Discussion If you could go back in time and watch five matches which matches would you pick?

[Resigned]

My Choices would be:

1: 1927 VFL Grand Final: Since this was the lowest scoring Grand Final in VFL history I would have loved to see the desperation both sides would have needed to merely score. From accounts I've heard it was a shitload of rain and even though my team lost the spectacle would have been incredible.

2: 1945 VFL Grand Final: The infamous Bloodbath Grand Final would be amazing to witness.

3: Any game where Haydn Bunton Snr and Laurie Nash played against each other and during their peaks: With Bunton being the only player to have been awarded more Brownlow Medal votes than games he has played it would have been something special to watch, and Nash being described as the best player ever to play by Jack Dyer seeing them both in action would be incredible.

4: 1898 Grand Final: To get an idea of what football was like back in the early days when scores were as low as AFLW matches would be interesting.

5: 1920 Grand Final: Couldn't leave this list without a Richmond Grand Final and to see the only game of William James would be something.

 

[killer]

1) Sturt v Collingwood post season 1966

2) any fitzroy game from the 30s

3) Devonport v nth hobart 1988

4) Vesteys v Waratahs 26/01/24

5) any Papunya game from the early 80s

 

[Bombermania]

1) 1965 Rd1 Hawthorn vs Carlton, this was Ron Barassi's first game for Carlton and the largest crowd to ever see a H&A match at Glenferrie Rd
2) 1984 and 1985 Essendon vs Hawthorn GF's
3) Any Collingwood vs Richmond game in the late 1920s
4) Any Melbourne vs Collingwood game in the late 1950s
5) 2000 GF between Essendon vs Melbourne

 

[Supermercado]

1) 1900 Grand Final
2) 1926 Grand Final
3) Melbourne vs Footscray - Round 22, 1987
4) Melbourne vs South Yarra - 09/07/1859
5) ... and just to prove I'm not entirely narrowly focused, the day Williamstown beat Camberwell by 360 points

 

[Obi fella]

1) 1900 Grand Final
2) 1926 Grand Final
3) Melbourne vs Footscray - Round 22, 1987
4) Melbourne vs South Yarra - 09/07/1859
5) ... and just to prove I'm not entirely narrowly focused, the day Williamstown beat Camberwell by 360 points

I was at 5). 55.17 to 4.8 at Camberwell. One of our blokes kicked about 22 sausage rolls I reckon.

 

[35Daicos]

I was at 5). 55.17 to 4.8 at Camberwell. One of our blokes kicked about 22 sausage rolls I reckon.

This chap, I presume?: 22 - Vic - Andrew Gibson - Williamstown (v Camberwell) - VFA. - 1986

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/thre...-a-player-in-a-game-ex-fp-discussion.1126179/

 

[Supermercado]

I was at 5). 55.17 to 4.8 at Camberwell. One of our blokes kicked about 22 sausage rolls I reckon.

Magnificent brutality.

There was also the Geelong West Under 19s game that they lost by 600.

 

[terrybull]

1) 1900 Grand Final
2) 1926 Grand Final
3) Melbourne vs Footscray - Round 22, 1987
4) Melbourne vs South Yarra - 09/07/1859
5) ... and just to prove I'm not entirely narrowly focused, the day Williamstown beat Camberwell by 360 points

The 1859 game would probably resembeled a tougher type of Soccer game with more players (25 each) on a bigger ground (MCG).

Spoiler:

Final score : Melbourne 3 d South Yarra 0.
(Goals were not six points and and behinds did not exist or were not counted).

But this game would be my first pick just to see how Footy was back then.

Pick 2 - See University play on the East Melbourne oval against a big drawing opponent - probably Collingwood.

Pick 3 - Any Richmond match with Jack Dyer starring at Punt Road Oval.

Pick 4 - Any Fitzroy match with Hayden Bunton starring at Brunswick Oval.

Pick 5 - Round 20, 1975 Richmond vs Carlton.

Great thread, I had been thinking of starting one very similar but one can only choose 1 game.

 

[Bombermania]

Pity I couldn't find any youtube clips of that Williamstown v Camberwell match.

 

[ThePope]

1. 8 Aug 1953, South Freo vs Subi, Fremantle Oval, Bernie Naylor 23 goals.
2. 8 Oct 1977, WA vs Vic, Subi Oval, first SOO, WA smashed the Vics.
3. 23 July 1961, WA vs Vic, Gabba, win National Champs - Farmer, Todd, Bunton Jr, Gero, Sorrell, Sheedy, Chadwick, Atwell vs Whitten, Barassi etc.
4. 1 April 1995, Rich vs Freo, MCG. Freo's first game. Was at game 2, wish I was at game 1.
5. 27 Aug 1898, Fremantle vs WP. Last time a Fremantle Football Club won a Premiership!

 

[terrybull]

The 1859 game would probably resembeled a tougher type of Soccer game with more players (25 each) on a bigger ground (MCG).

Spoiler:

Final score : Melbourne 3 d South Yarra 0.
(Goals were not six points and and behinds did not exist or were not counted).

But this game would be my first pick just to see how Footy was back then.

Pick 2 - See University play on the East Melbourne oval against a big drawing opponent - probably Collingwood.

Pick 3 - Any Richmond match with Jack Dyer starring at Punt Road Oval.

Pick 4 - Any Fitzroy match with Hayden Bunton starring at Brunswick Oval.

Pick 5 - Round 20, 1975 Richmond vs Carlton.

Great thread, I had been thinking of starting one very similar but one can only choose 1 game.

Have to change pick 5 to:

Round 6, 1928 Corio Oval, Geelong 19.8 (122) vs Fitzroy 2.27 (39). Maroons had two more scoring shots but still loose by 83 points! Be interesting to see crowd and players reactions.

 

[emuboy]

1. 1910 Grand Final - Collingwood d. Carlton - This is the only time Collingwood has beaten Carlton in a Grand Final.

2. 1959 Grand Final - Melbourne d. Essendon - I haven't seen a Melbourne premiership in my lifetime, and this is the most recent time the Demons won a flag over a team other than the Magpies (Collingwood beaten by Melbourne in 1960 & 1964). I don't have this option with St. Kilda.

3. 1944 Grand Final - Fitzroy d. Richmond - Fitzroy's last premiership in their own right. Richmond getting beaten is an added bonus.

4. Round 2 1908 - University d. Richmond - Obviously I have never seen a University match and this game, very high scoring for the era 14.10-94 to 12.6-78 played at the long gone East Melbourne Cricket Ground, would be a good choice being University's first VFL victory. Again Richmond losing the said match is a bonus.

5. Round 6 1991 - North Melbourne d. Sydney Swans - This Anzac Day game at the MCG is probably the most bizarre match ever played. The Swans led 19.6 to 13.12 at half time, and at the 10 minute mark of the third term they were in front 21.8 to 14.14, then from that point on the Swans did not score again while North came back and ended up winning 27.26-188 to 21.8-134. I would like to observe this match in detail to determine WTF happened.

 

[ThePope]

5. Round 6 1991 - North Melbourne d. Sydney Swans - This Anzac Day game at the MCG is probably the most bizarre match ever played. The Swans led 19.6 to 13.12 at half time, and at the 10 minute mark of the third term they were in front 21.8 to 14.14, then from that point on the Swans did not score again while North came back and ended up winning 27.26-188 to 21.8-134. I would like to observe this match in detail to determine WTF happened.

Tagging happened, apparently.

 

[adammania9]

Not sure but the 1948 drawn grand final would certainly be one of them. The bombers kicked 7.27.69, there must have been some shockers in there.


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[benji2]

1. The 1910 GF, apparently the beginning of the bitter rivalry between Carl and Coll, just to see how vicious it really was.
2. The 1937 GF, Geel vs Coll. Long regarded as a great game, with some champions on both teams.
3. The 1970 VFL GF. To be there during that fightback would have been something to behold.
4. The 1972 Champions of Australia game North Adelaide vs Carlton. Robran v Jesaulenko. North won by 1 pt.
5. The 1973 SANFL GF, Glenelg vs North, with Glenelg winning their first flag in 39 years in a shootout. Ironically I stopped my mother going, as she was 5 months pregnant with me.

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[Plugger46]

1. 1997 Grand final. If i couldn't make it i hear that the streets in Adelaide were going off so win win
2. Rd 1 1949 Essendon vs Hawthorn Coleman plays his first game and kicks 12
3. Rd 10 1999 Sydney vs Collingwood Lockett kicks his 1300th goal
4. Not any particular game by would love to go back and watch Gordon Coventrey
5. 1989 grand final by far my favorite game towatch being there would've been awesome
6. 07 GF have actually never seen the whole match

 

[TJ1996]

1. 1945 VFL Grand Final. How can you go past blokes trying to murder each other on the footy field?
2. 1989 VFL Grand Final. Speaks for itself.
3. 1979 WAFL Grand Final. Easts running over the top of Souths in the last quarter in front of 52k at Subi.
4. 1986 State of Origin
5. 2012 East Freo District under-16s Grand Final. I was playing in the under-17s and we were doing our warmup in the changerooms during the final term which saw our team's U16s come back from 6 goals down and kick a goal from a 100m penalty with 1 minute to go to put them in front. Would have enjoyed seeing it instead of the runner coming down and telling us.

 

[Scanlens Man]

Ha Ha great thread. I'd go:

1897 Round 1 Fitz v Carlton (First ever game of VFL)
1930 Grand Final (Collingwood wins 4 in a row)
1945 Grand Final (Bloodbath)
Round 1 1949 Ess V Hawthorn (John Coleman 12 goals on debut)
1966 Grand Final (St Kilda's historic win)

 

[spookymooky]

1- 1999 Grand Final (for obvious reasons)

2- 2002 Grand Final, get to witness one of the best teams in the leagues history play a ripper game in the rain is also a bonus

3- Fitzroy's last win, Watched the full game on youtube and it really captivated me with how much of a local footy game vibe it gave me. I would pretend I'm a Fitzroy supporter as well

4- Essendon vs Collingwood 2009 Anzac Day, another ripper game in the wet with Collingwood losing which makes me harder then a prime Hugh Hefner

5- Any game from 1897-1920, just to see how much the game evolved

 

[The_Historian]

1. 1945 Grand final - to see how brutal the game got
2. Any of the machine teams premierships - would be great to see the Coventry's and Colliers running around
3. Coleman's debut game - just to see how one man can dominate a game in his first appearance.
4. A South vs Lions game during the early/mid 30s to see Bunton and Pratt at their peaks
5. 1970 Premiership - to see the amazing comeback

 

[Gibbke]

1) East Launceston lost every match to North Launceston, 4 times a year, from 1972 to 1986, except one in 1980 which was one of those 25 goal apiece thrillers common at the time everywhere because good full forwards were an Australia-wide plague and no one knew how to defend. That one.
2) 1989 GF. Pilot's strike prevented me from attending back to back flags.
3) Tom Hawkins game in 2012, my pick for the greatest match of all time.
4) 1970 GF, the most iconic match of all time.
5) Waaaaaay back. Maybe something from round 1, 1897, or even before, any state, in the days when they counted goals only...

 

[Procrastinator35]

1. Any game featuring Bob Pratt kicking over 10 goals during the 1934 season, where he was absolutely unstoppable & on fire.
2. Probably the 1949 Grand Final where Coleman kicked 6 to hit the 100 mark & lead his side to the flag in his first season….Has there ever been a better debut season in the history of VFL/ AFL footy?.....Unlikely.
3. The 1971 Grand Final…..Fully epic.
4. The 1984 2nd Semi Final... Hawks vs Bombers....Should have been the Grand Final....Gripping, intense & An arm-wrestle from go to whoa .
5. 1989 Round 6 Hawks vs Cats at Princes Park….An incredible display of attacking football from both sides....Umpires had no need for whistles that day.

 

[emuboy]

Some odd ones:

1. Waverley vs. Sunshine 1981 VFA - In this opening round game, Waverley won 52.31-343 to 8.5-53, a margin of 290-points. Not surprisingly, Sunshine failed to win a game that year.

2. Fitzroy vs. Geelong - Round 9 1963 - This 9.9-63 to 3.9-27 victory was Fitzroy's only win in 1963 and the Lions failed to win at all in 1964. The 1963 match was top vs. bottom, with Geelong eventual premiers.

3. Geelong vs. St. Kilda 1899 - This infamous game saw Geelong win over St. Kilda by 161-points, 23.24-162 to 0.1-1. The Saints kicked the first score of the match very early on. It would be quite odd to be standing there knowing the Saints would not score at all for the rest of the game.

4. Melbourne 12.34-106 d. North Melbourne 8.1-49 - Round 7 1940 - Who wouldn't want to see a team kick a score as distinctive and unique as 12.34? And one only hopes that North's coach didn't spend the week impressing upon the Kangaroos that bad kicking is bad football.

5. Newtown vs. Canterbury 1982 - Okay, this is Rugby League not AFL, but this match is the only top level Australian rugby league game to produce a nil all draw, neither the Jets nor the Bulldogs scoring at all in 80 minutes. There is some footage of the game on Youtube but while it is raining it is not torrential rain and Henson Park looks in reasonable condition, not like some of the games played in teeming rain on mud heaps later that decade particularly during a very wet winter in Sydney in 1989.

 

[megadeth86]

Grand finals of 1976 and 1977 won by Perth Demons, WAFL.

1977 VFL drawn grand final

I'm also really attracted to and interested in the old VFL/AFL suburban grounds so one game at each of them including:

First game at Moorabbin 1965, St Kilda vs Collingwood.

 

[jle101]

Personally I would mind watching some pre-WW1 football. Just to take in how different the game & the atmosphere at the ground would have been in those days.