We look back on Heidelberg’s remarkable premiership four-peat
As the Northern Football League celebrates 100 years the people at the forefront of Heidelberg’s premiership four-peat take you behind the scenes.
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To celebrate the Northern Football League’s 100th year we’re shining a light some of the competition’s most remarkable achievements.
As Heidelberg locks horns with arch-rival Bundoora on Saturday, we’re looking back at our two-part feature on the Tigers amazing four-peat.
The Tigers faced the Bulls in three of the four premiership victories between 2006 and 2009.
From 2004, the club ruled the Diamond Valley/Northern league, playing in nine straight grand finals.
The people at the forefront of Heidelberg’s success take us behind the scenes.
PART 1 – DEVASTATION TO TRIUMPH
Two things usually bring down local footy dynasties — time or ego.
But in Heidelberg’s case it was ego that actually laid the foundations for their remarkable decade of dominance.
Having won the 2004 Diamond Valley Football League premiership as a young group, Tigers legend Blair Harvey admitted the team had got “big-headed” and declared that was one of the key reasons why the Tigers lost the 2005 decider to cross-town rival North Heidelberg.
It was also the reason why he believes the club went on to win four straight flags and feature in nine consecutive grand finals.
“Going into 2005, we were most likely too big-headed, thinking it will just be a formality,” Harvey said.
“I’ll never forget, we played North Heidelberg in the second semi and were up by about 70 points at three-quarter-time.
“North Heidelberg hit the front with about 10 minutes to go and we kicked a goal late to win by three points, it gave them a real sniff and they ended up beating us (in the grand final).
“There was a group of about 10 of us who started training a week after that grand final loss.
“We learnt on the back of 2005, if we became lazy, became complacent or big-headed, it could happen again.”
Heidelberg has been a dominant force in Melbourne’s northern suburbs since the day the club was founded in 1876.
The Tigers’ first title came in 1890 when a member of the Bourke-Evelyn Football League and 27 have followed, including a record 20 in the DVFL/Northern Football League.
So time hasn’t been always been able to stop the club either.
With established stars such as Harvey, Dale and Danny Nolan, Chris Hall and Michael Gay and the arrival of ex-AFL star Justin Murphy, Heidelberg entered the 2006 season as firm favourites.
Yet it was Bundoora which finished on top and the Bulls went on to secure a three-point victory and grand final berth in the major semi-final.
However, after sweeping Montmorency aside by 67 points in the preliminary final, Heidelberg wasn’t going to let another premiership slip away and triumphed by 14 points in an enthralling decider.
Dale Nolan would be awarded the Massey Medal for best-on-ground honours.
Craig Hunter had coached the club since 2004, breaking a 14-year premiership drought in his first season in charge.
Phil Plunkett would take the reins for 2007 having been lured across from VFL club Preston, where he was assistant to Barry Mitchell.
“Both were amazing coaches, both really good man managers,” then club president Trevor Barrot said.
“As you can imagine, there were a few egos in there to manage and they did it beautifully.”
If 2005 had been a lesson in humility, the Tigers learnt it well.
The Diamond Valley league had been rebranded the Northern Football League and the Tigers entered 2007 with renewed focus.
“After winning in 2006, we learnt from 2005. We won one and got ahead of ourselves and the mentality was that’s not going to happen again,” Harvey said.
“We celebrated but a good three weeks after, we started training again.
“There were some egos there, but that drove a lot of people too, there was real rivalry within the playing group to try and be the best.
“We’d play intra-clubs and there’d be scuffles because players were just that competitive, they just wanted to be the best. That held us in good stead in games.”
Former North Melbourne and Carlton star Corey McKernan was serving as assistant coach and came out of retirement for 2007.
The Kangaroos premiership big man helped lure former Carlton teammate Anthony Franchina to Warringal Park, while Jason Kennedy and Michael Finn would also arrive.
Heidelberg dominated the season from the opening bounce of Round 1, claiming 10 victories by 10 goals in 18 games, and finished the regular season undefeated.
Bitter rival Bundoora was once again waiting in the major semi-final but was no match as the rampant Tigers claimed a 53-point win.
The Bulls set-up a grand final rematch but Heidelberg’s back-to-back premierships were sealed with a 32-point triumph.
Plunkett had played at Heidelberg before moving into coaching and considers himself extremely lucky to have walked into such a talented group.
“We had a great group of individuals and I had a great leader in Blair Harvey,” he said.
“I called him my barometer, when I needed something to happen I could look to him and say I need something special.
“Dale Nolan was amazing, we’d play him at centre half-forward and then centre half-back when it was blowing a gale at Preston. He was a great marking target or intercept mark.
“Danny (Nolan) was terrific as well, his work rate was special, Jason Kennedy, Mick Finn, Mick Gay was one of the biggest men I’ve ever coached.
“Abe Williams was the smallest bloke on the ground but I’d play him at centre half-forward because of his athletic ability.
“It’s only now you look back and realise how lucky we were and what a great era we had … how much we achieved together.”
Gay claimed the Massey Medal and Chris Hall would collect his second league goalkicking award, locked on 72 majors with North Heidelberg’s Shaun Ryan.
That season the league also named a Team of the Year for the first time with Tigers Harvey, Murphy, Hall, Dale and Danny Nolan and Dean Haydock honoured.
Barrot said the club’s success was built on local foundations.
“We had some fantastic local footballers … the Nolan boys, Chris Hall, Jason Kennedy, we got Mick Gay across from Epping,” he said.
“Blair was the heart-and-soul of the club, I think he was 23 or 24 when he took the captaincy. He really galvanised the group.
“Even the AFL guys that came back would say ‘some of these guys should have played AFL’ but I suppose it comes down to being in the right place at the right time.
“Those guys formed the nucleus and the VFL and AFL guys just topped us up.”
The Tigers had last completed a premiership hat-trick in 1910-12 and it seemed a formality that they would repeat the feat in 2008.
PART 2 – FORGING AN EMPIRE
Heidelberg lost one game in three years during its premiership four-peat.
The Tigers’ 48 consecutive wins is a Northern Football League record but it could have been so much more if not for a dodgy Thursday night feed.
Entering 2008, the club was reigning back-to-back premiers and riding an already impressive 22-match winning streak.
That extended to 23 with a comfortable 46-point win over Lalor in Round 1 but the Round 2 clash against Montmorency brought the club back to earth on multiple fronts.
“We lost one game in three years and that was only because everyone had food poisoning,” then club president Trevor Barrot said.
“That’s the truth, we all got it at a Thursday night meal and whatever it was it got the whole club.
“We were supposed to have a club function after the game, we had 330 paid to go and we had 140 who actually turned up.
“Corey McKernan, one of our assistants, came home from Sydney and was in the cab from the airport and everything let go.
“A couple of guys ended up in hospital on drips … it was a funny old time but it wasn’t funny at the time.”
It would be the last time Heidelberg lost a senior match until Round 11, 2010 against Greensborough, almost two and a half seasons later.
Former Richmond and Essendon defender Ty Zantuck would arrive in 2008, strengthening an already elite squad.
Mark Favrin, Jake Williams, Nick Lowther, Brett Dobson and Matthew Laing gave the club unmatched depth across the field.
The all-conquering Tigers won six games that season by more than 100 points, including 113-, 176- and 116-point wins in consecutive weeks over West Preston-Lakeside, Diamond Creek and Lalor respectively.
In one of the tightest seasons in history, the Tigers claimed the minor premiership over Montmorency on percentage and a major semi-final epic loomed.
However, it proved a fizzer as Heidelberg stormed to a 76-point triumph. The epic would follow a fortnight later in the grand final.
The Magpies jumped out to an early lead and set up a 26-point buffer at three-quarter-time, eyeing a remarkable upset.
However, a seven-goal-to-none final-term blitz saw Heidelberg emerge victorious and sealed the club’s second premiership hat-trick.
Premiership-winning captain Blair Harvey named 2008 his favourite win, coming from behind the beat an arch-rival and seal the three-peat.
“There’s a couple, I think 2006 personally was a good year for myself,” he said.
“I think 2008 would have to be the best because there’s a massive rivalry between Heidelberg and Montmorency. It’s huge.
“We were favourites to win the grand final, there’s no doubt about it, we’d beaten Montmorency convincingly in the semi.
“Monty were up by 32 points late in the third term and (Anthony) Franchina kicked a goal late to make it 26 at three-quarter-time, then we just exploded. We kicked 7.7 to nothing in the last quarter.”
Harvey was named best-on-ground in the grand final win and was one of eight Tigers recognised in the Team of the Year
The rumour mill is always churning at local football level at it usually revolves around player payments.
Like any successful team, Heidelberg was accused of buying premierships but Barrot revealed players took big cuts to stay together and the mountain of work he and the club committee did to raise funds.
“A lot of people will say we were the big-money club at the time but players were playing for a lot less than what was being reported,” he said.
“If all the rumours were right, it would have cost us half a million to put a side on the ground.
“All the guys knew they could get paid more but they wanted success and they took success over money.
“It was hard work. I was running a transport business, a warehouse business and a young family and also trying to run a footy club.
“We had some great sponsors through those years and we also had a coterie club called ‘The Godfathers’ with 70 or 80 members who contributed well over $100,000 a year to the footy club.”
Former Fremantle and North Melbourne midfielder Jess Sinclair was the big-name recruit for 2009 as the club chased history.
It had only been seven years since Northcote Park’s historic four-peat and it provided a big incentive for a determined playing group.
Heidelberg swept all before it, finishing undefeated minor premier for the second time in three seasons.
Montmorency copped a 57-point belting in the major semi-final and was knocked out by Bundoora in the preliminary final.
For the third time in four years, the Tigers and Bulls would meet in the decider.
Kicking with the wind, Bundoora jumped out to an 18-point lead at quarter-time but trailed by 19 at half-time.
Heidelberg held a slender six-point margin at the final change but with the breeze at their back piled on eight goals to zip to claim a 64-point win and join Northcote Park as four-peat premiers.
Star defender Haydock was named best-on-ground and seven Tigers were picked in the Team of the Year.Harvey said the Tigers’ success was built on a core of local talent.
“We had some really good players come in during that period but we had a core group, I think 11 players played in all five premierships,” he said.
“From the outside people were always saying ‘oh, Heidelberg’s topped up with these players’ — Justin Murphy, Jess Sinclair, Ty Zantuck just to name a few.
“That core group were all park footballers, as much as we did top up with some talent, our core group was the reason why we were so successful.
DIV 1: TIGER TALLS DEFY RAIN, RIVALS IN DERBY WIN
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DIV 2: WHY ELTHAM IS GIVING HYDE CANNONS DEJA VU
“Those guys have all been to each others’ weddings, kids’ birthdays, in group messages and go away on holiday together. It’s a bond that will last a lifetime.”
Despite a host of retirements and coach Phil Plunkett’s decision to move on – replaced by Gavin Crossica – Heidelberg would again top the table in 2010 but its bid for a history-making fifth straight premiership ended at the hands of West Preston-Lakeside.
Frustratingly, the premiership four-peat would be followed by a hat-trick of devastating grand final defeats.
From 2004, the club featured in nine straight grand finals, winning five and etching its name into local footy folklore.
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