SEN's list of each club's best win from the past 25 years

[Seattle Mariners]

For me the 2023 SF Vs Melbourne was a better win than the EF win against Richmond in 2013. But I expect it would split the fanbase so have no issue with that one being selected for Carlton.

I would've thought the 2013 EF win over Richmond was miles better for Carlton than the 2023 SF win v Melbourne.

In 2023 Melbourne kicked 2.6 in the last quarter and should've put the game to bed by half way through the last quarter. Conversely against Richmond you guys kicked 7 of the last 9 goals and completely ran all over them.

I get the excitement of that 2023 semi final after years in the doldrums, but the 2013 EF was of higher quality IMO.

 

[Seattle Mariners]

2018 EF against Geelong has to be up there if not number 1. Was at that game and will never forget it.

I know this sounds a bit silly but the thrill of being at the 2000 qualifying final V Carlton and the 2018 EF win against Geelong in 2018 rates higher than winning the 2021 flag and watching from afar.

Those two games were also better than the SEN listed game of round 23 2021 V Geelong. We quite frankly played like crap for a lot of that game and I therefore can't list that game as the best.

 

[carlton_99]

I would've thought the 2013 EF win over Richmond was miles better for Carlton than the 2023 SF win v Melbourne.

In 2023 Melbourne kicked 2.6 in the last quarter and should've put the game to bed by half way through the last quarter. Conversely against Richmond you guys kicked 7 of the last 9 goals and completely ran all over them.

I get the excitement of that 2023 semi final after years in the doldrums, but the 2013 EF was of higher quality IMO.

They were both great but there for me a semi final win to qualify us for our first PF in like 20 years is hard to beat. We had won in an EF in 2011 just two years prior to the Richmond one so it wasn't as long of a wait between finals wins. Also, when you look at that final play with Weitering - Hollands - Docherty - Acres it just becomes hard to beat. I'm probably slightly biased as well because I was at the SF Vs Melbourne and only watched the Richmond EF on TV. Like I said in my OP I think it would split the fan base.

On Melbourne's inaccuracy I never really factored that in to the emotional impact of the win. Carlton kicked 0.6 in the last quarter of the 2022 game against the Pies in the final round. Doubt it made the win any less better for the Pies.

 

[Roddy]

When I saw the heading, my immediate thought was the '13 PF, and there it was, so well done SEN. You nailed it.

 

[Mr Meow]

I would've thought the 2013 EF win over Richmond was miles better for Carlton than the 2023 SF win v Melbourne.

In 2023 Melbourne kicked 2.6 in the last quarter and should've put the game to bed by half way through the last quarter. Conversely against Richmond you guys kicked 7 of the last 9 goals and completely ran all over them.

I get the excitement of that 2023 semi final after years in the doldrums, but the 2013 EF was of higher quality IMO.

It simply would've been about making a prelim I think. If your team gets that far you start to believe. They could be seen as being in a contending window. Could you say the same after 2013? I'm not sure.

 

[Seattle Mariners]

On Melbourne's inaccuracy I never really factored that in to the emotional impact of the win. Carlton kicked 0.6 in the last quarter of the 2022 game against the Pies in the final round. Doubt it made the win any less better for the Pies.

Fair call. And attending a game live always trumps seeing it on TV.

I guess coming from a Melbourne supporter, we left one on the table due to inaccuracy and you guys kicked the door down in the last few minutes.

Both teams definitely had their opportunities to win.

 

[PhatBoy]

Most exciting stand alone win was obviously the Hawkins goal but it was a bit of a non event in terms of any ultimate effect it had on us as a club.

I would actually nominate the two wins in rounds 6-7 2007.

Richmond by a million points and the 6 goal win over west coast.

The tigers win was the one that sort of sent shock waves through the AFL: we were 2-3 and people were wondering after the year before if we were ever going to go close to living up to our potential and suddenly we played like we’d just decoded the Matrix.

A week later, at a time when to me at least, the Eagles were still the gold standard in the league, we poured on 10 goals in the second half and led them by 40 points midway through the last quarter and again looked like a team in total control of what it was doing.

 

[SC_Power]

This is an impressively stupid list. One of the most idiotic I have ever seen.

Excluding grand finals but not other finals is the silliest parameters you could set, and then people actually picked random H&A games above prelim finals.

It reads like a Bigfooty thread in which every participant is 15 beers deep. But a media company actually published it.

Just exquisite inanity. Chef's kiss.

Agreed.

The 2013 Miracle Bounce showdown v Adelaide was a significant win in itself.

But the 2004 PF v St Kilda was a far more seismic moment for the club.
Getting over the hurdle of 2001/2/3 Hawthorn/Sydney/Collingwood upset finals losses at home, it was just the most massive pressure release for the club. Was always confident in the Brisbane GF after that.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

The tigers win was the one that sort of sent shock waves through the AFL: we were 2-3 and people were wondering after the year before if we were ever going to go close to living up to our potential and suddenly we played like we’d just decoded the Matrix.

I vividly recall the Richmond game, though my memories are probably quite different to everyone else's. I was nursing an unholy hangover and didn't see a minute of the game. At that stage I thought I had figured out who we were (as Gennaro Gattuso put so eloquently) and that it would just be best for me to find out the result at the end to see which one we'd happened to be on that Sunday game in May. If it was the former, perhaps we could have a sixth or seventh place finish type of season. Yippee.



So I woke up from a nap after the game had finished and looked at the scores: 35.12 to 9.11. Well... probably wasn't expecting that.

 

[bzparkes]

The '06 win against Geelong was hilarious, as was the follow up against Carlton the very next week.

Not sure how is compares to coming over the top of Collingwood in the final 3 minutes in the '18 GF, after being 5 goals down in the first quarter though.

Or Shuey kicking a goal after the siren vs Port in that elimination final.

If they were going to exclude grand finals, they should've excluded all finals and just done H&A.

 

[Bostonian]

They nailed it for our game.

Funniest result in the history of football.

 

[Tall poppy Syndrome]

Each AFL club’s best win of the last 25 years

The most memorable triumphs since 2000.

www.sen.com.au

Grand Final wins excluded. I'd probably argue that the list should be limited to H&A wins then, as surely if you exclude Grand Finals, the next best win would be a PF, then a QF/SF and so on. But anyway...

Do you agree with the choice for your club? And if a final has been selected for your club, what would you choose if it was H&A wins only?

Adelaide: 2022 Showdown
Brisbane: 2013 v Geelong
Carlton: 2013 Elimination Final v Richmond
Collingwood: 2022 v Carlton
Essendon: 2009 Anzac Day v Collingwood
Fremantle: 2013 Qualification Final v Geelong
Geelong: 2012 v Hawthorn
Gold Coast: 2018 v Sydney
GWS Giants: 2019 Preliminary Final v Collingwood
Hawthorn: 2013 Preliminary Final v Geelong
Melbourne: 2021 v Geelong
North Melbourne: 2014 Elimination Final v Essendon
Port Adelaide: 2013 Showdown v Adelaide
Richmond: 2017 Qualifying Final v Geelong
St Kilda: 2009 v Geelong
Sydney: 2005 Semi Final v Geelong
West Coast: 2006 v Geelong
Western Bulldogs: 2016 Preliminary Final v GWS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kind of flattering/hilarious that eight of the other 17 clubs have wins against Geelong nominated as their most memorable.

For Geelong, The 2012 Hawkins goal after the siren was unbelievable and the culmination of an amazing see-sawing game, but I'd have to give the nod to the Jimmy Bartel point after the siren against Hawthorn in 2009. We'd hit the skids after the famous loss to St Kilda (the first time two 14-0 teams had met) and were trailing all day against the Hawks, who were fighting to stay in top eight contention. And, oh, we'd lost both key defenders to injury during the game, so Darren Milburn and Andrew Mackie were matching up on Buddy and Roughead.

On paper, the result didn't change where either side finished in 2009, but I'll always believe that it was much bigger than that and for Geelong, it was the boost we needed as we started to fall off St Kilda's pace during that season. It gave us the belief that we were still good enough to get it done.

Along with Bartel's point after the siren, the match was also famous for being arguably Selwood's greatest AFL game to that point in his career and for Josh Kennedy opting to handball to Franklin with the scores level in the dying stages and Franklin ultimately being wrapped up by Mackie and not getting a shot off. It would have been a big call for Kennedy to have a ping on his left on the run from about 45 out, he would have been torn to shreds if he'd put it out on the full. Ultimately probably the right decision by Kennedy and just a fantastic run down tackle by Mackie.

Great thread MC, especially in getting the perspective of opposition supporters. Hearing you describe the subtleties as to why you rate the Bartel point game more highly than the Hawkins one is fascinating and, as a non-Cats fan (who remembers those games very well but refuses to ever watch them again) would otherwise have been lost on me. Amazing too how Geelong features in so many of these games.

I’ve got one for Swans fans. It would be impossible to go past the Nick Davis game in 05 I’m sure. Still, how does the QF win against Port in Adelaide in 03 rate? I remember the Swans had surprised that year in finishing Top 4, while Port had matured into the Top Home and Away team (albeit one that was still choking in finals). I remember watching that game in a bit of disbelief as the Swans established then held a lead right through to the end. I even remember the late great Matt Price describing it as a ‘miracle on grass’ in his column at the time (a decade ahead of the other one and 24 years after the miracle on ice in Lake Placid).

 

[PhatBoy]

Great thread MC, especially in getting the perspective of opposition supporters. Hearing you describe the subtleties as to why you rate the Bartel point game more highly than the Hawkins one is fascinating and, as a non-Cats fan (who remembers those games very well but refuses to ever watch them again) would otherwise have been lost on me. Amazing too how Geelong features in so many of these games.

I’ve got one for Swans fans. It would be impossible to go past the Nick Davis game in 05 I’m sure. Still, how does the QF win against Port in Adelaide in 03 rate? I remember the Swans had surprised that year in finishing Top 4, while Port had matured into the Top Home and Away team (albeit one that was still choking in finals). I remember watching that game in a bit of disbelief as the Swans established then held a lead right through to the end. I even remember the late great Matt Price describing it as a ‘miracle on grass’ in his column at the time (a decade ahead of the other one and 24 years after the miracle on ice in Lake Placid).

It’s a good point re. The. Bartel game, after the GF the year before there was a real possibility that it all could have gone **** up and that both the Hawks and big game football in general could have become a weight on our shoulders, especially after the St Kilda loss. Had we lost that match the C word could have started to become a millstone around the neck and who knows if we ever would have recovered

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

It’s a good point re. The. Bartel game, after the GF the year before there was a real possibility that it all could have gone **** up and that both the Hawks and big game football in general could have become a weight on our shoulders, especially after the St Kilda loss. Had we lost that match the C word could have started to become a millstone around the neck and who knows if we ever would have recovered

Just thinking back to it - again, we were down by five or so goals and had lost Scarlett and Taylor DURING the game - I don't know if I'd have gone that far to say we'd choked the game, with an early flurry of goals in the last quarter, we'd pulled it back to about 10-12 points and then Hawthorn were peppering the goals during the middle stages of the quarter, I was thinking "Good on them, we've shown a lot of ticker to fight the game out," but not thinking we'd actually win. When Bartel's point levelled the scores with a couple of minutes to go, I would have personally taken it as a win, to get something from the game. So the final twist with Bartel's score after the siren just puts it on another level for me.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Our 2001 semi final win (port) at footy park and 2014 grand final rematch (vs freo) at the G stand out. Also the 2012 h&a wins against Collingwood and Essendon- not sure we've played better than that in the modern era, just peaked at the wrong time that season

Great shout the Collingwood game middle of the year in 2012, it was arguably the year we played the best footy in that era and we didn't end up winning the flag bit like Richmond in 2018. Pies finished top 4 that year and the game was tight up till half time. What happened the next 40 minutes was some of the most ridiculous footy I've ever witnessed on a footy field. Equal to football pr0n. Just scintillating stuff all over the ground. We ended up kicking 24 or 25 goals and won by close to 10 goals. Just totally blew a good side away. Think that was the game Lewis did a forward tag on Shaw and kicked 6. Totally annihilated him.

 

[StillAtLarge]

Great shout the Collingwood game middle of the year in 2012, it was arguably the year we played the best footy in that era and we didn't end up winning the flag bit like Richmond in 2018. Pies finished top 4 that year and the game was tight up till half time. What happened the next 40 minutes was some of the most ridiculous footy I've ever witnessed on a footy field. Equal to football pr0n. Just scintillating stuff all over the ground. We ended up kicking 24 or 25 goals and won by close to 10 goals. Just totally blew a good side away. Think that was the game Lewis did a forward tag on Shaw and kicked 6. Totally annihilated him.

Yep. Sans Franklin and Hodge too!

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

What a joke.

Collingwood have had so many better wins than resigning Carlton to their 9th consecutive season outside of the finals in the final round of 2022.

Off the top of my head (excluding Grand Finals):

• 2002 Qualifying Final v. Top of the table Port Adelaide, in Adelaide;
• 2007 semi-final, in extra time, against West Coast in Perth;
• 2009 semi-final v. Adelaide, in Adelaide ('Right in front of me...');
• 2011 Preliminary Final against Hawthorn;
• 2018 Preliminary Final v. the all conquering Tigers;
• 2023 Preliminary Final against GWS;

There's 6 without thinking. Finals are where it's at.

2011 prelim is a modern day classic. Margin never got more than 20 points all night. Seesaw battle between the arcs. There were 3 great teams that year which is probably what produced the high quality of the match. The GF the week later was even better till 3 QTR time.

 

[SaintSteele9]

2009 “GOAT H&A” game makes perfect sense, and I was at that, but I was also at Saints-Lions in 2004 and I have never felt a ground react like when Troy Schwarze goaled to put us ahead, and it was basically matched at the siren. Will never forget it.

I was also at ANZAC Day 2009 (I attend a lot of neutral games with family, work etc.) and that’s far and away my favourite as a neutral. Extraordinary

 

[Meteoric Rise]

It simply would've been about making a prelim I think. If your team gets that far you start to believe. They could be seen as being in a contending window. Could you say the same after 2013? I'm not sure.

Dayum. You started to believe in 2017, 2019, 2020 then.

Must have been awful for you in the end. There are resources available if you are feeling traumatised.

 

[STPer18]

Most exciting stand alone win was obviously the Hawkins goal but it was a bit of a non event in terms of any ultimate effect it had on us as a club.

I would actually nominate the two wins in rounds 6-7 2007.

Richmond by a million points and the 6 goal win over west coast.

The tigers win was the one that sort of sent shock waves through the AFL: we were 2-3 and people were wondering after the year before if we were ever going to go close to living up to our potential and suddenly we played like we’d just decoded the Matrix.

A week later, at a time when to me at least, the Eagles were still the gold standard in the league, we poured on 10 goals in the second half and led them by 40 points midway through the last quarter and again looked like a team in total control of what it was doing.

Back-to-back losses coming into that Richmond game too, it was looking like another 2006 type season of squandered potential. No one would've foreseen the result, let alone it being the jumpstarter for the next 20-odd years and four premierships.

 

[Mr Meow]

Dayum. You started to believe in 2017, 2019, 2020 then.

Must have been awful for you in the end. There are resources available if you are feeling traumatised.

As long as I stay away from whatever resources lead to becoming the bitter, twisted old fool you did - I should do alright.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Back-to-back losses coming into that Richmond game too, it was looking like another 2006 type season of squandered potential. No one would've foreseen the result, let alone it being the jumpstarter for the next 20-odd years and four premierships.

Funny how Cats were chumps one week, supermen the next during Dean Robinson's first season at the club.

They just seemed to gradually get 25 goals better....over the course of 1 week.

 

[Mr Meow]

Funny how Cats were chumps one week, supermen the next during Dean Robinson's first season at the club.

They just seemed to gradually get 25 goals better....over the course of 1 week.

Playing one of the worst sides of the AFL era helped.

 

[STPer18]

Funny how Cats were chumps one week, supermen the next during Dean Robinson's first season at the club.

They just seemed to gradually get 25 goals better....over the course of 1 week.

That moment was the birth of the most successful club of the 21st century, it was a joyous occasion - no need to be bitter.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

That moment was the birth of the most successful club of the 21st century, it was a joyous occasion - no need to be bitter.

The most successful club of the 21st century is as yet unknown. Three quarters of the century hasn't happened yet.