Most Heartbreaking Loss

[The rabbi]

I remember as a kid listening to the 1st Semi Final between Geelong and Richmond in 1969.

Geelong kicked the first goal through Doug Wade and all looked good. Then Richmond began to kick goals. And more goals. And more goals.

I remember sitting in the lounge room of our home and howling my eyes out.

First Semi-Final 1969
Geelong 2.1 2.4 3.6 7.7 (49)
Richmond 8.3 14.7 20.11 25.17 (167)
Attendance: 101,233

Since that event, when ever Geelong belt Richmond by 100 points + I feel absolutely no compassion for them.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

1999 Prelim vs Carlton and the 2001 Grand Final.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

2008 Grand final v the Dorks, the 1992 Grand final vs the Wet Toast and 05 final v Sydney are all bad but the answer would have to be 1997 vs Adelaide - we still don't talk about that one. My blood boils very time. just thinking about it now, the anger is rising. We Was ROBBED!! and robbed so badly.

the trouble with that though, for me, was that it happened earlier on the same night that my now wife and I moved from mere friends to dating so we date our relationship as beginning on that night. I get into trouble anytime anyone askes me what the worst night of my life was because if I say the night of the 97 final against Adelaide she hits me.

and of course, anytime someone askes "how long have you two been together?" I'm reminded of the game and forced to think about it and relive it. The other losses I have simply put out of my head and never have to think about.

_____________________________________________
Geelong fan my entire life
GWS fan its entire life

 

[manboob]

1997 vs Adelaide - we still don't talk about that one. My blood boils very time. just thinking about it now, the anger is rising. We Was ROBBED!! and robbed so badly.

This is still it for me. The others we lost or were out played whatever. This was an injustice.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

I can remember a few away games in Melbourne in 1979 which i went to -they were all shockers

Fitzroy (who were a decent side then) at the Junction oval -it was actually Peter Featherbys 1st game for the club. About a 12 goal loss -did not give a yelp all day . Can remember Malarkey kicking a torp in from fullback -straight off the side of the boot -straight to Max Richardson for another Fitzroy goal

Went to the Essendon game at Windy HILL -Essendon were no great shakes back then -half time we were about a goal behind -but the writing was on the wall -and the avalanche came -and there was no resistance at all . Max Crow looked like a champion that day

And the worst one was our old foe -the Hawks at Princess Park-time on in the 2nd QTR -the Hawks had 10 or 11 goals on the board and we were goal less and then Bryan Cousins (god bless him) Bens father kicked our only goal for the half

But thats probably why any Cats supporter gets tremendous joy from these 3 flags -because unlike the players who represented the club in the 70s 80s 90s these guys dont capitulate and toss it in when things get tough -they actually relish the situation-the more pressure -the better they go

 

[BotsMaster]

Take your pick:

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[youtube]fyqmI01aAns&feature=related[/youtube]

[youtube]rKpKamb-QVU[/youtube]

[youtube]KUeZcy_byws[/youtube]

 

[Belisarius]

Without a shadow of a doubt - the 2008 GF loss.

Gutted for years - just getting over it now with the 2011 GF win.

Without the 2011 Premiership - not sure I would have ever got over it. It would have been there waiting to resurface on another ugly day of footy.

 

[hilly]

I read somewhere a while back that Cam Mooney kicked a ripper goal that day - and sure enough did a search on youtube and found him slotting a beauty from the boundary line in the 1st quarter I think.

I was sitting directly behind that kick, and thought afterwards that it was going to be his and Geelong's day.

My bad.

 

[rapidfire7]

1992 Grand Final.

Our best chance of the 4 to win one from that era (by far).

Absolutely hated the Eagles, and it was just so depressing watching them wear us down in the second half.

Also still spewing at the absurd amount of concessions the Eagles were allowed to build their team in the first place. It was simply unfair.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

All of the GF losses burn but the circumstances of 1995 and 2008 really hurt.

1995 - AFL Member , went with a close Cats mate - got there early and sprinted to front row,wing second level.
Fantastic spot , pretty much knew we were gone after 5 minutes - absolutely gutted for the whole day

2008 - Skiing in NZ , front row seats in front of an open fire at a Pub in Queenstown , huge anticipation - saw us play non Cats footy and the Hawks rush through a gazillion behinds , the Mooney misses and Dew and Rioli ripping us new ones....scarred for life

 

[patience]

2008

 

[Mr Meow]

The only thing stopping the 2013 and 2024 prelims being quite as heart breaking (they still absolutely were) was that we had a premiership from 2 years earlier in each instance. But we were ahead for significant parts of those games and with a few minutes left it looked like we could still win it.

Luckily some of the classics in recent games around them - 2007 PF, 2009 GF and 2022 QF - can still be savoured as a buffer of sorts.

But it'll always sting when you just barely miss out on a chance to play in a grand final. You can't help but feel what a missed opportunity it was. And they are still pretty high up there due to recency bias.

 

[Frappe]

I can remember a few away games in Melbourne in 1979 which i went to -they were all shockers

Fitzroy (who were a decent side then) at the Junction oval -it was actually Peter Featherbys 1st game for the club. About a 12 goal loss -did not give a yelp all day . Can remember Malarkey kicking a torp in from fullback -straight off the side of the boot -straight to Max Richardson for another Fitzroy goal

Went to the Essendon game at Windy HILL -Essendon were no great shakes back then -half time we were about a goal behind -but the writing was on the wall -and the avalanche came -and there was no resistance at all . Max Crow looked like a champion that day

And the worst one was our old foe -the Hawks at Princess Park-time on in the 2nd QTR -the Hawks had 10 or 11 goals on the board and we were goal less and then Bryan Cousins (god bless him) Bens father kicked our only goal for the half

But thats probably why any Cats supporter gets tremendous joy from these 3 flags -because unlike the players who represented the club in the 70s 80s 90s these guys dont capitulate and toss it in when things get tough -they actually relish the situation-the more pressure -the better they go

You've given the cold shakes ..I went to the Junction Oval game - we'd knocked over the Tigers the week before and big Larry had jagged 8 on Francis Bourke - in this game I think he had 3 touches for no goals.

Still remember the corrugated iron fence entrance at the Fitzroy Street end.

I was at the Princes Park game as well - just as diabolical to watch.

I'm pretty sure we had to beat the Bombers to make the five - maybe Round 20 or 21.

Great times!

 

[iameviljez]

2008

How is this not the top answer by the length of the Flemington?

The best team we have ever put out on the park in Geelong's history, on top of probably the best H&A season ever recorded, including Essendon 2000.

The best chance the club has ever had to go back-to-back since decimal currency, and in hindsight the best change it has ever had at a threepeat.

Going in as big favourites, we kick ourselves out of it and everything that can go wrong, does. Against Hawthorn.

In 1992, we were good but brittle, and West Coast had beaten us at the G two weeks prior.

2008 was the most devastating day I have spent at the footy.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

You've given the cold shakes ..I went to the Junction Oval game - we'd knocked over the Tigers the week before and big Larry had jagged 8 on Francis Bourke - in this game I think he had 3 touches for no goals.

Still remember the corrugated iron fence entrance at the Fitzroy Street end.

I was at the Princes Park game as well - just as diabolical to watch.

I'm pretty sure we had to beat the Bombers to make the five - maybe Round 20 or 21.

Great times!

Re the Essendon game , you are correct it was basically 5th versus 6th , and the winner got 5th spot

And this was Geel to a tee , previous week Cats had a thumping 10 goal upset win against Coll ( top team ) at KP , re the Ess game at h/t they were about 1 goal behind , and i was with 3-4 others , and we all agreed at the h/t break Geel were gone , and thats what transpired they did not give a yelp in the 3rd qtr and you could tell at h/t that was going to happen

Geel had in the 70s and 80s a very unsavoury but justified reputation of giving up , dead set giving up

And i laugh at these posters who bag Blight , in the 70s and 80s apart from 2 very strong years ( 80/81 ) under Billy Goggin - the rest of that period Geel were utter garbage , a frustrating teasing inconsistent team , who would give up at the drop of a hankerchief

Since Blights appointment the Cats have been a very strong club , when he was coach you had to beat a heavyweight to win the flag , where as today youve got 9-10 teams who are about as good as each other - Holmes hadnt done his hamstring in the 3rd qtr , the Cats would have another flag , Geel would have beaten , in fact any of a dozen teams would have soundly beaten the Swans in the GF - a hell of alot different to beating Haw/WC and Carlton in late 80s early 90s

 

[Mr Meow]

How is this not the top answer by the length of the Flemington?

The best team we have ever put out on the park in Geelong's history, on top of probably the best H&A season ever recorded, including Essendon 2000.

The best chance the club has ever had to go back-to-back since decimal currency, and in hindsight the best change it has ever had at a threepeat.

Going in as big favourites, we kick ourselves out of it and everything that can go wrong, does. Against Hawthorn.

In 1992, we were good but brittle, and West Coast had beaten us at the G two weeks prior.

2008 was the most devastating day I have spent at the footy.

I offered different answers as different discussion points because it would be a boring thread with 50x single word "2008" answers.

We've had a lot of heart breaking losses, to the point where most people could put together interesting and varied top 10s. Heart breaking doesn't always mean a close loss or losing as favourites either.

Of course many incredible wins too, but that's a different thread.

Even the 2010 prelim was a stinger to be at live but because we beat them in a GF the next year, it erased it. But at the time, being live at that game to see a champion team absolutely massacred in a final was brutal. Ablett's last games and so on, it felt like we could be in for tough times.

Then 2011 somehow happened.

 

[Shell]

I'm fine with all our GF losses post 1994.

It's 1997 that will forever sting.

The way we lost the Nick Davis game was ****ing ridiculous and would not wish that upon any team tbh.

And the 2019 prelim hurt bad too

 

[rapidfire7]

And the 2019 prelim hurt bad too

Still can't get over this game.

Scott not putting Blicavs onto Lynch was suicidal.

I honestly believe that this one terrible decision (keeping an old, slow & worn out Taylor on an all guns blazing Lynch) cost us the game.. and the Premiership..

Hurts more than the 2020 GF tbh.

 

[Shell]

Still can't get over this game.

Scott not putting Blicavs onto Lynch was suicidal.

I honestly believe that this one terrible decision (keeping an old, slow & worn out Taylor on an all guns blazing Lynch) cost us the game.. and the Premiership..

Hurts more than the 2020 GF tbh.

All that plus I'm probably the most pessimistic of GFC supporters, you know cause growing up in the 90s..

I was so confident at half time we were winning that match

 

[rapidfire7]

2008 was the most devastating day I have spent at the footy.

It hurt like hell and probably was the most devastating ever for me too at the time. That was until we won in 2009.

I felt that we sort of pinched 2009 from an overall better side that year, and that line of thinking really helped me come to terms with 2008 being 'pinched' from us the year before. Then 2011 came and that helped to ease the pain of 2008 even more.

Having said all that, the 2008 GF was undoubtedly a mammoth disaster for the club, but the fact we still won 3 other flags with that group makes me put 2008 below a couple of other losses/years in the overall heartbreaking stakes when I look back at everything now.

 

[Feline]

1967 Grand Final. We were robbed.

 

[Mr Meow]

Still can't get over this game.

Scott not putting Blicavs onto Lynch was suicidal.

I honestly believe that this one terrible decision (keeping an old, slow & worn out Taylor on an all guns blazing Lynch) cost us the game.. and the Premiership..

Hurts more than the 2020 GF tbh.

I think Scott had a meltdown for the 2019 finals series and overthought it.

There was the baffling ruckman situation for the QF, ending with him dropping Stanley. Might not have mattered but it just gave a panicky vibe.

Then we had a bad hand in the 2019 PF without two of our best players - Duncan and Hawkins, as well as our second best aerial threat (Rohan). But to fix the Duncan void, Scott slapped Blicavs on a wing instead of having he and Taylor double team Lynch in defence. Serious tactical error.

It would've even been better to have Blicavs on Lynch, with Henderson as a spare man in the hole and Taylor at FF, than having Henderson at FF and Taylor isolated with Lynch.

I agree that 2019 was the bigger missed opportunity than 2020. Our best that year was better than a year later, with Danger/Selwood/Kelly a collective force and Ablett still had some left in the tank. From memory we tried to throw Danger forward in the second half of the prelim and he barely got a touch.

 

[Frappe]

Re the Essendon game , you are correct it was basically 5th versus 6th , and the winner got 5th spot

And this was Geel to a tee , previous week Cats had a thumping 10 goal upset win against Coll ( top team ) at KP , re the Ess game at h/t they were about 1 goal behind , and i was with 3-4 others , and we all agreed at the h/t break Geel were gone , and thats what transpired they did not give a yelp in the 3rd qtr and you could tell at h/t that was going to happen

Geel had in the 70s and 80s a very unsavoury but justified reputation of giving up , dead set giving up

And i laugh at these posters who bag Blight , in the 70s and 80s apart from 2 very strong years ( 80/81 ) under Billy Goggin - the rest of that period Geel were utter garbage , a frustrating teasing inconsistent team , who would give up at the drop of a hankerchief

Since Blights appointment the Cats have been a very strong club , when he was coach you had to beat a heavyweight to win the flag , where as today youve got 9-10 teams who are about as good as each other - Holmes hadnt done his hamstring in the 3rd qtr , the Cats would have another flag , Geel would have beaten , in fact any of a dozen teams would have soundly beaten the Swans in the GF - a hell of alot different to beating Haw/WC and Carlton in late 80s early 90s

I was talking to an ex-player over Xmas from that era who said the same thing.

1982-83 were the most disappointing for mine. Went from top 3 to absolute shockers.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

I was talking to an ex-player over Xmas from that era who said the same thing.

1982-83 were the most disappointing for mine. Went from top 3 to absolute shockers.

But nothing stays still , the competition waits for no one to come good

The Cats basically last 25 years has been utterly 1st class , where as Carlton and Essendon , once great clubs , well Essendon in the last 20 years and Carlton in the last 30 years . They are both in that period , theve both become the Geel of the 70s and 80s , in Essendons case a rabble and in Carltons case a glorified rabble