Opinion Who would you like to beat the most in a Grand Final?

[Tandy]

I think out of our four recent flags, we could claim we were victorious against two of the strongest sides in recent memory in the Saints in '09 and the Pies in '11. Both were very good Victorian sides. Port and Sydney weren't much chop.

But you can make the same accusation against a lot of recent premiership sides, especially Victorian ones. The Hawks achieved their threepeat beating up listless interstate sides, and two of Richmond's flags (and their easiest ones) were done in similar fashion. GWS in 2019 was one of the worst grand finalists in recent memory.

This. Saints 09 and pies 11 were far better sides than Freo 13 Sydney 14 WCE 15 Adelaide 17 GWS 19. I'd prefer to beat Hawthorn because if we happened to lose to them atleast it'll have been longer between drinks for them compared to Richmond.

 

[PzBlinky]

North Melbourne...

Them making the finals let alone the grand final would give a level of hope to their fans, and the sense of being relevant again

Beating them in a grand final in a demoralising way could possible destroy all that and see them sink to the bottom of the ladder again...

Damn, that's vicious... love it!

 

[cats_09]

Damn, that's vicious... love it!

plus it doesn’t hurt that Clarkson is their current coach

 

[Kobe Gryant]

North Melbourne...

Them making the finals let alone the grand final would give a level of hope to their fans, and the sense of being relevant again

Beating them in a grand final in a demoralising way could possible destroy all that and see them sink to the bottom of the ladder again...

I'd almost argue we're closer to flags 11, 12, & 13 than Norf are to their 5th.

Watched a few of their games last year, and it's almost worse than the Mark Neeld Dees.

It's not even like they've got the gameplan, but the players aren't mature enough to execute. You genuinely can't figure out what they're trying to do while watching them.

Could see us falling down, stocking up on more youth, and contending again all before their 're-build' is finished.

It's that bad, and Clarko has more of a Pagan/Malthouse at Carlton feel than Lethal at the Lions as of yet.

They could always just fold all together too, which would help the horrible standard of footy we've got nowadays compared to past eras.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

I'd almost argue we're closer to flags 11, 12, & 13 than Norf are to their 5th.

Incredibly difficult to make any such prediction. You could have said exactly the same about us and the Demons in, say, 2012, when they'd been down for a long time, had Neeld as coach and looked set for another long rebuild, while we still had the stars of the previous era while young guys like Hawkins, Selwood, Duncan and Guthrie were emerging and we still looked imposing around the top of the ladder. But despite our many top finishes, Melbourne beat us in winning the next premiership.

And North Melbourne may be on a similar trajectory, as the AFL have helped them out in similar fashion. Undoubtedly the AFL installing Roos as coach of the club and other assistance were no small part of Melbourne being able to rebuild successfully. North have been given a capable coach in Clarkson and have been awarded a slew of young talent via the draft pick concessions. They should be up and contending in around 5 years.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Incredibly difficult to make any such prediction. You could have said exactly the same about us and the Demons in, say, 2012, when they'd been down for a long time, had Neeld as coach and looked set for another long rebuild, while we still had the stars of the previous era while young guys like Hawkins, Selwood, Duncan and Guthrie were emerging and we still looked imposing around the top of the ladder. But despite our many top finishes, Melbourne beat us in winning the next premiership.

And North Melbourne may be on a similar trajectory, as the AFL have helped them out in similar fashion. Undoubtedly the AFL installing Roos as coach of the club and other assistance were no small part of Melbourne being able to rebuild successfully. North have been given a capable coach in Clarkson and have been awarded a slew of young talent via the draft pick concessions. They should be up and contending in around 5 years.

Thats spot on and things change , they allways change , well they do in the AFL era where it is a hell of alot fairer - draft , salary cap etc compared to the VFL era of money and whatever zone you got

When Nth Melb won those 2 flags in the 90s - with Carey etc and all their players getting presented with their Premiership medals , i can actually remember thinking to myself at the time , well clubs like Nth Melb ( and i was about in the 70s when they played in 5-6 GFs in a row ) win Premierships and clubs like Geel win absolutely nothing

And when the Cats players were being awarded their Premiership medals in 2007 , i couldnt believe my eyes , i thought to myself this cant be for real , we are in the comp to win nothing , and clubs like Nth Melb are in the comp to win flags - hah - thats true that

Fast forward to today , its 180 degrees opposite , Geel with the 4 flags are seen as the side their to win flags on a consistent/regular basis and Nth Melb are in the doldrums , but you never know when it finally turns , and when it does there can be a bountiful reward and quickly , and until that actually happens , supporters of nearly every club have gone through utter hell till that finally happens

 

[catscratchfever]

Hawthorn, Richmond or Collingwood by 1 point with a torpedo from the boundary line 75 metres out after the final siren.

 

[Generalissimo]

Hawthorn, Richmond or Collingwood by 1 point with a torpedo from the boundary line 75 metres out.

Kicked by Tom Stewart after receiving a 50m penalty after taking a mark on the HBF with six seconds to go and the oppo players celebrating early and getting in his face about it.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Incredibly difficult to make any such prediction. You could have said exactly the same about us and the Demons in, say, 2012, when they'd been down for a long time, had Neeld as coach and looked set for another long rebuild, while we still had the stars of the previous era while young guys like Hawkins, Selwood, Duncan and Guthrie were emerging and we still looked imposing around the top of the ladder. But despite our many top finishes, Melbourne beat us in winning the next premiership.

And North Melbourne may be on a similar trajectory, as the AFL have helped them out in similar fashion. Undoubtedly the AFL installing Roos as coach of the club and other assistance were no small part of Melbourne being able to rebuild successfully. North have been given a capable coach in Clarkson and have been awarded a slew of young talent via the draft pick concessions. They should be up and contending in around 5 years.

So like Melbourne, they'll go through decades of embarassment, turmoil, and ineptitude just to win the same amount of flags (1) as us during the era they spent so long building.

All that work, all that sacrifice for one solitary flag....was it really worth it?

The comment was tongue in cheek anyway, but it doesn't really matter.

Even if you're right - and you probably are - given the handouts they've got as you mention...does it really matter?

They'll win one flag, we'll probably win one as well, and they'll go back to being a joke. It's really not that deep.

I can completely understand if some think that's harsh, but I guess I just see it too much as a business, and less as a fairytale

But FWIW, if you were walking out of the MCG on in 1995 and told by a stranger that Geelong would win 4 flags before Carlton got near their 17th, that would have sounded tame in comparison to my jovial Norf comment.

 

[tvc_hot]

Hawthorn.

The main reason is that since the 1963 GF (which was before my time), I can’t even remember a final where Geelong has knocked out Hawthorn. We did beat them a couple of times in finals but they weren’t elimination games. We had a golden chance to do that in 2013 to complete our Kennet curse, but alas…

Does any know where stats are to see

• how many times Geelong eliminated another team in the finals?
• How many times did another team eliminate Geelong in the finals?
• when was the last time Geelong has eliminated or have been eliminated by each particular team in a final?

 

[uranium_death]

• when was the last time Geelong has eliminated or have been eliminated by each particular team in a final?

Off the top of my head...

Eliminated by;

Adelaide - 2017
Brisbane - 2004
Carlton - 1995 (Grand Final)
Collingwood - 2010
Essendon - 1950s or 60s?
Fremantle - 2012
GCS and Giants - Never
Hawthorn - 2013
Melbourne - 2021
North Melbourne - 2014
Port - Never
Richmond - 2020 GF
St Kilda - ???
Sydney - 2016
West Coast - 1994 GF
Footscray/Bulldogs - ?

Eliminated;

Adelaide - Never
Brisbane - 2022
Carlton - 1994
Collingwood - 2011 GF?
Essendon - 2004
Fremantle - 2010
GWS - 2021
Hawthorn - 1963 (Wowsers!)
Melbourne - 2005
North Melbourne - 1994
Port - 2007 GF
Richmond - 1995
St Kilda - 2009 GF
Sydney - 2022 GF
West Coast - 2019
Bulldogs - 2008

 

[treeebeard]

Collingwood, got to beat the best to be the best.

 

[CatAttack84]

Hawthorn, Richmond or Collingwood by 1 point with a torpedo from the boundary line 75 metres out..

Nah, Richmond are back to bing irrelevant and we showed Collingwood who's who in 2011.
A solid smashing of Hawthorn by the third quarter for a flag would complete the circle for me. We owe them a few.

 

[patdman]

West Coast and Carlton please.
Then Hawks.
Then Richmond. Can't say I'm that fussed about the Tiges these days, but they would be a clear #4.
Then Essendon. Don't like the club.
Then Adelaide. Totally irrational dislike of them
But I want revenge for the losses of my childhood!

 

[Klink]

Carlton. Salary cap cheats in 1995 when they beat us. I remember watching it when I when 10-years-old and the disappointment that followed.

Also, when Carlton are up and about, watch them turn into Richmond. They'll all come out of the woodwork and will be an absolute nightmare.

Hawks a close second for obvious reasons.

 

[catscratchfever]

Nah, Richmond are back to bing irrelevant and we showed Collingwood who's who in 2011.
A solid smashing of Hawthorn by the third quarter for a flag would complete the circle for me. We owe them a few.

13thmond may be irrelevant but they’ll always be skum. Ditto Hawthorn and Collngwobble.

 

[tommy2011]

Hawthorn, by a country mile. Then maybe Richmond. Collingwood? Meh. Actually have a little bit of respect for Pies, despite McGuire and some of their flog fans.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

I don't really care, TBH. Any GF win is one to savor and enjoy, regardless of who the opposition might be.

 

[sports_fan39]

honestly? after seing us smash Port and Swans and have close wins over st kilda and collingwood, at this point seing 4 flags, if were ever lucky enough to see a 5th it woudlnt bother me who we beat to be honest

 

[standupand]

Off the top of my head...

Eliminated by;

Adelaide - 2017
Brisbane - 2004
Carlton - 1995 (Grand Final)
Collingwood - 2010
Essendon - 1950s or 60s?
Fremantle - 2012
GCS and Giants - Never
Hawthorn - 2013
Melbourne - 2021
North Melbourne - 2014
Port - Never
Richmond - 2020 GF
St Kilda - ???
Sydney - 2016
West Coast - 1994 GF
Footscray/Bulldogs - ?

Eliminated;

Adelaide - Never
Brisbane - 2022
Carlton - 1994
Collingwood - 2011 GF?
Essendon - 2004
Fremantle - 2010
GWS - 2021
Hawthorn - 1963 (Wowsers!)
Melbourne - 2005
North Melbourne - 1994
Port - 2007 GF
Richmond - 1995
St Kilda - 2009 GF
Sydney - 2022 GF
West Coast - 2019
Bulldogs - 2008

I think we eliminated Collingwood in a semi in 2020. And I feel like we also knocked Port off in a semi more recently than 07, maybe 2013 or thereabouts?

 

[uranium_death]

I think we eliminated Collingwood in a semi in 2020. And I feel like we also knocked Port off in a semi more recently than 07, maybe 2013 or thereabouts?

Yeah, that sounds about right

 

[Vdubs]

In order-
Hawthorn
Richmond
WCE
Carlton
These are the teams I have seen us lose GF's to

 

[Burtyl78]

Hawks by 120 point’s preferably

 

[TEDDY24INC]

Hawthorn…. Richmond

 

[Scorpio]

Hawthorn. And if I’m being really greedy I want to pump them like we did to Port and Sydney.

For all the success we’ve had, what happened in 2008 and even 2013 do still sting a little bit.