Former Collingwood star Mick McGuane recalls the 1990 Grand Final brawl

It was arguably the most memorable AFL grand final brawl in living memory involving players, officials, coaches and even a boundary rider. One Magpie was knocked out and Mick McGuane reveals he was nearly the second.

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Mick McGuane was walking to the quarter-time huddle alongside a furious Darren Millane.

The man known as Pants was huffing and puffing and thinking about payback.

It was during the 1990 Grand Final between Collingwood and Essendon, the day that the Magpies ended their 32-year premiership drought.

While the game never reached any great heights, it will stand the test of time for hosting arguably the wildest Grand Final brawl in history.

It happened on the quarter-time siren at the Ponsford end of the MCG and it involved players, officials and coaches.

Even then-Seven boundary rider Bernie Quinlan was caught in the action.

Folklore says the fight started courtesy of a spot fire between Denis Banks and Kieran Sporn.

Banks is said to have given his opponent a few ankle taps, to which Sporn retaliated.

“I didn’t think it would get to that situation, and to this day I don’t exactly know what ignited it,” McGuane said.

“I’ve heard since that it had something to do with Kieran Sporn and Denis Banks, but I don’t know how factual that is.

“I’ve never sat back and watched it in its entirety.”

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It’s on between the Magpies and Bombers during quarter-time of the 1990 Grand Final.

By the end of the brawl, Magpie star Gavin Brown lay unconscious on the ground after squaring up to Terry Daniher and coming off second best.

“Craig Kelly was in there and I remember Paul Vander Haar coming over the top,” McGuane said.

“I vividly remember seeing Browny on the ground, and I bent over him and quickly realised he wasn’t with us.”

McGuane said the late Millane was hellbent on squaring the ledger, even with the broken thumb he had played with throughout the finals series.

“The boys were pretty upset that Browny had hit the ground,” he said.

“I remember walking over to the huddle with Pants and he was pretty filthy trying to find out what had transpired.

“He was probably thinking about retribution in some way, because he was such a teammate that stuck fat with his other teammates.”

Gavin Brown in the hands of trainers.

The only seemingly calm person in the huddle was then-Magpies coach Leigh Matthews, who was determined to settle his players.

“Leigh called us in and just said, ‘I’ve been in this situation before. It’s about the team that really attacks the football the next five minutes’,” McGuane recalled.

“It was a mature message to get the boys refocused.”

A six-goal to one second term ensured the Magpies would hold up the cup.

As for McGuane, he is still relieved that a scrap he had with Derek Kickett during the brawl didn’t result in a second unconscious Magpie.

“Derek Kickett got reported for striking me, but he didn’t hit me,” he said.

“It was more like an attempted strike, I suppose.

“He had nothing to worry about and I told him that on the day. I’m tipping if he did hit me, I’d be still asleep.”

Originally published as Former Collingwood star Mick McGuane recalls the 1990 Grand Final brawl