Greatest wins (best 50 in the last 50 years)

[dl4e 5,851]

On 6/9/2020 at 2:46 PM, spirit of norm smith said:

No.21 1990 round 16 v Essendon at Windy Hill

This game is one that most Dees fans have good memories about.  The last quarter has been replayed a few times in the archive footage.  But there was a lot to this match. 

The Dees opened 1990 with 5 straight wins against quality teams but by July we’d slipped to 9 wins 6 losses after 3 straight losses.  The Dees had been beaten by 5 goals by the lowly Saints, then anniliated by the Kangas by 21 goals and then lost to the Cats by a goal at Geelong.  We desperately needed to win.
On the other hand, the Bombers were flying and back to the top of the ladder. 12 wins 2 losses. They had just smashed the Hawks, the reigning premiers by 11 goals. To go to Windy Hill and win seemed impossible.  Yet we had beaten them comprehensively in round 3 by 6-7 goals so there was a marginal hope.  

My family and I were holidaying in the Gold Coast and the match was fully televised on channel 7.  We had planned to watch the game but may have planned to venture out if it became ugly.  The breeze was worth 3-4 goals by reports and we kicked into the breeze at the start.  Whilst the Bombers were on top and missed some good chances, we were only 3 goals down. The Bombets defied the breeze to kick the opening 4 goals of the second quarter. Our hearts were dropping. The walk down to the beach was tempting us. But then the Dees clicked and kicked the next four goals to restore the faithful.  At half time the lead remained 15 points to the Bombers.  Bennett had been held to a single goal as we relied on Ricky Jackson as our only multiple goalkicker. 

Again in the third quarter we held in the game and were 27 points by the last break. It was a fight.  The Bombers opened better and went out to a 34 point lead via a Greg Anderson snap in his wrong foot.  Despite the wind, hope was fading by the half way point.  Some quick goals gave us momentum and a Greg Healy snap under pressure made it three in a row and back to a 3 goal lead.  Then a 3rd goal to Jackson and two goals to Darren Bennett (5 goals) put us in front. Bennett’s mark over Van Der Haar lives as a great moment as Van Der Haar was crushed by Bennett’s size and leap.  His goal lifted all in red and blue. Incredible.  We were jumping around.  What a fight back.  Three minutes to play and the Bombers were attacking.  They were relentless.  But on the rebound, Heaver ran through the middle, took three bounces and handballed to Jackson who missed from 20 metres out.  But he’d been pummeled after the kick. He got a free and nailed the sealer.  
 

We won by 8 points in an amazing upset.  You couldn’t get the smile off our faces.   In the final 14 minutes, the Dees kicked 7 goals to snatch it.  It proved the catalyst to our year and we won every game for the rest of the regular season to get 7 straight leading to the finals.  
 

(post script- But of course 1990 was still not our year). 
 

I went and stood in the Essendon members area with my boss from work who obviously was Essendon. It was truly one of the best wins I have seen from melbourne. 

[58er 6,455]

19 hours ago, TheKozzieExperience said:

I have been to every final since 1988, but this for me has been our best win in that time for a lot of reasons.

 

 

Yes it will be in our top 5 of the 50 Lizzie but My No  1 would be the QUAL Final  vs Carlton in 2000 or even the Prelim in 1988 at Waverley vs Blues.

In each of these 3 games Our opponents were below their best by about 2/3 goals in form or at the end of a reign of success (all were defending champs when we beat them).

Many years in our Finals in the last 50 years have been curtailed by The eventual Premiers  in the Prelim or Semi Final stage or the Grand Finals of 88 and 2000.

Adelaide  in 1998 were an exception and we never met Carlton in 1987 when on a roll.

Generally we also didn't finish in The top 4  or 5 To get a doulble chance, excepting for 2000. 
 

Interesting last 19 games as best. 

[spirit of norm smith 16,466]

No.19 2000 Round 14 v Collingwood at MCG

Another massive Queens Birthday clash.  No matter what, this game always was a must win for the Dees faithful.  In 2000 we’d shown ourselves as a team to be watched and repeated the 1998 form. We were 5 wins 3 losses and then met the undefeated Dons, losing in a close one by 2 goals in a tough contest. Expectations were high. But then the wheels fell off and we lost 3 in a row, including  round 13 when the Blues destroyed us by 16 goals (to push us to 6-7 record) and out of the top 8.  The Pies had new coach Malthouse on board but had a shocking 5-8 record having lost their past eight games.  The clash was crucial to keep both teams within sight of the finals. 

The opening was even with both sides trying to break away. At half time it was 3 points lead to the Dees.  Schwarz and Neitz were ineffective, held by Prestigiacomo and Richardson. Despite Buckley’s absence, the midfield was an arm wrestle.  It was tense. We didn’t foresee what was to follow. 
 

In the second half, the magic of the wizard Jeff Farmer was on show. He’d not been sighted in the 1st half and was dragged by Daniher.  He exploded with 9 goals in the second half to entertain the crowd and his own teammates. As we sat on level 1 behind the Punt Road goals, we celebrated in the last quarter as he kicked 6 goals to demoralise the Pies.  The Wiz had us jumping out of our seats. Big marks, goals in the run and a huge speccy next to Robbo.  He was brilliant.  
The Dees amassed 15 goals after half time to win it by 65 points.  Yze was a star. White, Johnstone, Rigoni & Woey all had great games.  But all the way back to the Duke and at the Duke, there was only one man we were talking about ...  The Wiz. Our hope had returned and we felt like the confidence of the team also was renewed.  The next week we smashed a strong Hawks team by 12 goals, and The Wiz kicked 7 goals. 

The QB win over the Pies had given us the belief and momentum to drive us towards one of the most outstanding years since 1964.  The Dees went on to win 8 of the last 9 games in 2000, only losing to the Kangas by 1point after missing easy chances to win it.   We locked in the highest place finish in 36 years to be in 3rd place with a 14-8 record.  

Melbourne 22.11.143 defeated Collingwood 12.6.78 

[old dee 23,792]

There is only one I am interested in and it has not happened yet. The rest are just trying to find roses at the tip.

[spirit of norm smith 16,466]

No.18 1991 Elimination Final v Essendon at VFL PARK

1991 was an absolute roller coaster of a year.  The Dees had won 6-2 from the first 8 games, then slumped after a string of losses to 7-8 record, before winning 6 out of 7 to make the finals and finish 5th with 13 wins.  We kept the reigning premiers the Pies out of the finals as they finished 7th.  It saw the arrival of Allen Jakovich has he lit up the footy world with bags of goals kicking 60 goals in the last 10 games of the year. The 1991 Dees could be as good and as bad as any team. 
 

The Bombers had beaten us in controversy during the year at Windy Hill. The Dees had come back to be 1 goal behind when Steven Clark marked about 50 metres out.  The siren went and the crowd streamed onto the ground. Clark was crowded by spectators and waited several minutes to take the kick. In fact his kick was a few metres short and stopped by spectators.  Chaos. We felt cheated and wanted revenge.  The Bombers were still a top team and had many stars and veterans from their premiership winning teams plus young stars like Wanganeen and Long.  It would be tough. 

There was a 3-4 goal breeze favouring the freeway or small scoreboard end.  We were sitting on the outer side half forward upper stand area and could appreciate the wind advantage.  The Bombers opened strongly in a physical first quarter to lead by 28 points and then led by 20 points as they bottled up the game in the second. Lyon was in defence as we used Spalding, Bennett and Jakovich forward.  Jakovich was held to one goal by Shane Heard and didn’t appear to be moving well. It was not great given the Bombers could blow open the game with the wind in the 3rd.  

But the intensity of the Dees lifted after the break. Northey must have inspired them. Viney, Obst and Eishold won the midfield, as Stynes started to not only win the ruck but kick an important inspirational goal.  Jakovich took some marks judging the wind, and kicked 4 goals for the quarter.  Despite two quick Bomber goals, we owned the quarter. Late goals to Jakovich and Lovell has us winning by 4 points. An absolute turnaround.  We were up on our feet.  
The last quarter opened with 3 goals to the Dees in the first 8 minutes and game over. Lovell marked to stretch it to a 5 goal lead.  We had it.  The last one was Jakovich’s 8th goal to see us win by 6 goals and march on.  Stynes was best, with Jakovich and Andy Lovell (4goals) bring the main goalkicker.  The Bombers were out and our recent rivalry had us on top.  We enjoyed the car trip home listening to another roller coaster day in our 1991 season.  

Melbourne 17.11.113 defeated Essendon 11.9.75 

(postscript- we had to play the Eagles, the minor premiers, the following week as they lost at home to the Hawks in the 1v2 clash.  They proved too strong for us especially with Jakovich injured early in the game and Wight out suspended). 
 

 

[58er 6,455]

6 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

No.18 1991 Elimination Final v Essendon at VFL PARK

1991 was an absolute roller coaster of a year.  The Dees had won 6-2 from the first 8 games, then slumped after a string of losses to 7-8 record, before winning 6 out of 7 to make the finals and finish 5th with 13 wins.  We kept the reigning premiers the Pies out of the finals as they finished 7th.  It saw the arrival of Allen Jakovich has he lit up the footy world with bags of goals kicking 60 goals in the last 10 games of the year. The 1991 Dees could be as good and as bad as any team. 
 

The Bombers had beaten us in controversy during the year at Windy Hill. The Dees had come back to be 1 goal behind when Steven Clark marked about 50 metres out.  The siren went and the crowd streamed onto the ground. Clark was crowded by spectators and waited several minutes to take the kick. In fact his kick was a few metres short and stopped by spectators.  Chaos. We felt cheated and wanted revenge.  The Bombers were still a top team and had many stars and veterans from their premiership winning teams plus young stars like Wanganeen and Long.  It would be tough. 

There was a 3-4 goal breeze favouring the freeway or small scoreboard end.  We were sitting on the outer side half forward upper stand area and could appreciate the wind advantage.  The Bombers opened strongly in a physical first quarter to lead by 28 points and then led by 20 points as they bottled up the game in the second. Lyon was in defence as we used Spalding, Bennett and Jakovich forward.  Jakovich was held to one goal by Shane Heard and didn’t appear to be moving well. It was not great given the Bombers could blow open the game with the wind in the 3rd.  

But the intensity of the Dees lifted after the break. Northey must have inspired them. Viney, Obst and Eishold won the midfield, as Stynes started to not only win the ruck but kick an important inspirational goal.  Jakovich took some marks judging the wind, and kicked 4 goals for the quarter.  Despite two quick Bomber goals, we owned the quarter. Late goals to Jakovich and Lovell has us winning by 4 points. An absolute turnaround.  We were up on our feet.  
The last quarter opened with 3 goals to the Dees in the first 8 minutes and game over. Lovell marked to stretch it to a 5 goal lead.  We had it.  The last one was Jakovich’s 8th goal to see us win by 6 goals and march on.  Stynes was best, with Jakovich and Andy Lovell (4goals) bring the main goalkicker.  The Bombers were out and our recent rivalry had us on top.  We enjoyed the car trip home listening to another roller coaster day in our 1991 season.  

Melbourne 17.11.113 defeated Essendon 11.9.75 

(postscript- we had to play the Eagles, the minor premiers, the following week as they lost at home to the Hawks in the 1v2 clash.  They proved too strong for us especially with Jakovich injured early in the game and Wight out suspended). 
 

 

Didwe play the Bombers in the week prior to this game and beat them?

The bombers were well off the boil and had lost a few games near the end of season I recall also as there normal large support was not at VFL Park fir this game 

Think crowd about 35,000 only actually!

Any comments WJ? 
thanks 

[spirit of norm smith 16,466]

5 hours ago, 58er said:

Didwe play the Bombers in the week prior to this game and beat them?

The bombers were well off the boil and had lost a few games near the end of season I recall also as there normal large support was not at VFL Park fir this game 

Think crowd about 35,000 only actually!

Any comments WJ? 
thanks 

The Bombers were still a top team but had to play the Hawks, Eagles and Pies twice (and lost) in 1991 as the draw started to become more skewed.  They had lost to the Hawks and Eagles in the last two rounds but Sheedy had declared them as ready to go for the finals.   The 1991 win over the Bombers was a great come from behind victory.  

[58er 6,455]

10 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

The Bombers were still a top team but had to play the Hawks, Eagles and Pies twice (and lost) in 1991 as the draw started to become more skewed.  They had lost to the Hawks and Eagles in the last two rounds but Sheedy had declared them as ready to go for the finals.   The 1991 win over the Bombers was a great come from behind victory.  

Thanks WJ 

Yes was at the scoring end behind goals and seem to recall I wasn't that worried when we trailed early in the match 

Jako was good and Lovell also as you reported.

[Dr. Gonzo 24,225]

I missed both of those wins against the Bombers! In 1990 my dad must have been off the wagon after our mid-season slump. I remember that day I was at the G with my cousin instead watching his Tigers get done by the Hawks. My uncle was letting me know Melbourne were getting done too but I could see the scoreboard ticking over in the last quarter as we clawed back to a famous victory. Spewing I missed it I never saw is win at Windy Hill.

1991 I missed the Elimination Final. We were on a plane coming back from overseas. When we landed my dad asked who won the footy game and when we were told Melbourne we all started cheering.

 

[spirit of norm smith 16,466]

No.17 2017 Round 14 v West Coast Eagles at Subiaco

The Dees were up and firing. We faced a tough road trip but had our confidence up. Both teams were on 7 wins (5 losses) so a crucial match up.  But the Dees had not won in WA since 2002 and hadn’t beaten the Eagles since 2009.  The Eagles were as arrogant as ever.  Yet this 2017 Demon team had started to break through the longstanding run of losses. We’d won 3 in a row including a Queens Birthday epic against the Pies and smashed the reigning premiers the Bulldogs by 10 goals in the previous game. 
A big question though was where would our goals come from? Hogan was out and Watts copped a hamstring injury late against the Dogs. 
 

The game opened in frenetic style as it was a hot contest. Our ball movement and run was good on the vast Subiaco surface. It was goal for goal in the first half and we led by a goal at half time.  A half time melee erupted as Hunt got smashed by McGovern.  As we watched on the TV, there was a sense that we weren’t going to be pushed aside. 
In the third we had chances to pull clear but made some critical mistakes.  The Eagles got one goal clear at 3/4 qtr time. The Eagles got the first goal in the last.  Would we be overrun? The Dees kept in it with Petracca and Harmesy getting good goals but then the Eagles hit back with 2 more goals and we were 16 points down at the 20 minute mark. I remember feeling like it was a good effort but the roaring crowd, umpires and more experienced Eagles might pull away. (I think the Eagles again at home had about double our free kicks). 
This Demon team however wasn’t ready to be silenced. Pedersen took a great pack mark about 20 metres out and goaled, followed by a Tom McDonald goal.  Back to 4 points.
With under a minute left Michael Hibberd launched a ball deep inside the Dees goal, it hit Pedersens hands, bounced at right angles, picked up by Tom McDonald who spun in a McGovern tackle and snapped a left foot ball from 8 metres out. We were in front. We jumped around in the living room as we saw the Dees players now all sweep to the defensive half.   Could we hang on?  The Eagles launched an attack only for Jordan Lewis to take a matchsaving mark on the siren.  What a victory.  We broke the drought against the Eagles. The players celebrated like we’d won a final.  It was huge. 

Jack Viney starred. 40 possessions. Huge.
Tom McDonald- 5 goals. Amazing effort. 
The defence Frost, Lewis and Hibberd. Bernie Vince was almost BOG as he rebounded and setup our run. Tyson and Oliver were great.  It was truly a great victory. Definitely one to remember. 
 

Melbourne 15.9.99 defeated West Coast Eagles 14.12.96 

Edited June 16, 2020 by spirit of norm smith
X

[spirit of norm smith 16,466]

By the way, last weeks win over the Blues is not in the list of greatest victories!!! 

[Demonstone 22,564]

I've got a sneaking suspicion that 1987 may bob up on more than one occasion in the remaining 16 instalments.

[radar 1,865]

“the Templeton game”

No. 18 Melbourne v Geelong Round 5, 1983, Kardinia Park

Memory tells me it was Easter but a record of the 1983 season shows ANZAC day on Monday 25 April. Pretty pumped over long weekend cos taking delivery of 67 MGB on the Tuesday. My dream car, Mustang Convertible remained in my dreams only, or Hollywood.

 

Attended the game with my Geelong mate and stood in a Cat stronghold. Nowhere else at Kardinia Park. Then, a provincial ground. Trees abounded alongside wooden stands. 

 

The Cats leapt out, smacking us with handbags. I recall 6-0-36 to nothing sometime in the first. They had the Nankervis brothers, Peter Featherby, Peake and Malarkey. Somehow a Melbourne side with Robbie, Peter Moore and Gerard Healy managed 1.2.8 to 7.2.44  at Quarter time.  My back ached from standing. Cool and ominously grey. Thoughts wandered to the MG. 

 

Studying the games stats I see five of our side came from North. Willo, Jarrott, Icke, Zantuck and Rodney Wright - the only player I cannot recall. Add one RDB and guessing Xavier Tanner was injured we seemed Roo-ted. If anyone else was there, or can offer more description, please help me. Our second quarter with Batto, Bamblett, Connolly and Ellingworth saw us make up some ground to be 64 to 44 at the main break. Miserable wind blew off Corio Bay, dark clouds foretold no enlightenment. My back hurt some more  

 

I cannot recall much of what happened next. My main recollection is Big Name recruit Kelvin Templeton marking and kicking everything to the non city end. Must’ve bagged 4 or 5. 

Total joy.

I do recall a slightly obnoxious Radar giving it to the Cat fans as the boys ran rampant kicking 9.5 to 3.2 for a 17 point lead at at the last change. 

 

Templeton and Moore had been huge off season signings for us and about 4 rounds in, looked like it was clicking into place. I’m guessing Templeton bagged another couple in the final term to finish with 8. Our heroes kicked three straight to their 3.6 to get up by 11 points. Eight goal turnaround. 
Don’t remember any further back discomfort  

Elshaugh, Giles, Alan Johnson, Rhino Richards and Michael Seddon rounded out the twenty. 

 

A great win, fantastic, come from behind. At Geelong. 

 

Final scores 18.13.121 to 16.14.110

28 000 crowd. 

How many Demonlanders?

 

Next day I was rostered off. Lived Wantirna, walking distance to Knox City and Robbie Flower’s sports shop.  I go in and the champ is there. Mentioned how pumped I was about our great performance.  He wanted to know what I liked about it, all smiles, and asking me when I thought we had it in the bag. Champion. 

 

The MG came and went. Disappointing as the Demons. Forty years on, realised my dream;  V8 convertible. Fixed in the cabin of every GT is a dash plaque; Mustang - since 1964

[spirit of norm smith 16,466]

Good times. Alas I didn’t go this one. I did go in 84 because it was around my birthday (16th) and we went to see my aunt at Geelong and my Dad, my uncle (a Cats man) and I went to the footy. The Dees lost but it was close and Templeton kicked a bag. I remember sitting on those “one row” of wooden bench around the boundary. My Dad and Uncle John stood behind me enjoying some liquid bevies. It was a rough affair as I remember a big fight and the crowd being pretty rough and ready.

Such was the time at the suburban grounds. Moorabin, Windy Hill and Vic Park of course were the most colourful for my teenage years.  I was amazed by the stark vast empty stands as I was spoilt by attending most Dees games at the G or VFL Park. 

[spirit of norm smith 16,466]

No.16 1998 Round 22 v Richmond at the MCG

1998 what a year. We’d been in decline through 1995 to 1997 with merger talks, Schwarz’s 3 knee reconstructions, Lyon’s injured back, Viney’s tennis holiday and the wooden spoon in 1997 to sink our spirits. 
 

But 1998 saw a new dawn. Neale Daniher had arrived and his strict but calculated style appeared to be working. I remember a great win over the Kangas (the dominant team) in round 2 giving us a feeling that we were able to recapture the form of a few years ago.   Then we nailed a few more wins and beat the Pies by a few points in huge win with a true finals atmosphere. That was in round 8 and 6 wins had us in the top 4.  I went overseas for 10 weeks and got back to see us play the Kangas again (they smashed us by 11 goals). We were now 9-8 and falling quickly with a poor percentage. However with Neitz and Farmer firing, we won the next 4 matches including wins over Power in Adelaide and a big round 21 over the Swans who were in 2nd place. This sets the tone for round 22. 
 

The Dees were in 6th place and would have to play the Sydney in Sydney the next week if we won. A loss would see us tumble to 8th and a showdown against the Kangas likely. The Tigers were in 8th and playing for a finals berth and could finish as high as 6th. 
 

The crowd was 80,000. Buzzing. We sat on level 1 behind the Punt Road goals.  It was massive.  The Demons fans erupted in the first quarter from a sensational mark (mark of the Year) over Gary Lyon and Scott Turner.  Farmer just kept going up and timed it beautifully. He nailed the goal and the Dees kicked 5 to 1 for the term to excite the faithful. But in the second, wasted opportunities only saw us lead by 3 goals as the Tigers got a late goal to climb back into it.  

In the second half early goals to Farmer and Neita reassured our position.  We marched out to a 7 goal lead at 3/4 time. The Dees supporters were ecstatic.  The last quarter started with another two quick goals and we piled on 7 for the quarter to demolish the Tigers. The final margin was 76 points.
We kicked the Tigers out of the finals on percentage. 

White and Stynes had dominated in the ruck. Farmer and Neitz each kicked 5 goals. Jeff Farmer (the Wiz) was amazing. We could not stop talking about his mark. Even today it is superhuman. But the team was more than just the forwards. Shanahan, Ingerson and Seecamp (in perhaps his best game) controlled the back half. Yze, Rigoni, Woey, Tingay, Anthony McDonald and the Febeys provided the run. This team was on fire.  

The crowd knew we had a special group, returning to the finals and we couldn’t wait to return the next week for September action. With the Saints amazingly losing to the bottom placed Lions, the Dees finished 4th. Not guaranteed but a quasi double chance finish. We also would return to play at the MCG the next week and not travel to Sydney or Adelaide, and would face the Crows (the reigning premiers). That’s another story. 

[spirit of norm smith 16,466]

No.15 1989 Elimination Final v Collingwood at VFL PARK Waverley

Another elimination final and another final at VFL Park Waverley. The Dees had (1989) another year like 1988 where a form slump would again cast them into elimination finals footy.  We were flying high at 13-3 after 16 rounds and 2nd in the ladder amongst the powerful Hawks, Bombers and Cats. But injuries and lost form saw us lose 5 of the last 6 games. We held onto 4th place (14 wins) but a percentage of 96% showed our demise. We had hoped after the disappointment of 87 and 88 but no confidence leading into these finals. 

We would play the inform Magpies, a strong unit with 3 straight wins leading in. We had knocked them out in 1988 (they lost both finals) so they wanted revenge.  They were arrogant. You could sense it in their supporters. Shaw, Daicos, Brown and many more very good players.  The Demons were missing 4-5 key players through injury and we thought the year would just descend away. 

The game opened with the Pies taking an early lead. The Dees had the breeze to the big scoreboard end but were behind. The Pies kicked 3 goals to start the 2nd quarter to get 4 goals up. We felt like it was all over already. But somehow with the last 2 goals to the half to the Dees, it meant we were only 9 points down. We were still in it. 

In the 3rd quarter, I remember the avalanche of goals. We were sitting in the forward pocket to the right of the scoreboard.  We kicked 7 goals in the first 15 minutes of the 3rd quarter to grab the advantage and despite the Pies kicking a few majors, we managed a 9 goal quarter and had a 4 goal lead. The goal frenzy was led by Darren a Bennett, Brian Wilson and Ricky Jackson. “Willo” was exciting and lifted the whole team. Bennett was brought in 1989 to address our weakness of a recognized full forward. He’d delivered. The Pies were shaken. Yet they had the wind now and 4 goals seemed barely enough. 

However the Dees held on, with the sealer kicked by Bennett.  The final margin was 23 points. What a turnaround. Jimmy Stynes was BOG and he had carried us. Lovett had shutdown Daicos. Stretch’s run on the wing was excellent. Alan Johnson was sensational again. Bennett’s 4 goals were crucial. The Pies supporters were shattered. Two years in a row they’d been bundled out by their old enemy.  We enjoyed the win and the September action. 

Melbourne 17.9.111 defeated Collingwood 13.10.88 

[dl4e 5,851]

Remember the above game well. Brian Wilson was a freak in the 3rd quarter. Best of all was a little old filth lady brandashing me with her umbrella after the game.

[Neil Crompton 5,562]

14 minutes ago, dl4e said:

Remember the above game well. Brian Wilson was a freak in the 3rd quarter. Best of all was a little old filth lady brandashing me with her umbrella after the game.

i think i knew her mother dl4e.

I went to the 1970 grand final - Collingwood Carlton. I think I bought a ticket from a scalper at the ground. Unfortunately I was seated behind the goals at the punt road end - among the pies cheer squad of all places. Wanted Carlton to win, but had this little old lady with a brolley "tap" me on the shoulder whenever I cheered for Carlton. Although to be fair up until half time i copped a lot of abuse from many others around me. Fortunately Carltons miraculous third quarter comeback put a gag on the rabble around me and i didn't get too many more taps from that brolley. But I will never forget the look of horror on their faces when the final siren sounded. And I simply smiled at that little old lady.

[spirit of norm smith 16,466]

I recall as with most finals in the 80s, it was very physical. No soft free kicks or ducking heads. I recall we got thrashed by the Cats the following week. We were undermanned and they had a very very good team in 89. 

[MyFavouriteMartian 572]

7 hours ago, dl4e said:

Remember the above game well. Brian Wilson was a freak in the 3rd quarter. Best of all was a little old filth lady brandashing me with her umbrella after the game.

Where did she 'Brand' you,  'dl4e'.   from behind no doubt,   wit da poyte end.?    ?

[Half forward flank 1,022]

For me, first final to end the wilderness years. 1987.  Never forget when Northey had the boys do a slow lap around the boundary pre game.  Gee, he had those boys fine tuned for success and excitement. Anything seemed possible that day.