Inside Frank Fopiani’s match-winning 2004 GFNL grand final performance against former side North Shore

Frank Fopiani broke the hearts of his former club in the 2004 grand final with a matchwinning display. Two ex-teammates recount his stunning exploits on and off the field that day 20 years ago.

St Mary's Coach Frank Fopiani and Zvonimir Suto celebrate GFL Grand Final 2004 North Shore vs St Mary's

Twenty years ago, Frank Fopiani broke the hearts of his former club as he led St Mary’s to a Geelong Football Netball League premiership.

However, it is a classy moment post-game that will stick with his former North Shore teammate, coach and opponent Glenn Keast forever.

Playing coach of North Shore in the 2004 GFNL grand final, Keast and his side were left devastated by the man who had been central to the Seagulls’ dynasty where they won seven premierships (1993 and 1995-2000).

Then came a gracious embrace that summed up the late Fopiani’s kind and compassionate nature.

“Franky won the medal and was the coach and came up and embraced me after the game, that was a pretty special moment between us,” Keast recalls.

“And I did remind him of that probably 10 days before he passed that we’d obviously had lots of battles on the ground but he was certainly full of class and the way he conducted himself after the game was first class.”

Tom Gilligan, who played three AFL games for Adelaide, was captain of the St Mary’s side that tasted premiership success under playing coach Fopiani.

He felt that moment with Keast summed up Fopiani, who passed away aged 51 last month from cancer, to a tee.

Frank Fopiani and Tom Gilligan with the premiership cup.

“Noone would say a bad word about him, he had no malice, held no grudges or anything like that. Whether that be from Corio through to North Shore, St Mary’s and helping Connor at Newtown, you would not find one person at any of those clubs who would say a bad word about Frank,” Gilligan said.

“What Keasty said there is a testament to that.

“You wouldn’t be able to have a beer with him because he didn’t drink, but he is just a very much-loved individual who is very sorely missed.”

Fopiani was far and away the best GFNL player Gilligan saw, and he likened him to one of the Crows greats he played with at Adelaide.

“I was only in the AFL for a short stint but playing with Darren Jarman, the kicking skills of Frank Fopiani. I know it sounds a bit silly, but they are very much on par on their left and right,” Gilligan said.

As GFNL football returns to Kardinia Park this weekend for South Barwon’s clash with Leopold, we relive the 2004 grand final that was headlined by a match-winning display from ‘The Fop’.

THE LEAD-UP

Fopiani was planning to leave North Shore for St Mary’s ahead of the 2002 season, but Keast convinced him to stay for another year.

After delaying the inevitable, Fopiani headed to St Mary’s to take on a playing coach role – the first time he had coached – and made an instant impact.

In his very first year he led the Saints to a grand final against Bell Park, which ended in a thrilling draw.

They came back the next week and the Dragons overran them, with then coach Ken Hinkley’s famous three-quarter-time speech ringing in their ears.

The heartbreaking end to 2003 left the Saints yearning to go one step further in 2004.

“We had come off the back of ’03 where we had the replay, we lost, so there was a lot of hunger in the club to nail this one. We were the underdog still I would suggest,” Gilligan said.

“Frank had a unique way of bringing everyone together, he would have the side discussions with the first one picked and the 21st one picked, and they were all very personable and to the tone of getting the best out of that individual.

“When you couple that with the ability to do what he did with the football, it is second to none. His kicking skills and finishing skills and even his pressure on the ball carrier was amazing.”

GFL grand final coaches Ken Hinkley and Frank Fopiani.

While North Shore were tipped by most to win, the Saints and Fopiani had an advantage.

“I think we had 11 players who played their first game ever on Kardinia Park in that final,” Keast said.

“And St Mary’s, they had played the two grand finals the year before and had a lot more experience than us but we were favourites. But we had a lot of players playing in their first final at Kardinia Park and obviously Frank had had all that exposure playing in his time at North Shore.”

THE PLAN

North Shore knew Fopiani better than most, and it had a plan to stop him.

Keast would send two stoppers to ‘The Fop’ to quell his influence: Nathan Lewis in the first half, and then the hard-running Christian Shaw after halftime.

It was so far, so good at the main change for North Shore with not much splitting the two sides and Fopiani kept in check.

“Franky was getting a bit longer in the tooth, still more than capable but we felt like we could expose him in the second half through Christian’s running capability,” Keast said.

“We assessed it at halftime and Nathan had done a pretty good job on Frank in the first half and limited his influence, and we decided to go with the pre-match plan.”

Glenn Keast and Frank Fopiani ahead of the grand final.

North Shore's Matt Connolley competes against Fopiani.

Meanwhile, Gilligan’s chief mission was to ensure Fopiani and his fellow midfielders didn’t cop any unwanted attention.

There was plenty happening off the ball – which was the style at the time - and Gilligan said North Shore gave it as good as any.

However, if anything the Seagulls didn’t target their former teammate as much as others. Not that it would have made much of a difference.

“North Shore are a very tough team and you knew you’d played against North Shore after any game, let alone in a grand final. Going into that grand final you could just tell we had to protect Frank and a number of on-ballers,” Gilligan said.

“Put it this way, there was a lot of bruises – and it wasn’t just Frank. I know Dan Fletcher, he was copping a lot of close in attention. But it was back in the days where you would literally cop a whack across the snout of your nose and a late tackle here and there or bump.

“I would say he didn’t cop as much attention as us who had been at St Mary’s for a long time. I think he was genuinely respected and there wasn’t anything too uncalled for, just was normal in those days.”

‘YOU CAN’T STOP THE FOP’

You know what they say about best-laid plans.

And you know what they say about Frank Fopiani.

“He flicked the switch after halftime, I would say it was anyone’s game until he it was like, ‘Oh, here comes the Fop show’, and sure enough after halftime he went bang, bang and was just kicking goals,” Gilligan recalls.

“He kicked nearly better on his wrong side than on his right, he just tore them a new one in that game and that was it really. We really opened the game up there and unfortunately Keasty was on the receiving end on one of his old teammate’s amazing ability.

"You couldn’t really stop it, hence the saying, ‘you can’t stop the Fop’. Once he got that momentum going, and he wasn’t young either at that point but he was still firing on all cylinders.”

Keast wonders if Lewis would have done the job in the second half, but Shaw didn’t do much wrong.

Glenn Keast speaks to his team at three-quarter-time.

“Frank just really found some space, not sure that was Christian but Frank just lifted and was able to really influence in the third quarter and got some ascendancy,” Keast said.

“The third quarter Franky turned it on and did what Frank does, I think he kicked a couple of goals and really changed the momentum of the game.”

Fopiani’s third quarter masterclass was the difference, with the Saints claiming victory by 27 points, breaking a 12-year premiership drought.

‘The Fop’ went on to win his third grand final best-on-ground medal – 11 years after his first in 1993.

In Keast's eyes there was no secret why the game-changing midfielder always found a way to lift in the big moments.

“I talk to my players at St Mary’s and I talk to my kids and they are probably sick of me talking about it, but the way he trained and the way he hits the contest with speed, he would do that at training,” Keast said.

“He would train with more intensity when the footies were out – he wasn’t a great trainer when there was no footies about, so wasn’t the best pre-season trainer. But as soon as the balls were out, he was amazing.

“He would train at a much higher intensity so that when the pressure came in games, he was able to execute at a really high level. So I have no doubt the way that the trained and the way that he prepared himself, his ability to act under pressure in big games wasn’t that big of a deal for him because he would do it night after night at training.”

St Marys supporters get behind the Saints.

Gilligan marvelled at his on-field brilliance and uncanny knack to turn games, which was there for all to see in the 2004 grand final.

“You couldn’t slow him down, he could’ve been on one leg and he would still kick it out his backside, once he got that momentum and ability,” Gilligan said.

“When you hit it to Frank, you only need to hit it in the vicinity, his ability at ground level was unbelievable. He would turn on a dime, he had the ability to be able to pivot off a knee without changing direction.

“And he was so elusive, he wasn’t a big build of a man but my god he was so elusive and was able to navigate traffic like none you’ll see. He made you look good hitting the ball to Frank.”

DEVASTATION BECOMES PRIDE

Despite being on the losing end that day, Keast looks back on the grand final fondly.

“Absolutely, it was pretty devastating to be honest. But in time you look back on those things, I was pretty proud of him going on and coaching in his own right and doing what he did.

“Unfortunately it was against us, but with a bit of time I was pretty proud of the fact that I have had numerous players go on and coach in their own right.”

As fate would have it, Keast went on to coach St Mary’s to premiership glory himself in 2019 and 2022 before calling time at the end of this season.

Originally published as Inside Frank Fopiani’s match-winning 2004 GFNL grand final performance against former side North Shore