Frozen in time: Relieve Hawthorn's brutal win against Geelong in the 1989 Grand Final
BEFORE the curse there was the incredible 1989 Grand Final. Relieve one of the toughest and most thrilling deciders in history.
Geelong
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THE 1989 Grand Final exploded in the first minute to be one of the toughest and most thrilling in history.
From the moment Hawthorn star Dermott Brereton was felled by a bone-crushing bump from Geelong’s Mark Yeates at the opening bounce, it was a showcase for the game.
Images of Brereton lying prostrate in the centre square, then getting to his feet vomiting but still insisting on staying on the ground, captured the sensational opening.
The incident set the scene for a game of non-stop highlights with Brereton even getting off the canvas to mark and kick an inspirational goal only minutes after being decked.
At the other end Gary Ablett Sr turned on a virtuoso performance for the Norm Smith Medal, kicking nine goals including a freakish mid-air snap after sharking a ruck contest.
It was a bruising physical encounter with the Cats determined to shed their handbag tag.
The Hawks appeared to have their first back-to-back flag in their keeping after an eight-goal opening term.
But several heavy clashes took their toll with the Hawks down to 12 fit men at the end.
Down by six goals at the last change, coach Malcolm Blight instructed his Cats to throw caution to the wind.
A frenetic eight-goal term almost stole the game from the courageous Hawks.
Brereton, Robert DiPierdomenico, John Platten, Michael Tuck, Darrin Pritchard, Gary Ayres, Peter Curran and Scott Maginness all nursed injuries.
Brereton played throughout despite passing blood at quarter-time from broken ribs and a bruised kidney.
Platten went off with concussion, but DiPierdomenico played on with broken ribs and a punctured lung.
No shrinking violet, the Dipper gave as good as he got and was reported for striking Gary Hocking with an errant elbow.
He limped off the ground on the siren, was rushed to intensive care and spent eight days in hospital.
Writing for the Sunday Sun, Kevin Bartlett declared it was one of the greatest grand finals of all time.
"Hawthorn put in a fantastic effort to win back-to-back premierships, taking nothing away from Geelong's do-or-die comeback performance," he wrote.
"The game had everything. A bruising opening quarter, great marks, great goals, wonderful passages of play and a nail-biting finish."
KB was right. The last Grand Final under the VFL moniker was a beauty, producing 42 goals, spectacular marks, individual acts of bravery and brilliance, and a gripping finish.
BRERETON SHIRTFRONT “A SQUARE-OFF”
AFTER the game, Yeates described his sensational first minute shirtfront of Brereton as a square-off for an incident involving him and the Hawthorn centre half-forward earlier in the season.
Yeates said that he was committed to asserting his authority early in proceedings.
"That was the evener-upperer for round six," he said. "He probably expected it."
Yeates also revealed that Geelong had been extremely conscious of Brereton's regular barnstorming approach from the centre-square line towards the middle for the opening bounce.
He said he took it on himself to let Brereton know the Cats were not going to be tamed without a fight.
"I've seen what he has been doing, running through and cleaning blokes up, so I thought I will make him think twice about doing it," he said.
Two weeks before Brereton brought a new level of aggression into the finals when he cleaned up several Essendon players, including Paul Van Der Haar.
Yeates said his clash with Brereton was not carried out under instructions from coach Malcolm Blight.
"I was just in the right place at the right time, really," he said.
"I think he (Brereton) would know it was a pay-back."
Brereton bravely tried to climb to his feet after the bump but had to be helped by the Hawk trainers.
"My teammates look up to me in the physical clashes and I thought they wouldn't be too pleased to see their kingpin down on the ground," Brereton said after the match.
"I made up my mind I'd try as hard as I could to stand up, but I was in too much pain.
"I couldn't breathe in and my knees went on me.
"I went down on one knee but I still couldn't breathe so I rolled straight out flat on my back."
A wobbly Brereton was helped into the forward pocket before runner George Stone ran towards him saying coach Allan Jeans wanted him off.
"My reply was just two words," said Brereton.
"I just wanted some extra time." Minutes later Brereton marked and kicked a goal.
Stone emerged again: "(The coach says) Inspirational. Stay on."
Brereton kicked three goals, all in the first half, and rated his game at 6 out of 10, saying he'd been serviceable.
"They reckon it's only bruises (to the ribs)."
As he relaxed watching his mates celebrate, Brereton rummaged in his bag and emerged with a huge Cherry Ripe - "It's the first junk food I've had in seven weeks."
MATCH REPORT
Hawks are team of decade
THE team of the decade, the team of the century.
There is no denying Hawthorn's claim to such accolades after yesterday's epic victory over Geelong in one of the greatest VFL Grand Finals in memory.
Calling on every last reserve of courage and strength, the Hawks withstood an eight-goal last-quarter onslaught from the mighty Cats to win 21.18 (144) to 21.12 (138).
Geelong was completely outplayed in the first quarter and was only slightly better in the second term.
But it out-scored Hawthorn by 31 points in the second half to come within a kick of forcing a replay.
For the first time since entering the VFL in 1925, the Hawks had managed to defend one of their seven premierships - achieving coveted back-to-back flags.
If it was a day of glory for the 20 Hawks, the win should have meant even more to coach Allan Jeans.
Forced to stand down last year through illness, Jeans became only the fourth coach in the post-war period to be at the helm of four or more premiership triumphs.
It was also a day of record-breaking glory for Geelong superstar forward Gary Ablett, whose superlative performance in the losing team earned him the Norm Smith Medal for best afield.
His nine goals gave him a total of 27 for the finals series, shattering by four the 1934 record of Collingwood champ Ron Todd.
Both teams lost crucial players. Hawk John Platten got two savage bumps from Garry Hocking and took no part in the game after quarter-time.
Star defender Gary Ayres, a two-time Norm Smith winner, limped off 24 minutes into the third quarter and did not return.
Geelong lost captain and No. 1 ruckman Damian Bourke in the first quarter and he sat out the rest of the game, leaving Darren Flanigan to ruck against Greg Dear.
At the opening bounce, Mark Yeates sent Dermott Brereton crashing face forward in a semi-conscious heap on the Hawthorn half-forward line.
But the Cats seemed to know what they were doing, with Ablett leading brilliantly from Scott Maginness to mark strongly and kick the first goal.
But that was one of the few up moments for Geelong, which had to wait another 18 agonising minutes to score again, while the merciless Hawks scored eight goals.
Brereton, who staggered to the forward pocket after being dropped, stamped his mark by goaling after a great overhead grab.
And Peter Curran grabbed two as Hawthorn gripped the game.
The Cats seemed intent on playing a physical game - their fabled handbags loaded with highly explosive weapons.
But the Hawks were also prepared to rough it.
The fiery Brereton and Steve Hocking fought violently over the boundary line and against the perimeter fence.
Brownlow Medal winner Paul Couch had trouble getting a share of the ball against Anthony Condon and 18 minutes elapsed before he put boot to ball for the first time.
Ablett, who had exerted little real influence in the first quarter, burst forth with three goals between the four and 12-minute marks of the second.
At the 17-minute mark, Andrew Bews snapped Geelong's seventh and the out-of-towners had cut the leeway to 24 points.
But Jason Dunstall shook off tight-checking Tim Darcy to mark a brilliant inboard pass from Pritchard for his second.
A minute later Chris Wittman took a handpass from a savagely pressured Morrissey and snapped truly to put Hawthorn 36 points ahead.
A sickening crash at the first bounce after half-time sent Pritchard, the best Hawk in the first half, to the ground.
But he continued to play a huge hand, thrust into the No. 1 roving role in the absence of Platten.
Robert DiPierdomenico, lucky to just elude a Lindner shirt-front, dished out some medicine of his own.
Geelong continued to gnaw away at Hawthorn's lead and the Hawks continued to answer. Goal-less for almost 16 minutes, the Hawks kicked six in less than 15 minutes of pressure football.
Ablett, clearly not appreciating the tighter defence of Langford, burst back into the game with two goals from acrobatic marks in the third period.
The Cats desperately needed a little luck and 33 minutes into the term, a blind kick by Shane Hamilton zig-zagged and bounced its way clear of a bunch of Hawks to leave the Cats 36 points down.
Even the most devout Geelong fans, gave the Cats any real chance.
But this unit from the banks of the Barwon hadn't come to the Grand Final to submit meekly.
And if footy fans didn't know it before yesterday, the mercurial Ablett can never be considered incapable of turning a game.
The toll of three successive finals didn't show in the Cats' legs nearly as much as it did in Hawthorn, reduced to just 18 able-bodied men.
But three goals by Hawthorn was just enough to hold off Geelong's last quarter burst of eight extraordinary goals - three of them from the boot of superstar Ablett.
SCOREBOARD
Hawthorn 8.4 12.9 18.13 21.18 (144)
Geelong 2.0 7.2 13.7 21.12 (138)
BEST
Hawthorn: Pritchard, Anderson, DiPierdomenico, Buckenara, Dunstall, Curran.
Geelong: Ablett, Lindner, Flanigan, Hamilton, Bews, Couch.
GOALS
Hawthorn: Dunstall 4, Anderson 4, Buckenara 4, Brereton 3, Curran 3, DiPierdomenico, Wittman, Morrissey.
Geelong: Ablett 9, Brownless 2, Stoneham 2, Hamilton 2, Cameron 2, Bews, Bairstow, Bruns, Flanigan.
Umpires: P.Carey, B.Sheehan.
Crowd: 94,796
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