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Your club’s best non-premiership year
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They had attacking footy but at the end of the day defense wins championships
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Yeah, for sure. Eagles defence was unbelievable in the early 90s
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Vague recall by you. Was only 13 in a row.
Many sides were pretty ordinary so 13 in a row was too easily done. Minute we had a few injuries like Sexton, Kouta and SOS then we were done.
Carlton 1976.
Topped the ladder with a percentage that was 16% higher than next best after finishing the h&a season with 9 wins on the trot and a draw. Late in season journo in a Sunday paper said that Carlton would turn the finals into a one sided fiasco after they thrashed North at Arden St by 8 goals.
Blues faltered in the finals and lost the prelim by 1 point.
Topped the ladder with a percentage that was 16% higher than next best after finishing the h&a season with 9 wins on the trot and a draw. Late in season journo in a Sunday paper said that Carlton would turn the finals into a one sided fiasco after they thrashed North at Arden St by 8 goals.
Blues faltered in the finals and lost the prelim by 1 point.
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2011 and 2012
Just absurd intercept marker.
Had some dash.
Skinny half back flanker. B and f and flag in his first year ever..
Still got thrown fwd and managed 180 goals.
Just an insane player.
Those highlights are ridiculous.
Also played during peak thuggery and was bashed senseless every week.
He was so far better than everyone else the only answer was to clobber him
Had multiple broken jaws.
If he played now he'd be even better as he wouldn't have had to put up with the thuggery.
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1991 for West Coast. Finished top of the ladder with 19 wins and 3 losses (the best we've managed since is 17 wins in a season). Hawthorn were too experienced for our young club/team and taught us a few lessons by winning the qualifying final and prelim.
Some of the other years are 2005 where we finally took the next step and played in a GF (losing by 4 points). 2015 was also a good year, where we beat every other team at least once but choked in the GF (got taught a lesson again by an experienced Hawthorn).
Some of the other years are 2005 where we finally took the next step and played in a GF (losing by 4 points). 2015 was also a good year, where we beat every other team at least once but choked in the GF (got taught a lesson again by an experienced Hawthorn).
Despite the painful ending, a good season to nominate. Without how it turned out, the 2000 season may not have been as good as it was. Not winning in 1999 really drove the players to work hard to give the club another chance to win the premiership and not slip up again.
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1993. The most exciting, 'make something out of nothing' forward line I've ever seen.
2006. Should have won that year. Stuffed up prelim losing at home to west coast with Cousins on drugs dominating
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2013 for me.
We were ‘too old too slow’ in 2011 and somehow proved everyone wrong but by 2012 I thought we looked it and by 2013 we hadn’t really progressed IMO with much quality new blood. Duncan was still on the up, that was about it - Hawkins came out and had a superb year. We got mocked for picking up Rivers from Melbourne, playing an athlete in Blicavs, Caddy wasn’t what we’d hoped, Murdoch was average, Guthrie started slow.
We went 18-4 and took an all time great side to within an offline Travis Varcoe kick in a prelim and while shattered about the result I was as proud of that season as probably any of our flags
We were ‘too old too slow’ in 2011 and somehow proved everyone wrong but by 2012 I thought we looked it and by 2013 we hadn’t really progressed IMO with much quality new blood. Duncan was still on the up, that was about it - Hawkins came out and had a superb year. We got mocked for picking up Rivers from Melbourne, playing an athlete in Blicavs, Caddy wasn’t what we’d hoped, Murdoch was average, Guthrie started slow.
We went 18-4 and took an all time great side to within an offline Travis Varcoe kick in a prelim and while shattered about the result I was as proud of that season as probably any of our flags
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A lot of Bulldogs talk about the 1985 season, which was coached by Malthouse, and was his favourite team of all time. Unfortunately they came up against a strong Hawks side.
I remember 2008, with one draw and a three point loss to the Roos in our first 15 games, we looked such a force, even beating the Hawks, the eventual premiers in Tassie. Then after playing Geelong in Geelong as usual, we just faltered.
The Hawks demolished them in that semi final, Bulldogs beat the Swans and then the Cats finished us off in the Prelim.
2009 was redemption, beating the Cats when they were hell bent on revenge for 2008, was satisfying, but we were too slow coming out of the box in the final against them. The prelim against the Saints left a bad taste in the mouth, it took me a long time to like Riewoldt again, strange how Bob and he became good mates. It was a really tough game, while Geelong had an easy kill against Collingwood, possibly effected the final result, but Geelong were looking for redemption that year.
2021, proud of the effort, but it was a shite end, with a lot of shite dished out, Brisbane snatching fourth place due to a point when the siren should have gone. Travelling all over Australia, with the ridiculous restrictions put on by SA, QLD and even WA health authorities. Supporters will always remember that game for the last quarter collapse, but the whole finals series for the Bulldogs was unbelievably hard and the odds were stacked against them.
I remember 2008, with one draw and a three point loss to the Roos in our first 15 games, we looked such a force, even beating the Hawks, the eventual premiers in Tassie. Then after playing Geelong in Geelong as usual, we just faltered.
The Hawks demolished them in that semi final, Bulldogs beat the Swans and then the Cats finished us off in the Prelim.
2009 was redemption, beating the Cats when they were hell bent on revenge for 2008, was satisfying, but we were too slow coming out of the box in the final against them. The prelim against the Saints left a bad taste in the mouth, it took me a long time to like Riewoldt again, strange how Bob and he became good mates. It was a really tough game, while Geelong had an easy kill against Collingwood, possibly effected the final result, but Geelong were looking for redemption that year.
2021, proud of the effort, but it was a shite end, with a lot of shite dished out, Brisbane snatching fourth place due to a point when the siren should have gone. Travelling all over Australia, with the ridiculous restrictions put on by SA, QLD and even WA health authorities. Supporters will always remember that game for the last quarter collapse, but the whole finals series for the Bulldogs was unbelievably hard and the odds were stacked against them.
Falconista
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2014- only season I've felt Freo were good enough to beat anyone.
It doesn't look as good as the years around it (grand final and minor premiership) but in a very competitive season, we were in the peloton. Hawthorn and Sydney were clearly the best two teams that season but felt we were good enough to beat them (even beat bogey-team Hawthorn once that season). Also played the most attractive football of the Ross Lyon tenure that season.
It doesn't look as good as the years around it (grand final and minor premiership) but in a very competitive season, we were in the peloton. Hawthorn and Sydney were clearly the best two teams that season but felt we were good enough to beat them (even beat bogey-team Hawthorn once that season). Also played the most attractive football of the Ross Lyon tenure that season.
Yeah our mob would have plenty of 'good' non premiership years. If this was the ultimate measure then all Pie fans would and should be ecstatic.
It's not the ultimate measure though.
It's not the ultimate measure though.
2011 for WC was a lot of fun. Top 4 after collecting our first spoon the year before.
WC have had a few seasons like that where as supporters you go into it not expecting anything but just hope to see some improvement and then they finish Top 4. 2015 was similar after finishing 9th in '14 it looked like we were on a downward trajectory but make the GF. 2018 was a similar feeling that we were lucky to get an EF win in '17 against Port, I was just looking forward to seeing us develop some young blood- we did a bit better than that as history shows.
Hoping 2023 might be another of those years but far from convinced it will be. Just give me some good youth development and a few rising Stars please.
WC have had a few seasons like that where as supporters you go into it not expecting anything but just hope to see some improvement and then they finish Top 4. 2015 was similar after finishing 9th in '14 it looked like we were on a downward trajectory but make the GF. 2018 was a similar feeling that we were lucky to get an EF win in '17 against Port, I was just looking forward to seeing us develop some young blood- we did a bit better than that as history shows.
Hoping 2023 might be another of those years but far from convinced it will be. Just give me some good youth development and a few rising Stars please.
08
2003 was definitely the one that got away for Port. Dominant through the H&A only to repeat the QF choke of 12 months prior.
2014 was my most enjoyable season at the footy as a Port fan, outside of the 2004 season. We played such an exciting brand of footy. Had we kicked straight in the 1st quarter against Hawthorn in the prelim, I feel we might have caused Sydney some real headaches in the Granny. They got us at the SCG earlier in the year, but I reckon the wide expanses of the G would have suited us on the big day and jagged one unexpectedly.
2014 was my most enjoyable season at the footy as a Port fan, outside of the 2004 season. We played such an exciting brand of footy. Had we kicked straight in the 1st quarter against Hawthorn in the prelim, I feel we might have caused Sydney some real headaches in the Granny. They got us at the SCG earlier in the year, but I reckon the wide expanses of the G would have suited us on the big day and jagged one unexpectedly.
1969 for Carlton and Hawthorn.
Carlton was the reigning premiers who in round 2 kicked a league record of 30.30.210 against Hawthorn. After round 16 the Blues were 3 games clear on top of the ladder. Unfortunately for the Blues they started fading in the final quarter to lose the next three games to fall back into the field. Whilst they won the last round (20) they lost the quarter to Essendon by 7 goals to 3 and finished in second place.
The 2nd Semi final they outscored Collingwood in the last by 5.1 to 4.5 but the Magpies had more scoring shots.
The Grand Final they led at 3/4 time but the Tigers overran them with 4.7 to two behinds to win by 25 points.
Ron Barassi only played one game before his hamstrings gave out but on the plus side Syd Jackson, David McKay, Bruce Doull, Phillip Pinnell and Barry Armstrong made thier debuts.
Hawthorn started the season well with 7 wins in the first eight games to be a game clear on top of the ladder. Their loss to Carlton in round two (210 to 82) and narrow wins had them with a percentage of 100.7%. As the season continued when the Hawks lost, they lost big and when they won they seemed to just get over the line. At round 16 they were two games clear of Richmond then in fifth place. From then on, Richmond hit their straps and dominated the last 4 H & A and then the finals series whereas Hawthorn dropped games again clubs outside the four. Hawthorn and Richmond both finished with 13 wins but Richmond had the superior percentage 124.6& to 98.8%.
The year saw Peter Hudson kick 120 goals for the second year in row, including 16 against Melbourne. and the debutantes , Leigh Matthews, Peter Knights, Bruce Stevenson and Brian Douge.
Carlton was the reigning premiers who in round 2 kicked a league record of 30.30.210 against Hawthorn. After round 16 the Blues were 3 games clear on top of the ladder. Unfortunately for the Blues they started fading in the final quarter to lose the next three games to fall back into the field. Whilst they won the last round (20) they lost the quarter to Essendon by 7 goals to 3 and finished in second place.
The 2nd Semi final they outscored Collingwood in the last by 5.1 to 4.5 but the Magpies had more scoring shots.
The Grand Final they led at 3/4 time but the Tigers overran them with 4.7 to two behinds to win by 25 points.
Ron Barassi only played one game before his hamstrings gave out but on the plus side Syd Jackson, David McKay, Bruce Doull, Phillip Pinnell and Barry Armstrong made thier debuts.
Hawthorn started the season well with 7 wins in the first eight games to be a game clear on top of the ladder. Their loss to Carlton in round two (210 to 82) and narrow wins had them with a percentage of 100.7%. As the season continued when the Hawks lost, they lost big and when they won they seemed to just get over the line. At round 16 they were two games clear of Richmond then in fifth place. From then on, Richmond hit their straps and dominated the last 4 H & A and then the finals series whereas Hawthorn dropped games again clubs outside the four. Hawthorn and Richmond both finished with 13 wins but Richmond had the superior percentage 124.6& to 98.8%.
The year saw Peter Hudson kick 120 goals for the second year in row, including 16 against Melbourne. and the debutantes , Leigh Matthews, Peter Knights, Bruce Stevenson and Brian Douge.
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2020. Really should have won that year. Pipped by 6 points in a home Prelim.
By contrast the following season the Hawks finished 8th with the third best percentage in the league of 114% and even higher than 2nd placed & eventual premier Carlton who were 112.3!
Hawks were warming up for their dominant 1971 season.
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Not always, Ross Lyon’s teams come up short in Grand Finals against Bomber Thompson & Al Clarkson coached teams, who were more attacking. Chris Scott coached teams come up short against Hardwick too. You do need to have an ability to score quickly to win premierships.
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Just a shame both sides bumped into a all time great Richmond side that won four flags
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1. 1998 - came from wooden spooners to top 4. Fun team to watch with elder statesmen like Lyon, Tingay, Viney, Stynes, Febey x 2 having an impact and combining with the younger brigade of White, Yze, Johnstone, Farmer, Woewodin, James McDonald and Robertson. Plenty of good home and away wins and some slashing finals performances brought to a halt by a tough and experienced North Melbourne in a Prelim. Lost by 30 odd points and while we were outgunned we certainly weren’t disgraced.
2. 1994 - plenty of ups and downs throughout the home and away season where the team was wildly inconsistent. Went from top of the ladder after our first five games to outside the 8 with a handful of games to go. Thankfully got our shit together to scrape into 7th. The finals were exciting with Schwarz and Lyon on fire inspiring a great win against the Blues and went on to smash Footscray the following week. We were hanging on by our fingernails at halftime in the Prelim against West Coast after a second quarter fight back but were eventually smashed by a fantastic team.
3. 2000 - a very young side that probably overachieved in making the Grand Final. Ultimately destroyed by a team on a mission but it felt as though the future was bright after a great finish to the home and away season, coming from the clouds to beat Carlton in the QF and flogging North in the Prelim.
4. 2018 - after umpteen years of shit, failed rebuilds, it felt fantastic when we held our nerve against West Coast in Perth to clinch a long awaited finals berth. Beating Geelong and Hawthorn in two finals in front of a packed MCG was particularly glorious given the merciless floggings they had doled out in the previous decade. Somewhat ironically, the scene of triumph that season became the scene of our disgrace as West Coast thrashed us after being ahead 10 goals to zero at half time.
5. 2004 - coming from 14th we played some outstanding footy to be top of the ladder with 14 wins and 4 losses. Unfortunately blew top 4 by losing the final four home and away games, with the season ending in a similar fashion to 2002 with a close loss to Essendon in a topsy turvy final we looked to have won before conceding several late goals.
6. 2022 - it’s hard not to be bitterly disappointed with the way the season ended. However, starting 10-0 was good and even though we battled through the back end of the season, it felt as though every time a win was needed we would find a way with slashing wins over Brisbane and Freo away and absolutely stealing the game from a determined Carlton. The obvious bitter ending was the poor second halves against Sydney and Brisbane who outplayed us when it counted. It’s still hard to not feel as though we should’ve done better.
7. 2017 - ultimately blew a golden opportunity to make finals with several poor performances as favourites against lower ranked teams; North Melbourne x2, Fremantle, Hawthorn and Collingwood. Also kicked ourselves out of a game against Geelong early in the season at Docklands and completely collapsed in the final quarter on Anzac Eve against Richmond after being the better side for the rest of the game. Missed finals by the narrowest percentage ever and blew several opportunities in games that were won to boost our percentage by leaking junk time goals late. However, there were also some terrific wins by breaking our longstanding hoodoos against St Kilda and beating Victorian clubs at Docklands. We flogged eventual minor premier Adelaide away without Max Gawn and Jesse Hogan. Pinching the QB game with Jack Watts the redeemer was awesome as was thumping the Dogs unexpectedly a few weeks later. The best win of the season was then makeshift forward Tom McDonald kicking a bag to beat the Eagles in Perth for the first time in a million years.
1993, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006 contained plenty of solid wins and some good memories but a bit like 22 and 17, ultimately felt like missed opportunities for various reasons.
1999 and 2007 stick out as the most bitterly disappointing years.
2. 1994 - plenty of ups and downs throughout the home and away season where the team was wildly inconsistent. Went from top of the ladder after our first five games to outside the 8 with a handful of games to go. Thankfully got our shit together to scrape into 7th. The finals were exciting with Schwarz and Lyon on fire inspiring a great win against the Blues and went on to smash Footscray the following week. We were hanging on by our fingernails at halftime in the Prelim against West Coast after a second quarter fight back but were eventually smashed by a fantastic team.
3. 2000 - a very young side that probably overachieved in making the Grand Final. Ultimately destroyed by a team on a mission but it felt as though the future was bright after a great finish to the home and away season, coming from the clouds to beat Carlton in the QF and flogging North in the Prelim.
4. 2018 - after umpteen years of shit, failed rebuilds, it felt fantastic when we held our nerve against West Coast in Perth to clinch a long awaited finals berth. Beating Geelong and Hawthorn in two finals in front of a packed MCG was particularly glorious given the merciless floggings they had doled out in the previous decade. Somewhat ironically, the scene of triumph that season became the scene of our disgrace as West Coast thrashed us after being ahead 10 goals to zero at half time.
5. 2004 - coming from 14th we played some outstanding footy to be top of the ladder with 14 wins and 4 losses. Unfortunately blew top 4 by losing the final four home and away games, with the season ending in a similar fashion to 2002 with a close loss to Essendon in a topsy turvy final we looked to have won before conceding several late goals.
6. 2022 - it’s hard not to be bitterly disappointed with the way the season ended. However, starting 10-0 was good and even though we battled through the back end of the season, it felt as though every time a win was needed we would find a way with slashing wins over Brisbane and Freo away and absolutely stealing the game from a determined Carlton. The obvious bitter ending was the poor second halves against Sydney and Brisbane who outplayed us when it counted. It’s still hard to not feel as though we should’ve done better.
7. 2017 - ultimately blew a golden opportunity to make finals with several poor performances as favourites against lower ranked teams; North Melbourne x2, Fremantle, Hawthorn and Collingwood. Also kicked ourselves out of a game against Geelong early in the season at Docklands and completely collapsed in the final quarter on Anzac Eve against Richmond after being the better side for the rest of the game. Missed finals by the narrowest percentage ever and blew several opportunities in games that were won to boost our percentage by leaking junk time goals late. However, there were also some terrific wins by breaking our longstanding hoodoos against St Kilda and beating Victorian clubs at Docklands. We flogged eventual minor premier Adelaide away without Max Gawn and Jesse Hogan. Pinching the QB game with Jack Watts the redeemer was awesome as was thumping the Dogs unexpectedly a few weeks later. The best win of the season was then makeshift forward Tom McDonald kicking a bag to beat the Eagles in Perth for the first time in a million years.
1993, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006 contained plenty of solid wins and some good memories but a bit like 22 and 17, ultimately felt like missed opportunities for various reasons.
1999 and 2007 stick out as the most bitterly disappointing years.
Too young to remember 1991 but I think 2011 was the most fun year to be an Eagles supporter that didn't end in a flag.
Coming off a wooden spoon there was no expectation, and each win was so much fun. Then we started belting teams and actually being good. I remember seeing Naitanui feeding Luke Shuey- he kicked 5 from midfield with Josh Kennedy's 10 against the Dogs in a 100+ point win and thinking that we had the nucleus of what might be our next premiership team, when you included Jack Darling and Andrew Gaff in their first years who already looked like becoming stars.
Daniel Kerr and Andrew Embley were having a renaissance and Dean Cox and Darren Glass back to their best. Beau Waters and Shannon Hurn were a leathal HB combo. Mark LeCras was the best small in the game, and used to kick some outrageous goals. Mark Nicoski had a late career purple patch as a speedy half forward (41 goals!). Matt Priddis and Scott Selwood both broke the all time tackle record in a season (still 1 and 2 all time). All of a sudden we seemed to have good players everywhere.
We were never a chance to win the flag because the top 2 were just a level ahead (Collingwood and Geelong) with Hawthorn the rising power. Carlton was considered the next big thing, and we competed with them most of the year. Around midseason we beat them at Docklands, Naitanui took mark of the year and we finally started getting called a top 4 worthy team. In our next match we knocked off the Cats on Friday night, one of those nights that Subiaco had on occasion where the crowd was just manic. We beat the Blues in an all time classic semi final too, our only finals win that season and our first home win since the 06 prelim.
It was just fun all around, and we got a taste of some of the names that would play a big part in the '15 GF and the '18 premiership. It's not possible to go from spoon to flag in year they said, and even though you'd always agree with that out loud it was the sort of season where you just keep that fairytale idea at the back of the mind, just out of sight.
Coming off a wooden spoon there was no expectation, and each win was so much fun. Then we started belting teams and actually being good. I remember seeing Naitanui feeding Luke Shuey- he kicked 5 from midfield with Josh Kennedy's 10 against the Dogs in a 100+ point win and thinking that we had the nucleus of what might be our next premiership team, when you included Jack Darling and Andrew Gaff in their first years who already looked like becoming stars.
Daniel Kerr and Andrew Embley were having a renaissance and Dean Cox and Darren Glass back to their best. Beau Waters and Shannon Hurn were a leathal HB combo. Mark LeCras was the best small in the game, and used to kick some outrageous goals. Mark Nicoski had a late career purple patch as a speedy half forward (41 goals!). Matt Priddis and Scott Selwood both broke the all time tackle record in a season (still 1 and 2 all time). All of a sudden we seemed to have good players everywhere.
We were never a chance to win the flag because the top 2 were just a level ahead (Collingwood and Geelong) with Hawthorn the rising power. Carlton was considered the next big thing, and we competed with them most of the year. Around midseason we beat them at Docklands, Naitanui took mark of the year and we finally started getting called a top 4 worthy team. In our next match we knocked off the Cats on Friday night, one of those nights that Subiaco had on occasion where the crowd was just manic. We beat the Blues in an all time classic semi final too, our only finals win that season and our first home win since the 06 prelim.
It was just fun all around, and we got a taste of some of the names that would play a big part in the '15 GF and the '18 premiership. It's not possible to go from spoon to flag in year they said, and even though you'd always agree with that out loud it was the sort of season where you just keep that fairytale idea at the back of the mind, just out of sight.
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