Sydney's record in grand finals needs scrutinising

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Yeah cats were crap in 94, but you are wrong about 89 - they gave up a bad first q lead due to poor discipline but were very competitive in one of the toughest grand finals ever after that. Mentioning only the Hawthorn injuries - probably need to do a bit of research on this game.

Yep both teams had blokes injured. Geelong were clearly our biggest threat to a flag that year because once you guys got going you could score very heavily. Happened in the game earlier that year was an absolute belter with over 50 goals kicked. We did enough in the last QTR to keep you guys at bay scoring a few times against the flow. Anderson kicked a big goal from a centre bounce from memory.

 

[eddiesmith]

Sydney starting SO many games poorly and then coming back is really interesting.

Were they just fitter earlier in the year? Were they a little bit arrogant, getting away with it a few times? Whilst it would have been good for them to know that they had the comeback in them, it did seem like they were learning bad habits.

Or is it simply a case of having a game style more suited when players are a bit more tired and things open up? That can be a strength, sure, but to exploit that in a final you really need to lock down and hold the fort in the first half. Teams get too much adrenaline when they have big leads in Grand Finals. There's no next week to preserve the body for, to take the foot off the gas. It's go, go go.

It’s interesting to compare to Collingwood who regularly came back in 2023, but come finals they went out hard and led at qtr time in every game and for all 4 qtrs on grand final day.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

At least when Geelong lost 89, 92, 94 and 95 we were the underdogs in each game. And gave '92 and '94 a decent crack before running out of legs.

Sydney were favourites in three of their disasters. Even their excuses are embarrassing. In 2016, they kicked 3.4 to 6.10 in the second half, and somehow blame the umpires for a 22 point loss.

94 you were blown off the park. Could have been 100 points had the Eagles kicked straight over 40 scoring shots. 92 and 2020 were your biggest opportunities to win flags because you were well in the hunt in the 3rd qtr of both and it took 2 players Matera and Dusty taking the games away from you. Not really comparable to the Swans getting belted in 3 of their last 4 Gf's and losing the unloseable to the Dogs after going in warm favourites. There would be more scrutiny if it was any Victorian team but when it's 1 of the media and AFL's lovechild they get off scot free. Pridham and Co make sure of that with their anti Vic bias.

 

[Pistol Night]

It’s interesting to compare to Collingwood who regularly came back in 2023, but come finals they went out hard and led at qtr time in every game and for all 4 qtrs on grand final day.

The “thrill of the chase” game style isn’t a dice you want to roll in finals. Scoring is hard enough

 

[Pistol Night]

94 you were blown off the park. Could have been 100 points had the Eagles kicked straight over 40 scoring shots. 92 and 2020 were your biggest opportunities to win flags because you were well in the hunt in the 3rd qtr of both and it took 2 players Matera and Dusty taking the games away from you. Not really comparable to the Swans getting belted in 3 of their last 4 Gf's and losing the unloseable to the Dogs after going in warm favourites. There would be more scrutiny if it was any Victorian team but when it's 1 of the media and AFL's lovechild they get off scot free. Pridham and Co make sure of that with their anti Vic bias.

The 90s were just shit for GFs from a neutral perspective

 

[Gavin Excell]

Yep both teams had blokes injured. Geelong were clearly our biggest threat to a flag that year because once you guys got going you could score very heavily. Happened in the game earlier that year was an absolute belter with over 50 goals kicked. We did enough in the last QTR to keep you guys at bay scoring a few times against the flow. Anderson kicked a big goal from a centre bounce from memory.

Totally off topic but the next match up was r1 the following year when the competition back then featured the grand final rematch in the opening round

Was pretty even to half time after which Hawks absolutely thumped Geelong by 115 points

Possibly a combination of Cats players drinking own bathwater and Hawk senior players wanting to smash the upstart rival

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Totally off topic but the next match up was r1 the following year when the competition back then featured the grand final rematch in the opening round

Was pretty even to half time after which Hawks absolutely thumped Geelong by 115 points

Possibly a combination of Cats players drinking own bathwater and Hawk senior players wanting to smash the upstart rival

1990 we should have played off in the GF, we were still pretty strong across the board just injuries at the wrong time and Melbourne ended up being our kryptonite that year.

 

[windyhill]

Like the petition that we started banning Essendon from winning a final again? Think that petition started in 2004 from memory

And fair enough too ! 16 flags is ridiculously greedy.

 

[Gavin Excell]

1990 we should have played off in the GF, we were still pretty strong across the board just injuries at the wrong time and Melbourne ended up being our kryptonite that year.

Yeah I sometimes wonder had Geelong had its 89 year the following year would likely have won it as Pies and Dons weren't that flash sides