Hawthorn greats recall their Grand Final Waverley Park victory … and why it wasn’t the same
Hawks great Dermott Brereton sums it up best — and he should know as a five-time premiership player and one who has played a decider away from the MCG — ‘if you’re a gladiator, you want to perform at the colosseum’.
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A Grand Final like few other looms large.
While the league is keeping the door ajar on where this year’s decider will be held, ongoing and significant restrictions in Victoria mean the chances of the game being played at the MCG – and in front of a crowd, no less – seem slim to none.
Only on nine other occasions has the Grand Final been played away from the MCG, with the most recent being at Waverley Park in 1991 due to the development of the Great Southern Stand.
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And it wasn’t the same, Hawks great and five-time premiership player Dermott Brereton said.
“The way I view it, there’s how you directly think about it and then there’s the subconscious,”
“The direct thought is, I’m incredibly proud to have played in five premierships, and to have played in five cups, got five medallions, and it’s a really wonderful achievement I’m proud to have been part of.
“And then they say, ‘what’s it like to run out on the MCG five times in Grand Final wins’. I can’t say that. And I’m not embarrassed, but it’s not the same recalling playing in a premiership win at Waverley Park. It isn’t the same. I’m proud that it’s a premiership, but you just know that for me it wasn’t at the MCG.
“I kind of think, if you’re a gladiator, you want to perform at the colosseum.”
The 1991 decider between Hawthorn and West Coast was unique in more ways than one, Brereton’s premiership teammate and hall of fame member Gary Ayres said, with Angry Anderson’s famed “Batmobile” performance another feature of the day.
He said resilience would be paramount for whichever teams play, and that “you’d play on the moon” if you had to.
“Although we knew a little bit in advance, because they were doing to refurbishment — unlike what these guys are experiencing, we obviously were only going a couple of suburbs away,” Ayres said.
“And probably for us, it was quite a positive thing because we’d had a bit of a shift from Princes Park out to Waverley anyway, because of the home game scenario.
“For us, we’d already travelled interstate for that first qualifying final anyway. We came back from that with a lot of confidence. From a venue point of view, it probably says a bit about the mentality of the players.
“Let’s be honest — if it’s a Grand Final you’re going to play it on the moon, because it’s what you want to achieve. It was embraced by the boys, and we didn’t have to go that far.
“The ability for the players, coaches, the team and the support staff to actually be resilient and be very measured and planned in their preparation … guys are playing in four or five day turnarounds, which wasn’t unusual for us back in the day.
“You’ve got to be quite mentally tough and show a fair bit of resolve.”
League chief executive Gillon McLachlan said this week that if — or when — the MCG is officially ruled out, four “great” options are available in the Gabba, Perth Stadium, Adelaide Oval and ANZ Stadium.
Brereton said in “a season unlike any other”, players would have to continue to be “malleable” and adjust to the idea of playing for a premiership at a ground other than the traditional home of Grand Finals they have grown up to know.
“You’ve got to mould yourself and be absolutely open to flexibility at any tick of the clock for any game, any situation,” he said.
“You just have to be that because of this season.
“When you’re there, you’ll do everything to win it, and it’s a premiership, and it’ll go against your bio forevermore. When you specifically think about it, you’ll feel a tiny little bit misplaced in your recollection of how wonderful it was, because it’s not at the MCG.”
MORE AFL
HOW LEAGUE WILL DECIDE WHO GETS THE DECIDER
QUEENSLAND’S SUPPORT KEEPS THEM RIGHT IN THE MIX
By Glenn McFarlane
AFL fixture boss Travis Auld says Queensland’s ability to keep the 2020 season alive will definitely be “taken into account” when making a decision on the Grand Final venue.
But Auld said West Coast’s hopes of playing home finals in Perth hinged on whether the WA government quarantine regulations were eased.
Auld said timing and venue of this year’s premiership playoff was the next piece of the 2020 puzzle, with the MCG considered no chance.
He said the Grand Final was still being slated for either October 17 or 24, with a clearer picture expected by the end of the month.
Having locked in the rest of the home-and-away fixture through to the final round, Auld said he will now focus of whether the season will run straight into the finals or whether a post home-and-away season bye might allow some of the game’s stars to be fresh for the finals.
The venues for the finals will also be debated in the coming weeks, particularly in regard to clubs who have won the right to host a final who aren’t able to play in their own state.
That could include clubs such as Geelong and Richmond, who won‘t get the chance to play finals in Melbourne.
Auld expects the AFL will finalise those decisions by the end of the month.
“They (Queensland) certainly deserve to put their hands up in the sense that they have been incredible partners,” Auld said on 3AW.
“I know the other states have done their part too. But a large part of the competition has been completed as a result of the Queensland government and that will definitely be a factor that we will be taking into account, if we are not playing at the MCG.”
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said on Friday he believed there were four “great” options for the premiership playoff — Brisbane‘s the Gabba, Perth Stadium, Adelaide Oval and Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.
Auld said: “Quarantine issues around the country are going to dictate to some degree where we can and can’t play games. We are working now with each of the governments to get a sense of where they think their quarantine conditions may be as we start to prepare for finals,” he said on ABC Grandstand.
“It may well be (possible) come finals time. At the moment the scenario is that we can have teams come into WA, they can play each other while they are in quarantine and then they come out of quarantine to play the two WA teams, otherwise you put the two WA teams back into quarantine.
“Those conditions may change. The WA government and health have done a tremendous job in getting the virus out of the state. Who knows what that might look like in a few weeks’ time.”
West Coast football manager Craig Vozzo told the program that the club was still hopeful of playing at home.
“But obviously that is not something that is within our control. That is a discussion involving the WA Government and the AFL because of the quarantine requirements which are quite tricky. That would get back to whatever negotiation can be struck between those authorities and we remain hopeful that is a possibility,” he said.
Auld said the AFL now had a “road map” to finish the season but it still had to be executed.
“It has been a challenge. It started to get more difficult towards the back end of the year because you lose options with teams only playing each other once.”
“We had to find a way to complete the season with the quarantine conditions as they exist in WA at the moment and it is difficult to compress in WA. ”