Toast 150 Years of Essendon

[Shane Heard]

Youve put up alot of top Ess players

But just on Ken Fraser who was a top Centre Half Forward - ive got to be careful posting multiple times on this thread - 3 or 4 years back some idiot on the Geel board reckoned i was a Haw supporter - hah - now they will be claiming im a Dons supporter

But on Fraser( Ess capt at the time i think ) - and i did go to the 68 GF - hell of a long time ago - but it wasnt much of a game - be interesting if any other posters went to that GF . But Fraser did his knee and severely - might have been the week before i cant remember - but that is why Geoff Blethyn came in - he took Frasers spot

One thing i can vividly remember about that GF ( and thats why i mentioned - whether any other posters went to that game ) and youve got to remember back then - nothing was really organised - there wasnt the security of today - so there was plenty of people on the ground , Now you would think theyd do this before the game - but im almost certain it was 3-4 minutes after the game finished . And Fraser for the Ess supporters did a lap of honour around the boundary line - and when i say a lap of honour - he couldnt walk - 2 blokes carried him for the lap - i can picture that - him going past where i was sitting

The other thing about Ken Fraser - as good a CHF as he was - he was an ordinary kick - a really ordinary kick - had an awkward ball drop . There was an Ess v Geel in the mid 60s at Ess and it ended in a draw - and Fraser kicked a pt in the dying seconds from a decent distance to tie it up - and he got pushed or something and he got offered another kick - but he knocked it back - and settled for the pt and the draw

Very interesting mate

And don’t worry about what anyone says in this joint. Post what you like. It’s a free society and this is just a footy forum where you can say what you want about any club or subject.
If anyone gives you shit, just tell them to **** off. It’s just a peanut typing crap. Water off a ducks back mate

 

[half_back_flank]

I know it's not the same as some of the deep dive club history books already posted, but I have this book which my son and I love to go through:

View attachment 1241193

Funny story, I won an academic prize during my Year 12 many, many moons ago (yep... I'm a nerd) and the school asked prize winners to go source a book that they'd pay for and we would be given at a ceremony. Everyone else chose dictionaries or reference books for their particular subject areas... I chose this. The Education Minister was presenting the prizes and actually said "good choice" when he handed it to me.

Good choice indeed. I borrowed my local library’s copy multiple times as a youngster.

 

[brutus76]

Every club has their good and bad stories and skeletons.

Looking at the BEST periods/eras is obviously way better than looking at the BAD ones.

Thurgood. Colonial superstar
Coleman. Freak
Reynolds. 3 Browlows
Hutchy. 2 Brownlows
Timmy. Senior footy at 15!!!!!!
Simon Madden. In the top 5 ruckmen ever
Longy's stand
Wanga. Won a BROWNLOW at 19!!!!!
Hirdy the player. Genius.
Fordham 7 goals in a GF.
Lloydy 900+ goals
4 DANIHERS IN ONE GAME
Getting the ANZAC DAY tradition started
Getting the DREAMTIME tradition started
Active recruiting of indigenous players for the last 4+ decades

 

[Shane Heard]

Every club has their good and bad stories and skeletons.

Looking at the BEST periods/eras is obviously way better than looking at the BAD ones.

Thurgood. Colonial superstar
Coleman. Freak
Reynolds. 3 Browlows
Hutchy. 2 Brownlows
Timmy. Senior footy at 15!!!!!!
Simon Madden. In the top 5 ruckmen ever
Longy's stand
Wanga. Won a BROWNLOW at 19!!!!!
Hirdy the player. Genius.
Fordham 7 goals in a GF.
Lloydy 900+ goals
4 DANIHERS IN ONE GAME
Getting the ANZAC DAY tradition started
Getting the DREAMTIME tradition started
Active recruiting of indigenous players for the last 4+ decades

I like the 12 individual goal kickers in the 93’ GF with a 19 year old Mark Mercuri kicking 3 of them

 

[Fire]

The greatest comeback of all time ..69 points down

Lol, the funny thing about that game is that I never, at no point, thought we had it won.

I remember before the match, I glibly told my friends father who was driving us to a junior footy match that we'd win by 80. It was my way of saying we were no chance.

He came up to me after out game and asked 'how much did you say they'd win by?'. He told me the score, 60 something points, and I couldn't believe it.

Essendon were the invincible, and North were at that stage, fading. Not just in terms of an aging list that had spent too many years at the wrong end of the draft; but also in terms of hunger. They'd been there and done that, and it had really showed that season. I had no idea where this performance had come from.

We listened to it on the car ride back, and Essendon got on a run of three goals or so (I think to end the third, but could be wrong.) I said "I don't like the sound of this, I think we're going to get run over." We were still something like 50 points up, so I was roundly mocked by a car full of baffled punters, ensuring me that "no one is gonna come back from here!"

Guess who had the last laugh? Not me.

 

[dave10]

Lol, the funny thing about that game is that I never, at no point, thought we had it won.

I remember before the match, I glibly told my friends father who was driving us to a junior footy match that we'd win by 80. It was my way of saying we were no chance.

He came up to me after out game and asked 'how much did you say they'd win by?'. He told me the score, 60 something points, and I couldn't believe it.

Essendon were the invincible, and North were at that stage, fading. Not just in terms of an aging list that had spent too many years at the wrong end of the draft; but also in terms of hunger. They'd been there and done that, and it had really showed that season. I had no idea where this performance had come from.

We listened to it on the car ride back, and Essendon got on a run of three goals or so (I think to end the third, but could be wrong.) I said "I don't like the sound of this, I think we're going to get run over." We were still something like 50 points up, so I was roundly mocked by a car full of baffled punters, ensuring me that "no one is gonna come back from here!"

Guess who had the last laugh? Not me.

Amazing! Likewise, I was there too and even early in the second Qtr when we were 12 goals down, people around me still thought we weren’t out of it completely… Thst just shows how much of a force that Essendon team was. I don’t think you could honestly say that about any other team in recent memory at a point in time. By mid2001 they were unbeatable.

From that point the wheels started falling off. Injuries mounted, players were playing injured and underdone. The club limped into the 2001 GF and basically ran out of gas and players in the 2nd half against a fresh Lions outfit.

1999 was the one that got away. 2001 wasn’t meant to be, just like the Lions on 2021 in some ways with circumstances not going their way this year.

 

[Shane Heard]

Lol, the funny thing about that game is that I never, at no point, thought we had it won.

I remember before the match, I glibly told my friends father who was driving us to a junior footy match that we'd win by 80. It was my way of saying we were no chance.

He came up to me after out game and asked 'how much did you say they'd win by?'. He told me the score, 60 something points, and I couldn't believe it.

Essendon were the invincible, and North were at that stage, fading. Not just in terms of an aging list that had spent too many years at the wrong end of the draft; but also in terms of hunger. They'd been there and done that, and it had really showed that season. I had no idea where this performance had come from.

We listened to it on the car ride back, and Essendon got on a run of three goals or so (I think to end the third, but could be wrong.) I said "I don't like the sound of this, I think we're going to get run over." We were still something like 50 points up, so I was roundly mocked by a car full of baffled punters, ensuring me that "no one is gonna come back from here!"

Guess who had the last laugh? Not me.

My story of that game was truly bizarre.
I was living in Queensland by then and we had the dodgiest dial up internet of all time and tuned into some radio website that was calling the game.

Right from the start, me and my Bomber fan neighbor were going insane as the coverage would drop out for 3 or 4 minutes at a time and then play for 5.

Everytime it came back on there was another goal added and we couldn’t believe what was going on.

what made it worse was my son then was 2 years old having an afternoon nap and my ex wife was telling us to stfu. We did a lot of silent swearing that afternoon.

Funny to think back now lol

 

[Goggin Our Best]

1999 was the one that got away. 2001 wasn’t meant to be, just like the Lions on 2021 in some ways with circumstances not going their way this year.

1999 was a disgrace - a shambles - anyway you look at it - it was a disgrace

1st and foremost all neutrals wanted an Ess ( 18wins 1st ) playing NM ( 17wins 2nd ) in GF however if you have a proper and fair system - and doesnt eventuate then tough luck

And this happened with that stupid final 8 96-99 - and they made up the rules week by week - especially home interstate finals

So week 1 - Dons Roos have big wins - now the sticky bit - joke of a system - W/Coast and Carl finished 5th and 6th resp with 12 wins - Eagles win their 1st final ( beat 4th side ) Carl get flogged by 11 goals ( by 3rd side ) . Following week Carl play W/C but in MELB - work that out - yet in 97 Geel finished 2nd lost to Nth ( Carey 7 goals ) Ade finished lower but won in week 1 - and Wayne Jackson said look we reward winning teams - the game is at Football Park - like i say they made it up on the run -yet 2yrs later WCoast didnt get rewarded for winning week 1

So you have team who wins 18 games plus 1big final win -up against a side who win 12 games - gets smashed in Wk 1 and gets a controversial home final in WK 2 to proceed - the system was an utter joke

Even today the system - especially for the outstanding teams isnt good enough - you could have a team - win 22 games - win their 1st final by 100 plus - yet they still have go into a cut throat PF- talk about putting the sheep station on the line . Hawks 4 recent flags - they won all PFS by 6pts or less - thats how dicey that is . I reckon if you win 20 plus games ie 20/21/22 - and you win your 1st final - and then get beaten in PF - I think you should have the right to challenge - like Coll did back in the 30s

 

[Shane Heard]

Club History - 1984 Grand Final 4th Qrt Analysis

I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time and in the spirit of Grand Final week and on the eve of our great club’s 150th anniversary next year….and just for the fun of it ..here is my blow by blow (goal by goal) account of how we tore apart HFC in the last qrt of the 84’ GF and the 1% efforts...

www.bigfooty.com

 

[Blind Turn]

I'm sure the club will have taken some random punter off the internet's opinion on what actually happened into consideration when portraying the events of the last decade

But but but, RtB is the ‘’Doyen’ of all things to do with footy history on BF and he will dictate how history is perceived in here and not those who went through it. Didn’t you know that?

 

[dave10]

Club History - 1984 Grand Final 4th Qrt Analysis

I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time and in the spirit of Grand Final week and on the eve of our great club’s 150th anniversary next year….and just for the fun of it ..here is my blow by blow (goal by goal) account of how we tore apart HFC in the last qrt of the 84’ GF and the 1% efforts...

www.bigfooty.com

It never gets old. Bakers blind turn etched into football folklore!! The tsunami of that crowd memorable as the drought breaking.