A brief history of our finals matches

[Twodogs]

MHS played mid-week football and they also had teams in the WJFA and other eastern suburban leagues. I think it was a couple of his school teachers, one of whom was heavily involved in his school football commitments that hatched the plan which as you say, didn't really have a huge amount to do with actually needing footy boots as a priority.

It's funny that one little street in Kingsville spawned two AFL players at the same time. Rohan Smith and Ijlia Grgic. And pretty much polar opposite type AFL players. One small and speedy and a great kick and one big, strong and not the most reliable kick. Completely different pathways too.

[jeemak]

You'd have to say the latter would have benefited from current day talent identification and management, and potentially would have had a greater incentive to focus on football and treat it as a priority whilst still managing to earn his engineering qualifications.

At the age of 21 he's kicked a bag of six in his debut season, carried the ruck in his second senior year and kicked 27 goals, following things up with 39 goals as a tall forward and ruck. Bloody good numbers, elite by today's standards.

Shame he struggled with continuity after those seasons.

[Twodogs]

What wore him down on the end? Was it expectation, injury, impatience at the trough of form he went through?

He should really have had a long career.

[LostDoggy]

What wore him down on the end? Was it expectation, injury, impatience at the trough of form he went through?

He should really have had a long career.

Going to Essendon?

[jeemak]

Injuries (back). Playing at MHSOBFC in the years he was finishing up there was always a hope he'd come to us and dominate in our A-grade years but it was never realistic. By the time he finished with WCE, and ended up at EFC it was pretty clear he was cooked. His post footy career was definitely more important to him and fair enough (by my understanding), he had six or seven years at the elite level and that was a pretty good stint.

Hence my comments about him likely benefiting from a more modern system. A guy like that might not have faltered so quickly these days, and may have had an avenue towards longevity, given we now look at 200cm players as not being truly developed until they turn 25.

[Sedat]

What wore him down on the end? Was it expectation, injury, impatience at the trough of form he went through?

He should really have had a long career.

Being fat (by AFL standards) wouldn't have helped. Wasn't the best trainer the game has ever seen. He was probably ahead of his time with the type of player he was - would be the ideal prototype ruck/forward in todays game. Back then the traditional full-forward still ruled the roost - Lockett, Dunstall, Ablett, Modra, etc.. were still at or close to their peak.

[LostDoggy]

VFL/AFL FINAL #28 (9-18)

Can't say I've been looking forward to this one.

So Adelaide get over Geelong and we meet them in the Prelim at the MCG in front of 70,088.

Either way the result will be historic, StKilda had already won their Prelim and many were talking of the romance of the 2 least successful Melbourne clubs meeting in a GF (although it would've been Adelaide's first GF, so still a good storyline there).

We went into the game strong favourites, having beaten Adelaide comprehensively in Adelaide in R20 and having won our first final so comprehensively. Adelaide, by comparison kicked 4.2 to 1.4 in the last quarter to sneak past Geelong by 8 points in Adelaide.

I remember the first 10 minutes as similar to the Sydney final, with fierce contests, but with our defence looking really strong. We never cracked Adelaide open, but a lovely passage leading to a Matthew Dent goal late in the first really settled the nerves. At quarter time we led 2.2.14 to 0.7.7 (I don't remember Adelaide missing easy shots, more that we forced low percentage shots and rushed a couple).

In the 2nd the game really opened up and we put ourselves into a strong position, going in 31 points ahead; 10.6.66 to 4.11.35.

At this point, we really felt comfortably in control, the only dark cloud being Jose Romero's shoulder. He went in with a dicky shoulder, didn't take the first few bumps well and struggled from thereon in.

In the 3rd, Adelaide threw everything at us and made some headway, but it did feel like we had all the answers and still led 13.7.85 to 8.15.63.

The last unravelled like a nightmare, as Adelaide scored a goal or 2, it still felt like we had plenty in hand. Libba's goal given a point. All that space for Jarman. I can't put it into a proper context - it was just a nightmare. Then Granty's snap in the dying seconds that was going through, but smothered by a Crow who really should've been shepherded away.

So many shouldas and couldas. No Dogs fan old enough can forget this day. Of our disappointments, this was the cruellest. I've walked away from games angry, sad, disappointed, but this one was different, it was like something important had died - I was with 4 Dogs fans and in the hour after the match no-one said a word.

I rewatched the last quarter again before writing this. Those postmatch scenes are still so stark, Bubba pounding the turf, Plough leaving the coaches box in a daze.

James Cook was great that day, kicking 6, whilst Chris Grant and Mark West kicked 2 each.

Best players were Grant (19 possession, 8 marks, 2 tackles, 2.2), Mark West (gave great grunt and physicality once on, gathering 24 possessions, 3 tackles, kicking 2.1 although his miss was gettable at a key moment), Scott West (as always, in and under everything, 33 possessions), Cook (12 possessions, 6 marks, 6.2) and Tony Liberatore (24 possessions, 4 tackles).

The stats from the match indicate we were slightly the better team, with 302 possessions to 291, the one glaring and surprising exception being the tackle count (something I never knew until today).

In a year when we nearly always outtackled our opposition, on Prelim Day, Adelaide laid 43 (about average for the time) whereas we laid a shockingly low 17 - 13 of our players failed to register a single tackle. Given we were overrun late, it's hard not to look to this as a factor.

Anyway we had to regroup. We still had a squad right in the sweet spot for success, with the Prelim team mostly in the 22-26 range, the only exceptions being Libba (31), Wynd (27) and Hudson (27) on the older side and Johnson (21), Cox (20), Martin (20) and Brown (19) on the younger side.

[bornadog]

I listened to this final in Singapore and 3/4 time I said to my wife "we are 30 minutes away from a Grand Final", I was so happy and couldn't wait to make my way back to Melbourne. I remember my wife saying - Don't Say That.

[Twodogs]

All that is good and everything but let's face it. It really didn't happen. We just all think it did.

[Twodogs]

For some reason.

[merantau]

I really believe they won the game because they were fitter. It was a hot day. Sadly, I'm still haunted by a vision of Kane Johnson. It's the last quarter and he's running away from our blokes and banging the ball inside 50. I don't like Adelaide at all.

[Twodogs]

I really believe they won the game because they were fitter. It was a hot day. Sadly, I'm still haunted by a vision of Kane Johnson. It's the last quarter and he's running away from our blokes and banging the ball inside 50. I don't like Adelaide at all.

That's the vision I take away too. Him running down one side of the ground and Nigel Smart running down the other.

[LostDoggy]

The Sydney game was sensational. It was the best performance I ever saw from Leon Cameron. He was dead-set phenomenal.

I recall one minute silence being held prior to the bounce for Princess Diana, and a couple of inconsiderate fans yelling out, "Go Diana".

[LostDoggy]

VFL/AFL FINAL #28 (9-18)

Can't say I've been looking forward to this one.

So Adelaide get over Geelong and we meet them in the Prelim at the MCG in front of 70,088.

Either way the result will be historic, StKilda had already won their Prelim and many were talking of the romance of the 2 least successful Melbourne clubs meeting in a GF (although it would've been Adelaide's first GF, so still a good storyline there).

We went into the game strong favourites, having beaten Adelaide comprehensively in Adelaide in R20 and having won our first final so comprehensively. Adelaide, by comparison kicked 4.2 to 1.4 in the last quarter to sneak past Geelong by 8 points in Adelaide.

I remember the first 10 minutes as similar to the Sydney final, with fierce contests, but with our defence looking really strong. We never cracked Adelaide open, but a lovely passage leading to a Matthew Dent goal late in the first really settled the nerves. At quarter time we led 2.2.14 to 0.7.7 (I don't remember Adelaide missing easy shots, more that we forced low percentage shots and rushed a couple).

In the 2nd the game really opened up and we put ourselves into a strong position, going in 31 points ahead; 10.6.66 to 4.11.35.

At this point, we really felt comfortably in control, the only dark cloud being Jose Romero's shoulder. He went in with a dicky shoulder, didn't take the first few bumps well and struggled from thereon in.

In the 3rd, Adelaide threw everything at us and made some headway, but it did feel like we had all the answers and still led 13.7.85 to 8.15.63.

The last unravelled like a nightmare, as Adelaide scored a goal or 2, it still felt like we had plenty in hand. Libba's goal given a point. All that space for Jarman. I can't put it into a proper context - it was just a nightmare. Then Granty's snap in the dying seconds that was going through, but smothered by a Crow who really should've been shepherded away.

So many shouldas and couldas. No Dogs fan old enough can forget this day. Of our disappointments, this was the cruellest. I've walked away from games angry, sad, disappointed, but this one was different, it was like something important had died - I was with 4 Dogs fans and in the hour after the match no-one said a word.

I rewatched the last quarter again before writing this. Those postmatch scenes are still so stark, Bubba pounding the turf, Plough leaving the coaches box in a daze.

James Cook was great that day, kicking 6, whilst Chris Grant and Mark West kicked 2 each.

Best players were Grant (19 possession, 8 marks, 2 tackles, 2.2), Mark West (gave great grunt and physicality once on, gathering 24 possessions, 3 tackles, kicking 2.1 although his miss was gettable at a key moment), Scott West (as always, in and under everything, 33 possessions), Cook (12 possessions, 6 marks, 6.2) and Tony Liberatore (24 possessions, 4 tackles).

The stats from the match indicate we were slightly the better team, with 302 possessions to 291, the one glaring and surprising exception being the tackle count (something I never knew until today).

In a year when we nearly always outtackled our opposition, on Prelim Day, Adelaide laid 43 (about average for the time) whereas we laid a shockingly low 17 - 13 of our players failed to register a single tackle. Given we were overrun late, it's hard not to look to this as a factor.

Anyway we had to regroup. We still had a squad right in the sweet spot for success, with the Prelim team mostly in the 22-26 range, the only exceptions being Libba (31), Wynd (27) and Hudson (27) on the older side and Johnson (21), Cox (20), Martin (20) and Brown (19) on the younger side.

This was the worst day at the football that I have ever experienced
For 3 Qtr's it was magical.
I don't think dad and I said more then two words to each other on the train home back to Mulgrave.
We both almost slipped into an unconcious state of depression.

[jeemak]

Goodwin's goal from the boundary was the moment that sticks out for me, and Smart/Johnson running.