2016 a heartwarming, heartbreaking, brilliant and bizarre year in the AFL
DESOLATION for Bombers in January, euphoria in October for just about everyone, the 2016 AFL season ran the gamut of emotion. SAM EDMUND recaps the highs and lows of an incredible year.
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DESOLATION for Bombers in January, euphoria in October for just about everyone barring Swans fans, the 2016 AFL season ran the gamut of emotion.
In case you’ve forgotten or just want to live it all again (fair enough, Doggies fans), here’s the past 12 months of footy news in a few minutes.
JANUARY
YOU thought you had a New Year’s hangover. Essendon was brutally snapped out of the festive season when 34 past and present players — 12 of them still with the club — were banned for 12 months. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld WADA’s appeal of the AFL anti-doping tribunal not-guilty verdict and so began an unprecedented and trying season in red and black.
APRIL
WHO shot Bambi? Much-loved Western Bulldogs captain and 2015 All-Australian skipper Robert Murphy collapses with a season-ending ACL injury. To heighten the drama, “Bob” lies in pain as Hawthorn’s James Sicily marks and kicks the Round 3 matchwinner.
GIANT Yank Mason Cox joins footy’s most exclusive club — the first-kick, first-goal by an American on debut on Anzac Day. The 211cm ruck-forward creates headlines on both sides of the world.
MAY
THE Herald Sun lifts the lid on GWS’s exclusive access to footy’s biggest farm — the Riverina — and the rival club angst surrounding it. The Giants’ academy system, which gives them exclusive and discounted access to the footy-fertile region, has worn thin. AFL boss Gillon McLachlan later says the zone would not be reviewed “this year”.
THE footy rule book undergoes another kneejerk change after North’s Mason Wood stands like a statue late in the Round 7 win against St Kilda, watching the clock tick down to the final siren and icing the game before taking his set shot. His poise sparks days of debate before the AFL announces the countdown clock won’t be displayed in the final two minutes of each quarter.
ONE-night wonder Richmond upsets Sydney in the only shining light of a miserable season. Sam Lloyd kicked the dramatic after-the siren matchwinner from 50m and Ben Griffiths teased with a bag of five.
THE footy world mourns after scans reveal Jarryd Roughead’s cancer has returned. The “Big Rough” is sidelined indefinitely to start a fight that he will triumphantly win by year’s end.
THE footy world smiles as Eddie Betts kicks what becomes his second consecutive goal of the year against GWS in Round 10. Betts ran down a ball that looked like a lost cause, pinned it on ground near the boundary, slipped out of out of trouble and arced a right-foot snap through the Cathedral End of Adelaide Oval to bring the house down.
JUNE
“CAROGATE”. Eddie McGuire ironically lands himself in hot water during the Freeze MND game at the MCG when he vows to donate $50,000 to the fundraiser if journalist Caroline Wilson “stays under” the icy water. James Brayshaw said he was “straight in” and Danny Frawley said he’d “get amongst it” in the heavily-criticised on-air conversation that saw all three make public apologies.
NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott turns conspiracy theorist in an inexplicable accusation against umpires. In one of the all-time worst cases of Chinese whispers, Scott declared after a crucial loss to Hawthorn that an umpire had told North players they were not paying free kicks to Lindsay Thomas. Yep, not true. Scott was fined $30,000 and North $50,000.
JULY
MAJAK Daw hauls in a hanger in Round 18 that coach brad Scott described as “almost the best I’ve seen’’. Commentator Bruce McAvaney said: “If you saw this mark in isolation you would say this man is the superstar of the game, wouldn’t you?’’ Ouch.
BRENT Harvey emerges from a public spat with former teammate Wayne Carey to break the all-time games record with his 427th senior appearance, against St Kilda in Round 19. Carey angrily denied “hush money” was paid to protect him after Harvey used his new book to lash his “despicable” actions in the affair that rocked the AFL. “If that’s the biggest thing in the book, everyone’s read it now, why would you buy the book? It must be pretty boring,” Carey said.
AUGUST
IF BOB Murphy’s knee wasn’t bad enough, the sight of West Coast excitement machine Nic Naitanui collapsing with the same 12-month injury topped it off. One of the game’s most athletically-gifted players, Naitanui was the latest victim of the dark side of the game.
HOW do you say goodbye to three club greats — one of them the games record-holder? If you’re the Kangaroos you just put out a press release. Brent Harvey, Michael Firrito and Drew Petrie, along with former Saint Nick Dal Santo, were sacked en masse, sparking widespread fan anger over how they were treated. The players pushed for answers on their futures and after Dane Swan was rightfully given a royal send-off the day before, they deserved more.
PAUL Roos packs his boardies for a Hawaiian retirement after Melbourne’s promising season draws to a close. Roos helped the Demons walk again, taking them from basket case to potential 2017 finalist under Simon Goodwin. Roos was a desperately-needed guiding hand in a three-year grind that took the Dees from 17th to 13th to 11th. But will another cash-splashing club tempt him back?
HOW Justin Leppitsch must have wished he was sailing off into the sunset after a successful coaching career. Instead, “Leppa” was told by Lions officials to pack his bags after only 14 wins in three years.
SEPTEMBER
CIVIL war breaks out at Richmond after a nightmare season ends, with a rival board ticket moving to take control of the club. Focus on Footy came out beating their chest at a press conference, arguing the Tigers were 35 years into a five-year plan. But the threat embarrassingly fizzes out when their would-be recruit Neil Balme joins the club and leader Dr Martin Hiscock admits: “We didn’t have a full ticket”.
OCTOBER
THE Western Bulldogs claim what has to be the best premiership in VFL-AFL history. Seventh on the ladder after Round 23, the Dogs were underdogs in four finals — two interstate — had an injury list that never quit and broke a 62-year flag drought two years after the sudden departure of captain Ryan Griffen and coach Brendan McCartney had left them in crisis.
MURPHY’S knee injury had become a potent symbol of the Dogs’ resilience. When coach Luke Beveridge stood on the premiership dais to hand him his medal, there weren’t many dry eyes in the MCG. “This is yours mate, you deserve it more than anyone,” Beveridge said. The emotional veteran accepted, but handed the medal back soon after.
HAWTHORN has done what?!? They were the trade bombs that shook the footy world — the Hawks trading the top two in their best-and-fairest, Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis, for peanuts. With eight premierships between them, Mitchell left essentially for pick 88 and Lewis for a swap of late picks in a whirlwind four-day period. Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara were among the arrivals in an ultra-aggressive Hawthorn reshuffle.
NOVEMBER
JOBE Watson hands back his Brownlow Medal, finally drawing the curtain down on the long-running Essendon-ASADA saga. Well, Jobe handed it back on paper anyway, given the AFL remains hypersensitive about its real location — if they even know of it.
GRAEME Allan’s legs barely got under the desk. Two months into his role as Collingwood football manager he’s gone — banned for 12 months for his part in the Lachie Whitfield saga.
SPEAKING of short stints, what about the sad tale of Chris Yarran? The exciting line-breaker quit the game to battle mental health issues a year after Richmond gave up pick 19 to get him from Carlton. Yarran didn’t play a game for the Tigers, not that the club felt it needed to question its decision. “If we had hindsight we wouldn’t do a lot of things,” new footy manager Neil Balme said defiantly. “It‘s pretty easy to sit back and say, ‘Oh, that was a mistake’.”
Originally published as 2016 a heartwarming, heartbreaking, brilliant and bizarre year in the AFL
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