This off-season i've decided to fill in my "no footy" period with a trip down memory lane, revisiting many of the best rivalries in AFL history & making & re-watching the Top 10 games that made that rivalary what it is.
I've decided to start with one of the most fiery out there.... Carlton Vs Essendon. So, I invite both Carlton, Essendon fans to get in there and add their games, why - debate the order of them & just enjoy the rilvary for the moments that made it & none of the other negative stuff. Would love to see supporters on bothsides revisiting their fav moments and why.
I will start the Top 10 with my suggestions, feel free to discuss
1. Carlton Vs Essendon 1999 Preliminary Final - The upset of the decade & the infamous "Fraser Brown Tackle". The last stand of the Jack Elliott era.
2. Carlton Vs Essendon 1993 Grand Final - The Baby Bombers shock the AFL world & Michael Long's running goal over SOS
3. Carlton Vs Essendon Round 2 1993 - "The Draw" & Kernahan misses the lot for the win
4. Carlton Vs Essendon Round 3 2007 - Calrton storm back from 48 points down thanks to 8 Goals from peak Fev
5. Carlton Vs Essendon 1993 QF - The often forgotten game in the 1993 trilogy of great Essendon Vs Carlton games
6. Essendon Vs Carlton Round 20, 2000 - The real spiritual companion "rematch" of the 1999 Prelim & a forgotten classic IMO. 2000 was the unstoppable Bombers, but the only team who genuinely could stop them was the Kouta Blues. It was a tight battle up until 3/4 time, until Kouta unfortunately does his knee, not only taking away any chance Carlton had of winning the game, but also shocking the unbeatable Bombers. People completely underrate just how dominant Kouta was during this era. Can't find a link to this match, but would love to re-watch this game if anyone has a copy
7. Essendon Vs Carlton Round 1, 1997 - After a fiery, tough & tightly contested Round 1 clash which saw Denham apply a very hard tag on Greg Williams, Diesel is controversially suspended for 9 weeks for shoving an umpire after the siren. This game displayed the tension that these clashes provided during this era & to this day, i disagree with Diesels suspension. After the siren, the umpire should have been giving Diesel space, not getting in his face.
Cant find a a Full Game video, but if anyone has it - please DM me
8. Carlton Vs Essendon Round 2 2005 - In another massive comeback from the Blues, they came from 7 goals down to beat the Bombers thanks to 7 goals between Whitnall & Betts. This would be Carltons biggest highlight of the season as they fell to their first wooden spoon in their history
9. Carlton Vs Essendon Round 4 2011 - Another Draw from a Calrton player kicking it out of bounds on the full, this time Kade Simpson. After a tight tussle all day, Carlton manage to edge in front from a beautiful running goal by Simpson, provided by Judd. Minutes later as the Blues attempt to milk the clock, Simpson goes from hero to villian with a uncontested Out of Bounds on the full. The resulting inside 50 leads to Zakarakis kicking a point which ties the game that ends in another famous draw between the 2 teams
10. Carlton Vs Essendon - 2011 Elimination Final - Not so much a classic game, but arguably the last meaningful game the 2 teams have had against each other in over a decade & was Carltons first finals win in a decade too. The game was not so much a Classic, but makes the list purely for it being the last time we saw the 2 teams played in front of 90k in a match that truely mattered.
Footnote: Although 2013 does not feature on this list, its worth mentioning as this year saw the unusual situation where Essendon were removed from the finals just a week before they started due to losing their points from the supplement saga. This meant that 9th placed Carlton took their stop, who would go on to beat their other bitter arch Rival, Richmond, who had finished 5th. As a Richmond supporter, im still getting over this loss.
Hope peeps get some joy out of this post and take the opportunity to re-watch some of the classic matches between these 2 teams. If you think i've missed a game please let me know & if anyone out there happens to have that Round 20 2000 game where Kouta does his knee, please DM me as i would love to get a copy of it.
I've decided to start with one of the most fiery out there.... Carlton Vs Essendon. So, I invite both Carlton, Essendon fans to get in there and add their games, why - debate the order of them & just enjoy the rilvary for the moments that made it & none of the other negative stuff. Would love to see supporters on bothsides revisiting their fav moments and why.
I will start the Top 10 with my suggestions, feel free to discuss
1. Carlton Vs Essendon 1999 Preliminary Final - The upset of the decade & the infamous "Fraser Brown Tackle". The last stand of the Jack Elliott era.
2. Carlton Vs Essendon 1993 Grand Final - The Baby Bombers shock the AFL world & Michael Long's running goal over SOS
3. Carlton Vs Essendon Round 2 1993 - "The Draw" & Kernahan misses the lot for the win
4. Carlton Vs Essendon Round 3 2007 - Calrton storm back from 48 points down thanks to 8 Goals from peak Fev
5. Carlton Vs Essendon 1993 QF - The often forgotten game in the 1993 trilogy of great Essendon Vs Carlton games
6. Essendon Vs Carlton Round 20, 2000 - The real spiritual companion "rematch" of the 1999 Prelim & a forgotten classic IMO. 2000 was the unstoppable Bombers, but the only team who genuinely could stop them was the Kouta Blues. It was a tight battle up until 3/4 time, until Kouta unfortunately does his knee, not only taking away any chance Carlton had of winning the game, but also shocking the unbeatable Bombers. People completely underrate just how dominant Kouta was during this era. Can't find a link to this match, but would love to re-watch this game if anyone has a copy
7. Essendon Vs Carlton Round 1, 1997 - After a fiery, tough & tightly contested Round 1 clash which saw Denham apply a very hard tag on Greg Williams, Diesel is controversially suspended for 9 weeks for shoving an umpire after the siren. This game displayed the tension that these clashes provided during this era & to this day, i disagree with Diesels suspension. After the siren, the umpire should have been giving Diesel space, not getting in his face.
Cant find a a Full Game video, but if anyone has it - please DM me
8. Carlton Vs Essendon Round 2 2005 - In another massive comeback from the Blues, they came from 7 goals down to beat the Bombers thanks to 7 goals between Whitnall & Betts. This would be Carltons biggest highlight of the season as they fell to their first wooden spoon in their history
9. Carlton Vs Essendon Round 4 2011 - Another Draw from a Calrton player kicking it out of bounds on the full, this time Kade Simpson. After a tight tussle all day, Carlton manage to edge in front from a beautiful running goal by Simpson, provided by Judd. Minutes later as the Blues attempt to milk the clock, Simpson goes from hero to villian with a uncontested Out of Bounds on the full. The resulting inside 50 leads to Zakarakis kicking a point which ties the game that ends in another famous draw between the 2 teams
10. Carlton Vs Essendon - 2011 Elimination Final - Not so much a classic game, but arguably the last meaningful game the 2 teams have had against each other in over a decade & was Carltons first finals win in a decade too. The game was not so much a Classic, but makes the list purely for it being the last time we saw the 2 teams played in front of 90k in a match that truely mattered.
Footnote: Although 2013 does not feature on this list, its worth mentioning as this year saw the unusual situation where Essendon were removed from the finals just a week before they started due to losing their points from the supplement saga. This meant that 9th placed Carlton took their stop, who would go on to beat their other bitter arch Rival, Richmond, who had finished 5th. As a Richmond supporter, im still getting over this loss.
Hope peeps get some joy out of this post and take the opportunity to re-watch some of the classic matches between these 2 teams. If you think i've missed a game please let me know & if anyone out there happens to have that Round 20 2000 game where Kouta does his knee, please DM me as i would love to get a copy of it.
