Glenn’s 10: The biggest and most famous bumps in VFL/AFL history
TO COMMEMORATE the supposed death of the bump, we put together the top 10 biggest bumps in history. VOTE for your favourite.
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IF THE wave of backlash and anger over Jack Viney’s suspension is to be believed ... the bump is dead.
To commemorate this sad day, we look back at some of the biggest and most famous hits in VFL/AFL history.
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1. MARK YEATES on DERMOTT BRERETON, 1989 Grand Final.
It was the crunch that was meant to help Geelong win a premiership. In the end, it was the incident that provided the inspiration for Hawthorn to win back-to-back flags. Yeates came off the line and ran directly to an unsuspecting Brereton - as a payback he later said - with the impact taking the wind out of the Hawk forward. Brereton was wobbly on his feet, but refused directions to leave the field that coach Allan Jeans had barked from the coaches’ box. Instead, he went deeper forward and soon after kicked an inspirational goal that went down in football folklore.
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2. STAN MAGRO on ALEX JESAULENKO, 1979
The hard-nosed Magpie crashed into the Blues captain-coach with his feet off the ground in a bruising encounter 35 years ago at Princes Park. The incident left Jezza knocked out cold and saw him rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital, where coincidentally his wife was, after giving birth to their third child a few days earlier. Magro has long maintained what he did was a part of the game in those days, and that Jesaulenko’s courage was partly to blame, but he conceded he would likely get six weeks now.
3. BYRON PICKETT on BRENDAN KRUMMEL, 1999
Pickett was one of the first to seriously ignite the shirtfront debate when he cannoned into Hawthorn’s Brendan Krummel in 1999. It was one of many bruising bumps the Kangaroo and Port Adelaide player would dish out in his career. Krummel did not regain consciousness until half an hour later. He said later: “I’ve never been cleaned up like that before. It was a real good hit.” At the time Blues coach David Parkin called for the deliberate hip and shoulder to an unsuspecting player to be outlawed.
4. MARK RICCIUTO on DEAN KEMP, 1996
Mark Ricciuto’s “bone-jolting shirtfront” on Dean Kemp didn’t even result in a free kick, let alone a suspension. The game was held up for a long time as Kemp was taken off on a stretcher. Looking back now, the Adelaide champion knows he would have been given an extended period on the sidelines. Years later, he would say: “It was legal and the umpires didn’t even award a free kick. If that happened in 2011, I’d probably be out for six weeks with the AFL now cracking down on head-high contact.”
5. GARY ABLETT on ROBERT DIPIERDOMENICO, 1989 Grand Final
Another famous incident from one of the most bruising premiership playoffs on record. Gary Ablett used his body like a weapon and on this occasion crashed into the back of Dipper who was waiting for a high ball. The first quarter clash resulted in Dipper suffering a punctured lung, even though he risked his wellbeing by playing out the game before being rushed to hospital. In an episode of Open Mike, DiPierdomenico recalled: “In the ‘80s, it was just like that. You stood under the ball. I knew what was coming behind me. Gary kept telling me. He was saying: ‘I’m coming, big fellow’ and I was hoping it would be quick.”
6. LAURIE FOWLER on JOHN NICHOLLS, 1973 Grand Final
It was the day the MCG shook and it played a role in Richmond’s 1973 premiership success. Tiger Laurie Fowler (175cm and 79kg) showed that his team meant business when he crashed into Nicholls (189cm and 100kg) in the Carlton forward line. The bump, said to have been a David and Goliath clash, saw the Blues’ captain-coach ineffectual for the rest of the game. Fowler recalled: “I was keyed up at the time and all I remember is that I had my eyes on the ball. If Nick had run through me, the whole thing would have been soon forgotten.”
7. RAY CARD on KEITH GREIG, 1978
This clash is remembered as much for the blood that streamed from Greig’s nose as much as for the impact of the collision. Greig had gone back with the flight of the ball when he ran into a steam-train in a Geelong jumper. Card said there was little he could do to lessen the impact: “I was going at the ball and we collided. Keith didn’t come out of it very well. But the cameras caught it. The very next week I was ironed out by Melbourne forward Ross Brewer.” Greig said later: “I was following the ball with my eyes when contact was made. I accepted it then and I do now because I played football expecting contact. Now the game is getting like basketball.”
8. DERMOTT BRERETON on PAUL VANDER HAAR, 1989 second semi-final
Just a fortnight before the Yeates incident, Dermott Brereton was in the news for his boundary line bump on Paul Vander Haar out at Waverley. Brereton turned his body and crashed into Vander Haar. The incident left the Bomber forward knocked out. Brereton did not apologise, but was disappointed that one image showed him smiling after the clash. He said: “One thing I didn’t like was ... a picture of that bump and a picture of me smiling, and it made out I really liked it ... it’s not right. I’d just like to state that you do things in the course of a game to win the game for your team.”
9. MICHAEL VOSS on ALAN RICHARDSON, 1996
There were two hard nuts who had front row seats to Michael Voss’ shirtfront on Collingwood’s Alan Richardson - Robert DiPierdomenico and former rugby league champion Wally Lewis, who were seated around the boundary. Voss admits he only had one thought as Richardson steamed towards him in pursuit of the ball and that’s why he believes now he would get a long holiday. On Open Mike, Voss said: “I came from a long way away and I only had one intention once the ball went over his head. I thought, ‘There you go, Wally (Lewis), we are tough. (But) I would probably get six to eight weeks now.”
10. JARROD HARBROW on JORDAN LEWIS, 2011
There wasn’t any real malice in it, but Jarrod Harbrow’s clash with Hawk Jordan Lewis remains one of the biggest high-impact collisions in recent years. Lewis had his eye on the ball and barely flinched as Harbrow cannoned into him. Incredibly, Lewis returned to the fray and played the next week. He would say later: “I don’t remember too much from the game to be honest.”
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