Great grand final matchups we were robbed of

[The King!]

North vs Essendon in 96 and 99 would have been crackers.

96 Essendon shouldn't have even been in The prelim let alone the granny. West Coast should have got to host the semi in Perth.

 

[iameviljez]

10 years ago we almost got a Port vs Sydney Grand Final and the year after a Derby Grand Final before Hawthorn ruined the day twice. 2013 Hawthorn vs Geelong would've been a ripper if not for Geelong's slip-up in their only home final in the first week

Oh God, I could not take losing to that Hawthorn side twice in GFs.

 

[peetoo]

Any prelim final, officiated by Darren Goldspink. You know the one I mean

 

[raskolnikov]

96 Essendon shouldn't have even been in The prelim let alone the granny. West Coast should have got to host the semi in Perth.

Would have put up more a game than the Swans did.

 

[emuboy]

West Coast vs. Adelaide and Geelong vs. Melbourne all could have happened given these teams were all strong around the same time in a number of different decades but things just never fell the right way in the finals to allow this.

 

[demondavey]

1994 - WC v North
1999 - North v ESS
2002-2003 - Port v Brisbane
2012 - Sydney v Adelaide
2013 - Geelong v Fremantle
2015 - WC v Fremantle
2016 - Sydney v GWS
2019 - Richmond v Collingwood

 

[demondavey]

West Coast vs. Adelaide and Geelong vs. Melbourne all could have happened given these teams were all strong around the same time in a number of different decades but things just never fell the right way in the finals to allow this.

Which years for Melbourne and Geelong?

 

[demondavey]

If Fremantle had beaten Sydney in the 2006 preliminary final they would have played West Coast in the GF. Fremantle won both derbies that year too.

I was at the PF, Fremantle weren’t in it..but agree. Would have been so good.

 

[demondavey]

I know we got this is a prelim, but I reckon it would have been good to see bulldogs vs st kilda in 09 or 10, just a shame both teams peaked when geelong and Collingwood were on top of their game those years. Even 97 would have been great, both teams looking to break their long droughts and win their second flag and a win for the battlers

1997 would have been interesting, WB v St Kilda

 

[demondavey]

Brisbane v St kilda 2004 GF would have been interesting.

That would guarantee Brisbane 4 GF

 

[Soggy2112]

West Coast vs. Adelaide and Geelong vs. Melbourne all could have happened given these teams were all strong around the same time in a number of different decades but things just never fell the right way in the finals to allow this.

Probably should’ve happened in 05, but we bottled the QF. Roo getting himself suspended was probably the deciding factor.

 

[Seeds]

1994 - WC v North
1999 - North v ESS
2002-2003 - Port v Brisbane
2012 - Sydney v Adelaide
2013 - Geelong v Fremantle
2015 - WC v Fremantle
2016 - Sydney v GWS
2019 - Richmond v Collingwood

Lol at 1994. Geelong vastly superior team to north. Beating them 3 times that year. What that year was robbed of was a fit geelong taking on west coast. Our entire midfield of hocking, couch, bairstow was injured that final series, we lost our star centre half foward weeks before the finals started and ablett was hobbling on one leg come finals.

And north still couldnt get over the top of us.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

That would guarantee Brisbane 4 GF

How? Lynch and Brown were playing injured and did nothing, and there was no Hart. St Kilda would have steamed rolled Brisbane. The result a few weeks earlier is irrelevant, teams have overcome massive losses quickly against the same team.

 

[demondavey]

No bias here at all

Can’t argue with 1994. 07 also, would have been a good GF if WC were slightly sharper.

How? Lynch and Brown were playing injured and did nothing, and there was no Hart. St Kilda would have steamed rolled Brisbane. The result a few weeks earlier is irrelevant, teams have overcome massive losses quickly against the same team.

Can’t see them turning around an 80 odd point drubbing from the first week.

 

[demondavey]

Lol at 1994. Geelong vastly superior team to north. Beating them 3 times that year. What that year was robbed of was a fit geelong taking on west coast. Our entire midfield of hocking, couch, bairstow was injured that final series, we lost our star centre half foward weeks before the finals started and ablett was hobbling on one leg come finals.

And north still couldnt get over the top of us.

I’ll take your word

 

[Soggy2112]

Can’t see them turning around an 80 odd point drubbing from the first week.

Hawthorn effectively did that in 2015.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Can’t argue with 1994. 07 also, would have been a good GF if WC were slightly sharper.

Can’t see them turning around an 80 odd point drubbing from the first week.

Geelong thrashed Essendon by 94 points in the preliminary final in the 1989 finals series, after Essendon thrashed Geelong in the first week of finals by 76 points, 13 days earlier. There's so many cases where there's a reversal of the previous match against two teams in finals. Brisbane had no forward line or Hart. St Kilda would have had the easiest time against them at home in Melbourne.

 

[Fire]

Lol at 1994. Geelong vastly superior team to north. Beating them 3 times that year. What that year was robbed of was a fit geelong taking on west coast. Our entire midfield of hocking, couch, bairstow was injured that final series, we lost our star centre half foward weeks before the finals started and ablett was hobbling on one leg come finals.

And north still couldnt get over the top of us.

Sydney beat North in 96 by over 80 points in Melbourne IIRC. Footy is a funny game and those sorts of stats don't matter in the end. Just a little bit less magic in the death of that prelim from Ablett, and it wouldn't have mattered that you beat North twice in the regular season either.

'Robbed' is definitely too strong a term for it, I will agree. It's not like Geelogn didn't deserve to be there. But Geelong didn't achieve anything in that era, and it was the start of North's dominance. You can't argue that a grand final between the two teams of the 90s, right as the baton was being passed between the two of them, would not have been a way more historic game in retrospect. (assuming the still weagles won, otherwise they would have hardly had a claim to the title.)

Play on.

 

[_Mike_]

85 Essendon V Footscray could have been a memorable one, Hawks were smashed by 78 points.

Bombers and Dogs had played 2 very good games against each other during the season with 1 win each, similar v Hawthorn. Essendon didn’t want to come up against the Dogs in the GF

 

[Kapow!!!]

I was at the PF, Fremantle weren’t in it..but agree. Would have been so good.

Got back to 3 points halfway through the third and there was a chance, were very much in the game just never could hit the front and the finals hardened team put us to the sword in the 4th. I felt like we were a better coach and finals experience short and the start and end of that game showed it. Inexplicably missing finals in 04 & 05 killed us.

As for this thread I think West Coast vs Geelong in 07, a third instalment of Sydney vs Hawthorn in 16 would've been a fascinating game and build up with a 4peat on the line and Geelong vs Melbourne in 22 would be my picks. Weirdly, all of them involve sides who went out in straight sets.

 

[emuboy]

Which years for Melbourne and Geelong?

Melbourne and Geelong were both very strong teams in the mid 1920s, late 1930s, mid 1950s, early 1960s and way more recently in the early 2020s, both the Demons and Cats consistently making the finals in these eras and winning premierships, but no finals series has ever resulted in a Dees and Cats Grand Final. The teams were also resurgent in the late 1980s and early 1990s and both were finalists in the mid 2000s, but while they did play some finals against each other during these eras a Melbourne vs Geelong GF in these years didn't really seem realistic, and so it proved.

Carlton and Melbourne aren't particularly big rivals, but a Blues vs. Demons GF has come close on several occasions and these foundation clubs are still to play off in a premiership decider.

As for Hawthorn and Collingwood, they are remarkable for how many times they miss playing each other in any final, much less a Grand Final. To illustrate this, the Hawks and Magpies did not meet in any finals series between 1978 and 2011, and twelve years have now gone by since the 2012 Hawthorn vs. Collingwood Qualifying Final, with no further September meetings between them since then. It's probably best for the Magpies that there has never been a Hawthorn vs. Collingwood Grand Final as the Hawks are very good at Grand Finals, and the Magpies aren't very good at Grand Finals, so it wouldn't likely end well for the Black and Whites. Former Power coach Mark Williams and the 22 Port Adelaide players who took to the field against Geelong in the 2007 Grand Final would probably be hoping for a Hawks vs. Magpies GF in coming seasons for this very reason.

 

[demondavey]

Melbourne and Geelong were both very strong teams in the mid 1920s, late 1930s, mid 1950s, early 1960s and way more recently in the early 2020s, both the Demons and Cats consistently making the finals in these eras and winning premierships, but no finals series has ever resulted in a Dees and Cats Grand Final. The teams were also resurgent in the late 1980s and early 1990s and both were finalists in the mid 2000s, but while they did play some finals against each other during these eras a Melbourne vs Geelong GF in these years didn't really seem realistic, and so it proved.

Carlton and Melbourne aren't particularly big rivals, but a Blues vs. Demons GF has come close on several occasions and these foundation clubs are still to play off in a premiership decider.

As for Hawthorn and Collingwood, they are remarkable for how many times they miss playing each other in any final, much less a Grand Final. To illustrate this, the Hawks and Magpies did not meet in any finals series between 1978 and 2011, and twelve years have now gone by since the 2012 Hawthorn vs. Collingwood Qualifying Final, with no further September meetings between them since then. It's probably best for the Magpies that there has never been a Hawthorn vs. Collingwood Grand Final as the Hawks are very good at Grand Finals, and the Magpies aren't very good at Grand Finals, so it wouldn't likely end well for the Black and Whites. Former Power coach Mark Williams and the 22 Port Adelaide players who took to the field against Geelong in the 2007 Grand Final would probably be hoping for a Hawks vs. Magpies GF in coming seasons for this very reason.

Huge summary. Well done.

 

[Clark G]

Could Port Adelaide vs Brisbane 2024 be a candidate?

 

[BigVic]

Could Port Adelaide vs Brisbane 2024 be a candidate?

The Power lost by 79 points

GWS vs Sydney would've been fun. The Sydney Derby

 

[HugeJohnson]

Could Port Adelaide vs Brisbane 2024 be a candidate?

We would've been smashed worse than Sydney