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I think the mid-80s SOO were the best I ever saw.
Consistently close games, and usually televised either Teusday arvo (the Perth games) or Tuesday night (Adelaide).
I remember the Perth game (84) where the Vics brought in Gary Ablett (apparently coach Alan Jeans pushed hard for him). Most of us had hardly heard of him (that's what playing for Geelong will do for you).
By half time we were all in awe of the bloke. You could see then he was just a level above everyone else - at the highest possible level.
J26 you certainly seem to have a fixation on nostalgia.
COMPERE: One of the ugliest incidents ever to emerge from an ugly macho side of the game of Australian Rules football.
In a highly unorthodox training session it appears the Brisbane Bears' players formed a circle, put on boxing gloves and one by one purposely thrashed and pummelled a fellow player until he was bloodied and bruised.
The former Bears coach, Rob Walls, says he ordered the punch-up because one of his players, Shane Strempel, "needed to be taught a lesson". The bizarre training session only ended when another player said they should stop, or Strempel might be killed.
The incident which has only just come out in public, happened 10 years ago but as Luisa Saccotelli reports for The World Today, those involved have never forgotten it.
Same era as you. Love mid-late 90's, some absolute champion players: Carey, Ablett, Hird, Voss, Buckley all emerging, Harvey, Kouta, Crawf, Lockett and so many more.For both your side, and others.
Reading some posts about how Sydney can really pack out the SCG made me think back to the Lockett and Kelly days, when Seven would telecast the match on a Sat night live into Melbourne, and the place would be buzzing. Gun players such as the aforementioned, a young O'Loughlin, the likes of Wade Chapman, Stefan Carey, Brad Seymour - all household Swans names back in the days circa 96-97.
Another favourite is Essendon from a similar era. Watching them on a Friday night would be a beauty. Mercuri was purring circa 99, Smoking Joe Misiti, and the odd glimpse of magic from Hird. Also had a guy named Fletcher some may recall. Sheedy'd also have his battlers, or his plug-n-play types (would play 15odd games for the year and make a real fist of it, often went missing for big patches of the year but would come roaring back the next season) such as Ben Doolan, Calthorpe, Dunnybrush Denham, Berbakov and Lalich.
What I'm getting at here is footy as you really enjoyed it, for whatever reasons. For me, in this period, it was growing up as a little kid and idolising every player who took to the field, and taking pride in knowing the facts about each and every one of them. Add to that the way the game was played, end to end footy, hard, uncompromising and with that balance (in hindsight - rose coloured, maybe) between being clean but hardly PC. Also think that the commentators of the day are underappreciated - less formal, less stats (Bruce aside) and certainly no Quartermain 'OH! BARRY HALL! HAS WHACKED STAKER! THAT IS RIDICULOUS BARRY HALL WE DO NOT WANT THIS IN OUR GAME!' sort of reactions to everything that goes on. Robbo was pretty old school with his commentary but was always good when the whips were cracking late in a close game. Peter Landy and Sandy Roberts, too, had that grandfatherly way of describing the game, using a lot of older terminology and idioms of a previous era. Watching the highlights of Essendon-Footscray from R22 1996 on Year of the Dogs certainly brought this home. The game was a lot purer; maybe because it was seen through innocent eyes, but give me a replay from 1997 or 1999 ahead of one from 2005 or 2008.
Thoughts on this, if at all? When did you really enjoy watching footy? What players, no matter how obscure, did you always take note of?
This. +several.
We must be around the same vintage. It was a great time for footy in WA.
I think the 79 grand final was the pinnacle for WA footy.
Maxfield's goal, plus the commentary 'BOND comes in and does it magnificently...Dundas' little give to Bond - HERE'S A GO! BOND TO MAXFIELD - GO AND KICK THE GOAL STEWEY! STRAIGHTEN IT UP, BANG IT HOME...IT'S A BEAU-TY! THEY'RE IN FRONT THE TIGES!'. Bruce Brett Peaking.
I still love Bruce, he's still the best, but compare that with his commentary of Leon's goal in the last qtr of the draw last year 'Davis, well...this would be ironic...'. C'mon Bruce. I'd have expected commentary of Maxfield-proportions for that sort of stuff. It's too controlled these days. It's all too controlled!