Glenn’s 10: Glenn McFarlane ranks the best 10 preliminary finals of the modern era
FROM Plugger’s point to Essendon’s epic comeback and Carlton’s shock win in 1999, Glenn McFarlane ranks the top 10 prelims of the modern era. HAVE YOUR SAY
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IT’S late one Saturday night in September 1996, and Tony Lockett has the fate of a football match — and a Sherrin — in his hands.
The final siren has gone and scores are level between Sydney and Essendon in the preliminary final at the SCG.
This young reporter is on the phone to a Herald Sun copytaker, nervously reshaping the top of the match report for the next day’s newspaper.
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Lockett had carried a groin injury into the game and had barely kicked 30m all night.
But as he comes in, with the kick to determine which team would go into a Grand Final, he produces one of the most famous behinds in footy history, putting the Swans into their first Grand Final in more than 50 years.
Tomorrow, 18 years on, Sydney is into another preliminary final, this time against North Melbourne at ANZ Stadium, the team the Swans happened to play the week after Lockett’s heroics in the 1996 Grand Final.
Memories of that game had us thinking about the beauty of preliminary final week, which is known as the football purists’ weekend.
Here we have a look back at the 10 best dramatic preliminary finals of the modern era, since the first year of the national competition (1987), when a kid from Ireland ran somewhere he shouldn’t have in a moment that shaped his career.
1. 1999 — THE BOILOVER
This was day that ended certainty on two fronts. The Essendon-Jeff Kennett double on preliminary final day, 1999, looked one of the best multiple bets imaginable. Kennett was heavily tipped to retain government in the state election. And the game looked to be Essendon’s for the taking when the minor premier led by 17 points early in the last term.
But Anthony Koutoufides sparked a Blues revival with some stunning passages of play and Carlton stormed home to regain the lead before a Mark Mercuri miss left Essendon a point behind.
A scrambled passage from the kick-in saw the ball in Dean Wallis’s arms and in one of the most fateful decisions in prelim history, he tried to get around Fraser Brown, who laid the game-saving tackle. That was effectively game over with the Bombers’ inaccurate 14.19 costing them dearly in the shock result. And Jeff Kennett also got rolled.
2. 1996 — PLUGGER’S POINT
It was the night Tony Lockett kicked Sydney into its first Grand Final in the harbour city.
The Swans were the minor premiers and the Bombers had finished fifth, but there was little between the sides all night. It all came down to Lockett’s kick, and as it sailed through the behinds, a whole state rejoiced.
Bombers coach Kevin Sheedy unleashed a withering spray to his players post-game that he rates as one of his greatest regrets. And later that night — or should that be early the next morning — a handful of former Swans great reunited in the middle of the SCG with beers in hand to toast the magic moment.
3. 1994 — GAZZA’S GOAL
One of the key personnel in tomorrow night’s preliminary final — North Melbourne senior assistant coach Leigh Tudor — played a key role in one of the great finals finishes in history.
Tudor’s chip around the corner to his Geelong teammate Gary Ablett caught his opponent Mick Martyn out of position. The Roos were a breath away from making the 1994 Grand Final, but Ablett’s mark just before the final siren and his goal after it pushed the Cats through to another decider.
4. 1987 — STYNES’ SLIP-UP
The dramatic conclusion to the Melbourne v Hawthorn preliminary final of 1987 saw Gary Buckenara with the ball in his hands as the dying seconds ticked away in a game that the Demons narrowly led. But young Irishman Jim Stynes — in only his 13th game (unlucky for some) — mistakenly ran across the mark and the subsequent 15m penalty brought Buckenara to within easy distance of goal.
The after-the-siren goal broke the Demons’ hearts, with Stynes copping a dressing down from coach John Northey. Stynes would use it as a driving force for what would be an outstanding football career, winning the Brownlow Medal in 1991.
5. 1993 — BOMBER BLITZ
Adelaide appeared certain to advance to its first Grand Final when it went to the halftime break of the 1993 preliminary final 42 points clear of Essendon. But just as Crows fans were planning their trips to Melbourne for the last Saturday in September, Sheedy’s Bombers produced one of the great finals comebacks of the AFL era.
A six-goal to one third term made the difference a far more attainable 12 points at the last change before the Bombers swept over the top of the Crows with Tim Watson providing the inspiration and Darren Bewick nailing six goals with Paul Salmon kicking four.
6. 1997 — LIBBA’S LAMENT
When Tony Liberatore celebrated what looked like a match-defining goal in the last quarter of the 1997 preliminary final against Adelaide, it seemed as if the Dogs were headed to the big dance for the first time since 1961. The only problem was that the goal umpire disagreed, even if Libba still thinks it was a goal.
In the end, the Bulldogs could manage only six behinds in the last term while the Crows kicked 4.6 to advance to the Grand Final. The heartbreak remains for the Dogs after more prelim final losses in 1998, 2008 and 2009. And that 2009 game would produce another preliminary final classic with the Dogs losing to the Saints by only seven points.
7. 2013 — KENNETT CURSE IS OVER
The Kennett Curse provided so much copy for those in the media with the Hawks unable to overcome the Cats from the 2008 Grand Final win right up until last year’s preliminary final. And Hawthorn nearly didn’t win that one, either.
In what was a classic encounter, highlighted by another best-afield performance from Sam Mitchell, Geelong threatened to pinch the game in the dying seconds before a missed shot from Travis Varcoe lifted the curse. And the Hawks went on to win the flag.
8. 2004 — POWER SURGE
For so many years, Port Adelaide’s AFL team had been accused of being chokers and it looked as if it might happen again when St Kilda took the 1999 preliminary final right up to the Power. The Saints dominated the start of the game, but their momentum was slowed after thousands of fans — famously including the father of Saint Steven Baker, who was playing that night — surged on to AAMI Stadium following Fraser Gehrig’s 100th goal.
The Saints still led by a point at the last change, but the Power got their noses in front in the final term and held on to win by six points. The next weekend they defeated Brisbane to win their first AFL flag.
9. 2007 — CATS JUST
Geelong had been the dominant team of 2007, but came within an ace of missing out on the Grand Final that season. The Cats hadn’t won a flag since 1963 and almost lost the chance of advancing to that Grand Final as a persistent Collingwood annoyed them all night.
It was only a supreme performance from Brad Ottens that got the Cats over the line by five points. The ball was in Collingwood’s forward half when the final siren sounded. It would be Nathan Buckley’s last game for the Magpies, while the Cats would go on to defeat Port Adelaide by a record 119 points the next week.
10. 2011 — BUDDY, THEN BALL
Collingwood and Hawthorn played off in one of the most dramatic preliminary finals three years ago. The Magpies were reigning premiers and had been favourites, but the Hawks led at every change, including by 17 points at three-quarter time. But Collingwood kicked five goals in the final term to change the game.
Lance Franklin regained the lead for his team with a freakish goal from the boundary line in the dying moments before the ball went back down the other end and Luke Ball snapped a major that put the Magpies into the Grand Final.
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