Review Malcolm Blight's take on the 1994 Grand Final

[Goggin Our Best]

Been reading Tim Watsons book on Malcolm Blight

Interesting that Blights biggest regret at Geelong-is his preparation of the side for the 1994 Grand Final

Before i mention what he said -94 and 95 gfs we got thumped in both -ive allways thought that 95 was a disgraceful shameful effort -where as 94 didnt worry me too much -because it was a damm good effort to make the gf -and the Eagles were a sensational side -basically a state team

Anyhow -what he said was- in the final series for 1994 -believe it or not -the main Kardinia Park oval was unavailable for the players to train on -because the ground was being prepared for a Womens cricket match ?- i mean how fecken unprofessional is that. So all the senior squad had to train on the outside St Marys oval .

But in the week of the GF -the main Thursday session -Blight wanted the players to train on the main oval (which is perfectly understandable) which they did . What he didnt know was that they -(the council) had put a heap of sand on the ground -and it had also rained-the effect of this was -that come Saturday the players couldnt lift their legs -they had no run at all .

Any supporter who watched that game -will back that up -i can remember Hinkley -who was a good run and carry player -looked lifeless in that game

So there is a genuine excuse for that poor effort in 94gf -but fancy the ground not being available -because of a womens cricket game -youve got to say the administrators back then -what a mob of unprofessional dopes.

 

[footscore]

think we were just beaten by two superior teams, Carlton only lost a single game in 95 didn't they?
May have been unbeaten all season long.

The only issue I have when looking back is they were handing money to players under the table in order to keep the best of the best in one mighty team.
Had they been honest like most other clubs, two maybe three big names would have gone to Freo or some other club.

But that's history.

 

[Seeds]

Been reading Tim Watsons book on Malcolm Blight

Interesting that Blights biggest regret at Geelong-is his preparation of the side for the 1994 Grand Final

Before i mention what he said -94 and 95 gfs we got thumped in both -ive allways thought that 95 was a disgraceful shameful effort -where as 94 didnt worry me too much -because it was a damm good effort to make the gf -and the Eagles were a sensational side -basically a state team

Anyhow -what he said was- in the final series for 1994 -believe it or not -the main Kardinia Park oval was unavailable for the players to train on -because the ground was being prepared for a Womens cricket match ?- i mean how fecken unprofessional is that. So all the senior squad had to train on the outside St Marys oval .

But in the week of the GF -the main Thursday session -Blight wanted the players to train on the main oval (which is perfectly understandable) which they did . What he didnt know was that they -(the council) had put a heap of sand on the ground -and it had also rained-the effect of this was -that come Saturday the players couldnt lift their legs -they had no run at all .

Any supporter who watched that game -will back that up -i can remember Hinkley -who was a good run and carry player -looked lifeless in that game

So there is a genuine excuse for that poor effort in 94gf -but fancy the ground not being available -because of a womens cricket game -youve got to say the administrators back then -what a mob of unprofessional dopes.

This is disgraceful if true.

 

[Partridge]

think we were just beaten by two superior teams, Carlton only lost a single game in 95 didn't they?
May have been unbeaten all season long.

The only issue I have when looking back is they were handing money to players under the table in order to keep the best of the best in one mighty team.
Had they been honest like most other clubs, two maybe three big names would have gone to Freo or some other club.

But that's history.

Nope Carlton lost two games in 1995 - in successive weeks - then won their last 16 for the season. To be fair in 1994 we weren't the second best side, but had a great run through the finals. The other curiosity was although North finished above us on the ladder we beat them on all 3 occasions that year.

I don't buy the "they were a better side" argument for 1995 especially. What about 2008 then?

There's always an excuse if you look hard enough. Hopefully those days are long gone.

 

[SJ]

In 1994 we had one of the most memorable finals runs in history. Pretty much Sydney 2005-like (a staggering finals series), just didn't cap it off with the big one.

If Geelong had won the 1994 flag it would have been a fairytale victory.

 

[Senatorguesty]

Surely his biggest regret had to be 1992!?
I mean we had the game but decided to change our gameplan to "save" the lead.
At least thats how I remember it...

 

[year of the cat]

1992 was the one that got away. Poor coaching and a lack of ticker from the playing group lost us a flag.

 

[jim boy]

89 was also a much bigger opportunity than 94. Blight decided to change our running game to a man-on-man game, looked spectacular but did nothing on the scoreboard. Reverted back after 1/4 time but it was too late. Bairstow highlighted this a little while back and swears that Hawthorn were afraid of our running game.

1993 was also a bigger opportunity - We were the best team come the finals, only problem was that the stupid defensive tactics that Blight employed in the first half the season meant that we didn't even make the finals.

For all that Blight brought to the club, he ultimately had his brain fades that cost the club dearly

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

Yep 93 was a massive let down as we were firing at right time of the season and a little bloke named Ablett was unstoppable at full forward. Certainly better than Essendon and Carlton sides that played off.

As for 95....don't even het me started. No doubt Elliot and his mob were paying under the table....almost impossible to think otherwise and they are bloody lucky that the auditors haven't been able to go back that far. Carlton were a dodgy club under Elliot, that is not rumour, it is fact.

97 was also an open year that we could have had a realistic chance. Having to play Adelaide in Adelaide after finishing second should never have happened and that Colbert non mark was spectacular.

All in all, still take a lot of pride that we are far and away the most successful AFL side having equal most premierships, most GFs, most wins and never finished below 12th even through the Ayres years!

 

[SJ]

Yep 93 was a massive let down as we were firing at right time of the season and a little bloke named Ablett was unstoppable at full forward. Certainly better than Essendon and Carlton sides that played off.

As for 95....don't even het me started. No doubt Elliot and his mob were paying under the table....almost impossible to think otherwise and they are bloody lucky that the auditors haven't been able to go back that far. Carlton were a dodgy club under Elliot, that is not rumour, it is fact.

97 was also an open year that we could have had a realistic chance. Having to play Adelaide in Adelaide after finishing second should never have happened and that Colbert non mark was spectacular.

All in all, still take a lot of pride that we are far and away the most successful AFL side having equal most premierships, most GFs, most wins and never finished below 12th even through the Ayres years!

Well it should, as we lost to the seventh-best team in the first week and as a result our seeding plummeted.

 

[footscore]

I don't buy the "they were a better side" argument for 1995 especially. What about 2008 then?

well, game was over at halftime time in 95, look at their backline in comparison to ours, they had virtually the same structure modern teams have today, 3 traditional talls (Sexton, Silvagni, Christou) and 3 mids (Manton, Hannah, McKay), you look at our backline - Mansfield, Hinkley, Darcy (earlier years), Sholl, the only tall was McGrath who was about Lingy's size until Ben Graham and O'Reilly came around before it was too late.

Their midfield was ridiculous Koutoufides, Williams, Camporeale, Ratten, Bradley and they also had two legitimate ruckman like Allan and Madden who were giants while Barnes was our main ruckman for a good 3-5 years and believe it or not, he stood as tall as Taylor

 

[jim boy]

I didn't mention 97 as that was not Blight, but IIRC that first match against North was rescheduled from Saturday arvo to Sunday night against the night specialists sue to some dumb royal dying. Added to the fact it was a wet and miserable night, meant that the match conditions swung dramatically in North's favour. Then we had to play Adelaide in a fixture, which in any other year would have been in Melbourne rather than Adelaide (the rules changed after 1997). 1997 wasn't really lost opportunity as the gods obviously had it in for us.

 

[Scottland2007]

Yep 93 was a massive let down as we were firing at right time of the season and a little bloke named Ablett was unstoppable at full forward. Certainly better than Essendon and Carlton sides that played off.

As for 95....don't even het me started. No doubt Elliot and his mob were paying under the table....almost impossible to think otherwise and they are bloody lucky that the auditors haven't been able to go back that far. Carlton were a dodgy club under Elliot, that is not rumour, it is fact.

97 was also an open year that we could have had a realistic chance. Having to play Adelaide in Adelaide after finishing second should never have happened and that Colbert non mark was spectacular.

All in all, still take a lot of pride that we are far and away the most successful AFL side having equal most premierships, most GFs, most wins and never finished below 12th even through the Ayres years!

Is there any footage of Colberts non mark?

 

[Partridge]

well, game was over at halftime time in 95, look at their backline in comparison to ours, they had virtually the same structure modern teams have today, 3 traditional talls (Sexton, Silvagni, Christou) and 3 mids (Manton, Hannah, McKay), you look at our backline - Mansfield, Hinkley, Darcy (earlier years), Sholl, the only tall was McGrath who was about Lingy's size until Ben Graham and O'Reilly came around before it was too late.

Their midfield was ridiculous Koutoufides, Williams, Camporeale, Ratten, Bradley and they also had two legitimate ruckman like Allan and Madden who were giants while Barnes was our main ruckman for a good 3-5 years and believe it or not, he stood as tall as Taylor

So how come we lost by less than a kick to them during home and away? At their home ground too.

Simple truth is they were too good on the day. And we choked big time.

 

[Partridge]

89 was also a much bigger opportunity than 94. Blight decided to change our running game to a man-on-man game, looked spectacular but did nothing on the scoreboard. Reverted back after 1/4 time but it was too late. Bairstow highlighted this a little while back and swears that Hawthorn were afraid of our running game.

1993 was also a bigger opportunity - We were the best team come the finals, only problem was that the stupid defensive tactics that Blight employed in the first half the season meant that we didn't even make the finals.

For all that Blight brought to the club, he ultimately had his brain fades that cost the club dearly

Could not agree more. Especially the last sentence. He's never been properly criticised for those many brainfades either.

 

[Partridge]

Is there any footage of Colberts non mark?

Didn't cost us the game, there was still another quarter after that.

 

[Scottland2007]

Didn't cost us the game, there was still another quarter after that.

Thanks, I was under the impression it was in the dying moments of the game.

 

[Partridge]

I didn't mention 97 as that was not Blight, but IIRC that first match against North was rescheduled from Saturday arvo to Sunday night against the night specialists sue to some dumb royal dying. Added to the fact it was a wet and miserable night, meant that the match conditions swung dramatically in North's favour. Then we had to play Adelaide in a fixture, which in any other year would have been in Melbourne rather than Adelaide (the rules changed after 1997). 1997 wasn't really lost opportunity as the gods obviously had it in for us.

Disagree. It's played on an oval with goalposts. We were good enough to beat North at the MCG during the home and away season, so I don't buy that suddenly the ground was a factor.

They should have won and didn't. Simple as that.

 

[footscore]

Is there any footage of Colberts non mark?

 

[footscore]

Didn't cost us the game, there was still another quarter after that.

it robbed us of valuable momentum, Geelong in the 90's were a team which relied on momentum, they'd kick burst of goals in succession and Colbert was really stepping up bigtime in this final, he would have likely kicked the goal and put Geelong up by 3 goals nearing 3qtr time.

 

[Scottland2007]

Thanks footscore

 

[FredLeDeux]

Nope Carlton lost two games in 1995 - in successive weeks - then won their last 16 for the season. To be fair in 1994 we weren't the second best side, but had a great run through the finals. The other curiosity was although North finished above us on the ladder we beat them on all 3 occasions that year.

I don't buy the "they were a better side" argument for 1995 especially. What about 2008 then?

There's always an excuse if you look hard enough. Hopefully those days are long gone.

So how come we lost by less than a kick to them during home and away? At their home ground too.

Simple truth is they were too good on the day. And we choked big time.

Simple truth is that in 1995 Carlton were a better team, who was also too good on the day, added to which we had more substandard players, and our best players played far below our best (or "choked" if you like, whatever that means).
And they aren't "excuses". Some of them are "reasons" and some of them are explanations".
2008 has, of course, no logical connection whatever with the matter.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

I remember as a kid, I didn't know what to make of the 1994 finals run. In my head, I knew that there was no way we were as good as the Eagles. But, as SJ said, each of our three victories leading up to the grand final was remarkable in its own way and you couldn't help but think that we may have been a team of destiny. Reality set in a bit after quarter time.

I also remember stumbling on an old Best of the Footy Show video a few years back and they were interviewing Barnes about some issue with the ground. The interview was probably from 1994 and Barnes (in classic Barnes style) was saying 'I can't bloody believe what they've done to the ground. It's a disgrace.'

But a few posters have touched on an interesting topic. What if we'd got a different coach for the 1989 season. Blight was undeniably successful as our coach, but that was mainly based on what the recent sides had dished up, rather than the (significant) amount of talent we had. Does anyone remember who else was out there at the time (Parkin? Barassi? Hafey for a second crack?)? Would we have remained a mediocre team (as we were for much of the 80s) or would we have got that long-awaited flag a bit earlier?

 

[FredLeDeux]

One factor often unstated and/or understated about our 3 1990s GF teams is that each of them contained more sub-Premiership players than the opposition, more players who simply weren't good enough to be in a Premiership team, more players who were taken along on the ride to the GF by their outstanding team-mates.
I haven't had a close look at all the "Colliwobbles" runners-up teams, but I have always suspected that this may explain quite a few of them as well; possibly not so much the "coat-tails" factor in their case as arrogance and self-belief taking them one step too far, to their level of incompetence.

 

[footscore]

Blight was undeniably successful as our coach, but that was mainly based on what the recent sides had dished up, rather than the (significant) amount of talent we had.

but we did not have significant amounts of talent, Hawthorn, Essendon, Carlton, West Coast or Adelaide always had great sides because they had at least 3 talls 6ft'3+ in defense at all times, 1 exceptional ruck with another giant on their list and forward lines which did not rely solely on any individual to win games of his own boot.