Glenn McFarlane lists his 20 most memorable moments from 2018
ALEX Johnson had to wait six years in-between AFL games. His comeback was extraordinary. But was it the best moment of 2018? GLENN McFARLANE reveals his 20 most memorable from this year.
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LIKE every AFL season, 2018 was full of highs and lows and moments that got the footy world talking.
GLENN McFARLANE reveals his 20 most memorable from this year.
Tell us what you think. What was your favourite moment in 2018?
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1. THE PERFECT PASSAGE
Has there ever been a more perfect transition of play in the history of VFL/AFL Grand Finals than the one West Coast crafted in the dying moment?
Jeremy McGovern took a towering mark and split the middle with a precise kick to Nathan Vardy. His kick into attack was marked superbly by Liam Ryan.
He played on immediately and kicked long to Dom Sheed, who marked, having been shepherded clear by Willie Rioli.
Sheed’s goal from an angle was one for the ages. It capped off a massive year for the Eagles, and for coach Adam Simpson.
2. FOR MAGGIE
One of the most emotional moments of the season came when a grieving Travis Varcoe kicked a goal in the qualifying final against West Coast in Perth, not long after his sister Maggie passed away following a football accident. Every Collingwood player rushed to him to share the moment they knew meant so much to him. He backed it up with the first goal of the Grand Final.
3. BUCKS’ EMPATHY
There was a time when Nathan Buckley was seen as an intense, driven individual whose my-way-or-the-highway determination wasn’t always good for the team. He smashed that perception to smithereens in 2018. From his care for his players, his public affection for his sons, his use of Kintsugi, his consoling of a cheer squad member when the banner broke and of runner Alex Woodward on Grand Final day, it was classy stuff from Buckley.
4. SNOW SEASON OVER
Having not played finals since 2006 — when John Howard (remember him?) was still Prime Minister — the Demons finally burst through to the 2018 finals. It didn’t end the way fans wanted it to, thanks to the all-powerful Eagles, but finals victories over Geelong and Hawthorn will give Simon Goodwin and his team plenty of confidence heading into 2019.
5. GAZZA’S SECOND COMING
Gary Ablett’s return to Geelong was one of the compelling stories of the season. The “holy trinity” of Ablett, Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield didn’t deliver a flag — or even a finals win — but maybe the fairytale finish isn’t done yet. His trademark goal and 39 disposals in Round 1 brought the house down.
6. THE LATE GOALS
It seems fitting that in a year that ended with a stunning late goal from Dom Sheed, we’ve had some classic last-minute and after-the-siren goals that turned the fortunes of matches. There was Jeremy McGovern’s game-changing goal to down Port Adelaide in Round 21; Steven Motlop’s miracle Showdown goal with 21 seconds left in Round 8; and Zach Tuohy’s cool goal after the buzzer that beat the Demons in Round 18. Then, there were the misses. Max Gawn’s shot in Round 1, Harry Taylor in Round 15 and Cam Rayner’s miss in Round 5.
7. MULTI-CULTURAL MATCH-UP
Sydney’s Aliir Aliir and North Melbourne’s Majak Daw gave the AFL one of its feel-good moments — and their duel this year will hopefully encourage the next generation of Sudanese stars. Aliir, who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp to Sudanese parents, and Daw, who left Sudan as a nine-year-old, went head-to-head in the game. Daw kicked four goals, and Aliir kicked the matchwinner.
8. THE COMEBACK
Sydney’s Alex Johnson was almost a permanent fixture in the rehab rooms for the best part of six seasons, before making one of the season’s most emotional comebacks. The match marked 2136 days between his previous game, the 2012 Grand Final, having had five knee reconstructions and 12 knee operations. He had 15 disposals as the Swans won narrowly.
9. THE COMEBACK ENDS
Footy can be a cruel beast. Just a week after emotional high of his return, Johnson landed awkwardly as he chased Melbourne’s Jesse Hogan, suffering yet another serious knee injury. Just as he had got his footy career back, it had been taken away from him again. The footy world rallied around him as he had his sixth reconstruction. Sadly, the Swans cut him from their list at the end of the season.
10. HEAVY MEDAL
Tom Mitchell had more of the ball than any footballer before in 2018, and rightly won football’s highest honour, the Brownlow Medal. The possession machine had a record 848 disposals from 24 games and a record 54 touches in a game in the Round 1 clash with Collingwood. Extraordinary.
11. MIRACLE RETURN
Tyson Goldsack’s season — and potentially his career — seemed over when he suffered an ACL injury during a pre-season game. But the veteran refused to give in to his body. Convincing the medical staff he was ready to go, the veteran made a miraculous comeback for the Magpies’ first final, and he played an important role in all four finals.
12. SNAGS GALORE
Has there been a more refreshing addition to the AFL ranks in recent years than Richmond’s excitable teenager Jack Higgins? His honesty, self-confessed love of kicking “snags”, and freakish ability to nail the goal of the year out of nothing against Collingwood endeared him to not only Tigers supporters. As he headed towards the goal line, he had the good sense to drop it — or throw it — back into play before scissor-kicking through the sticks. Dustin Martin’s sublime boundary line goal in the qualifying final deserves a mention too.
13. AMERICAN PIE
In a year in which big men reasserted themselves as powerful forces again (Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy, take a bow), it was the preliminary final performance of a 211cm Texan that had AFL recruiting officers renewing their passports. Mason Cox’s stunning game against Richmond saw him take eight contested marks and rule the air.
14. THE BRAYSHAWS
Andrew Gaff’s moment of madness when he clocked Andrew Brayshaw was one of the lowlights of the season. But the dignity shown by the Brayshaw family through an extremely tough period was commendable. Add to that the comeback of Andrew’s brother, Melbourne’s Angus, who finished third in the Brownlow. Seeing Angus and Andrew embracing in the rooms after the Demons’ finals win over the Hawks was a touching moment.
15. FOR WILLOW AND LEO
Sydney’s Gary Rohan and Adelaide’s Rory Sloane, and their wives, endured unimaginable heartache through 2018, but found incredible support from the AFL community. Rohan and wife Amie lost one of their newborn twins, Willow, to a rare disease only hours after their birth. When Gary cradled his other twin, Bella, as he ran out of his 100th game against North Melbourne soon after, there was barely a dry eye in the SCG house. Sloane and wife Belinda suffered the heartbreak of their first child, Leo, being stillborn, prompting AFL players to wear two armbands in a show of unity for the family of the Adelaide star and also Travis Varcoe’s family.
16. GENERATION NEXT
The five clubs who overlooked Jaidyn Stephenson in last year’s national draft would have had cause for throwing something at the TV when the Collingwood teenager bagged five goals in his fourth game against Adelaide this year. By season’s end, a few of them may have been cursing themselves even more as the lightening quick, highly-skilled young talent won the Rising Star and played all 26 of the Magpies’ games.
17. RONKE’S RIOT
Ben Ronke will never forget his third AFL game. Neither will anyone who saw it. The unheralded Swan — well, he was unheralded then — kicked a matchwinning seven goals to help sink Hawthorn in one of the most stunning individual performances of the season. The 20-year-old rookie kicked his team’s first five goals then nailed the sealer with one minute left.
18. BEAMING LIGHT
Brisbane’s Dayne Beams shone a light on the emotional struggles and the mental health issues players endure when he spoke about the loss of his father. His powerful message and bravery in speaking publicly about his demons resonated with the community in a way that has filtered down to the lower levels of the sport.
19. BRAVE TODD
Having lost his mother to cancer last October, Port Adelaide’s Todd Marshall endured a double blow when his father passed away suddenly in April. He was granted indefinite leave, but returned for the club on an emotional night against the Bulldogs. The Port Adelaide crowd staged a minute’s applause at the 13-minute-mark, the same number as Marshall’s jumper. Making it even more special was Bulldog Hayden Crozier, who embraced him midgame.
20. ROBBO’S RETURN
St Kilda defender Dylan Roberton’s collapse at Geelong had teammates fearing the worst and fans watching in serious concern. While Roberton did not make it back to playing this year — he insists he will be back in 2019 — his return to training one day at Moorabbin was greeted with the biggest roar imaginable from a group of players on the training track. Just imagine what it will be like when he plays his next game of AFL footy.
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