff.

In 1998 we beat the black birds by eight goals in the first week of the finals but did not get another crack at them after losing the prelim final to the marsupials due to being out-coached on the day.

In both years our team was good enough but couldn't last the four weeks of the finals. Since then we have struggled to put together a team and coach combination likely to contest. Things could be changing. 

The common denominator during all those years was losing winnable games which cost us double chances etc. Same thing happened in 2004-2006 as well. 2006 we lost twice to Carlton who won 3 games for the whole year

  On 21/11/2017 at 21:04, Wells 11 said:

Its a while ago..but my memory is that we had a week off after beating the hawks for a second time and before that final against WC. They had drawn with collingwood and the AFL had to replay that  game teh following week so we got a week off. Everyone said WC couldn't win due to the travel etc.  So, being out of energy wasnt our problem....it should have been theirs.  O"Dwyer accidentilly knocked out Gary lyon on the Thursday night at training before the Sat and he missed the game, which didnt help. But we also played Waverley poorly that year and to my mind went into the game thinking of the following weeks . To this day 1990 is still the 2nd biggest disappointment of my 46 years  following the dees. It remains the one year of those 46 that  I thought  we were arguably  the best side in the comp and should have won it. 1987 comes first for the sheer intensity of the moment. The two losing GF's equal third ( I expected to lose both) and losing to the pies in  the last game last year 5th. 

Mentally we were “Spent” after finishing off Whorethorn. 

You must remember what a Powerhouse they were during that period. 

If we had finished 3rd with a double chance then i believe we could have grabbed that 1990 flag

I had a poster of Andrew Obst on my wall when I was a kid, and a jumper signed by Gary Lyon.

The 90's were a great time to grow up as a demons supporter, even if we didn't win a GF. 

We've been so bad for so long sometimes I forget how much fun I used to have watching those games when I was younger, and how good those teams were.

Tony Campbell and Peter Rohde shut down Dunstall and Brereton respectively in consecutive weeks.

Ricky Jackson always managed to get fit for the finals.

  On 21/11/2017 at 04:33, Diamond_Jim said:

Great to watch

We really should have won the flag in 1990 but we fluffed it.

I agree. That was the year of our greatest opportunity. With the assistance of the unexpected week's break due to the Collingwood vs West Coast draw we should have done it easily. It was a very open finals series and anybody's flag.

 

Those hls show what a great player Lyon was when fit.. silky, quick, great hands. We should have won 1990.

  On 21/11/2017 at 22:30, tiers said:

1990 was the first year that we had a real chance of a flag since our resurrection began in 1987. In 1987 the lolly blues (think jumper colour change as a promotion for lolly manufacturer sponsor) were waiting to smash us even if we had got over the dorks.

In 1990, I recall that we had to play the dorks in the final round and the again in the first week of the finals. Two weeks in a row against the reigning premiers. Tony Campbell at full back (for those who remember set positions and man on man contests) beat the gorilla both weeks which made a major contribution to our successes.

The drawn final between the filth and wet toast caused us to lose any momentum and advantage in that finals series. Not for the first, or the last, time did over confidence seem to affect our game and we lost to the toasts and were eliminated.

The other years where we real chances were 1994 and, especially, 1998. In 1994 we had Schwarz and Lyon firing and, after smashing lolly blues and doggies, we had to confront the toast in WA at a time when they were dominant but still vulnerable. We ran out of puff.

In 1998 we beat the black birds by eight goals in the first week of the finals but did not get another crack at them after losing the prelim final to the marsupials due to being out-coached on the day.

In both years our team was good enough but couldn't last the four weeks of the finals. Since then we have struggled to put together a team and coach combination likely to contest. Things could be changing. 

From memory, in 1998 we were made to play North in the Prelim when we should have played Footscray. We had smashed Adelaide in week 1 of the finals but they ended up with the "softer" side of the finals draw.