Review "1989 - The Great Grand Final"

[Goats]

first qtr i think... on the mcc wing... camera just misses it.. platts head over the ball, dishes it out & in comes hocking. few minutes later platts is on the bench away with the fairies. he comes back on after but is cooked at half time.

fair play to hocking, dipper knocked his teeth out but he just grabs the ball from the free kick & gets on with it. never liked him much tho.

Always hated Hocking but he was a tough *er and if he was in Brown and Gold he would’ve been a fan favourite.

 

[Tassie Cryptik]

..but he wasn't , so he deserves our scorn.

 

[Stratton24]

I watched the Rd 6 clash of that year just the other day, and I'll be damned if that game wasn't even better than the grannie. Absolutely scintillating footy.

Want some excellent iso viewing, check this out....

How can this game not get voted in the Fox Footy top 50? Fox must have lost the game and rigged the vote.

 

[Buzz Hawk]

Just finished the book, well devoured it would be more accurate - great Easter fare.
Easy reading and thoroughly enjoyable if you're a hawk fan.
To be honest, there isn't any great revelations in the book; much of it we already knew as it is one of the most discussed, analysed and critiqued game's in the sport's history. We knew about Dipper's toughness, Ablett's freakishness, Yabby's passion to go back to back etc (the bit about Yabby's pay the price speech at half time I did find very interesting. He was shouting "pay the price, pay the price, pay the price!" so often that some players thought he either went too far with it or they thought he was going to have another stroke!).
Still, fantastic read, highly recommended.
I did like the discussion in the book around Geelong's playing the man tactics. Did it cost them the chance of genuinely winning the game or was it a Blight masterstroke? On the one hand they were so intent on going the knuckle in the first quarter that by the end of it they were 39 points down as we kept our focus on the ball.
On the other hand, by mowing down so many of our players it worked well enough for them to get as close as they did.

Oh and my respect and admiration for Dipper is even more immense after reading the book. As Langers says, "he wasn't just physically tough, you couldn't hurt him". Remember it's Dipper with his busted ribs and deflating lungs that jumps on the ball in those last, desperate moments. Love that man.

It would have been a travesty if we had lost that game.

 

[thejockey]

Rated as the 3rd best game in the top 50 .......cant wait to see what comes in at 1 and 2 , they must be incredible

 

[Cleavy]

Rated as the 3rd best game in the top 50 .......cant wait to see what comes in at 1 and 2 , they must be incredible

Thought it was meant to be Collingwood vs West Coast GF, and Bulldogs vs GWS PF?

 

[thejockey]

Thought it was meant to be Collingwood vs West Coast GF, and Bulldogs vs GWS PF?

Ah ok I didnt realise they had announced it

Dogs v Giants pf was a good game , but seriously not even in the same league

 

[Pessimistic]

Rated as the 3rd best game in the top 50 .......cant wait to see what comes in at 1 and 2 , they must be incredible

they did a top 50. I always wonder why 2005 and 2006 grannies make these lists. They had close results because they were very average teams. I reckon of 2010 had a result on the day, it’d be right up there

 

[Buzz Hawk]

they did a top 50. I always wonder why 2005 and 2006 grannies make these lists. They had close results because they were very average teams. I reckon of 2010 had a result on the day, it’d be right up there

They had close results because they were very defensively oriented teams. There were no real highlights in those games (sure, apart from that mark), just dour, down the line defensive stuff.
The thing that strikes me about the ‘89 granny was the “let ‘er rip” mentality. It was a shootout and how good was that. After ‘89 coaches worked out that if they just focused a little more on defense they wouldn’t need to score so much.
Thus the modern game began.
To paraphrase Blight, “our forwards are better than yours so we’ll back ourselves in. The highest score wins right, it’s not golf where the lowest score wins”.
His problem was he had no defenders of any note.

 

[LuckyHawk]

How can this game not get voted in the Fox Footy top 50? Fox must have lost the game and rigged the vote.

I watched the Rd 6 clash of that year just the other day, and I'll be damned if that game wasn't even better than the grannie. Absolutely scintillating footy.

Want some excellent iso viewing, check this out....

Agree, not only was it better than the '89 gf but it was the best game of footy ever played.

 

[Pessimistic]

In 3-4 years time, the 89 granny will be the greatest again

 

[Agent Smith]

Man, watching the 89 GF , how important were Pritchard (who played a lot as an inside mid that day) and dean anderson ? The only two left running after half time!

Pritchard unlucky not to win the Norm Smith.

 

[thejockey]

Pritchard unlucky not to win the Norm Smith.

Played an incredible game , especially when you consider he had basically zero running support in the 2nd half.

Foot skills on the run were sublime . Forgot how good he was .

 

[thejockey]

Also it was great having Derm and Dunstall giving commetary on the game.

So good to hear them pumping up some of the lesser 'name' players we had .

 

[HawthornHawk]

Will have to order the book

What I love about this GF is that nobody ever references the number of touches or tackles player x/y/z had but rather specific moments where individuals made sacrifices to impact the contest

 

[Kil Phearns]

I just giggle when watching back those "flukey" Anderson and Curran snaps around mid third quarter, knowing that that was effectively the difference in the end.

 

[Falco131415]

Don't know who writes the puns on the HFC web site but this made me laugh.

Dunstall's pressure into Brereton's goal:
Not typically known for his forward pressure, Jason Dunstall laid a massive tackle on the Cats' last line of defence to set up a bustling Brereton goal.

Obviously this person never saw bung hole play.
He thrived on forward pressure in fact I'd go as far to say he may of been the first KPF who practiced the art!

 

[MasterSamurai]

Pritchard unlucky not to win the Norm Smith.

What did him was from memory he kicked a few points in that game, if he had kicked 2 or 3 goals instead of points he would have taken the NSM imo.

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

Its arrived!!


And it will be read after I finish my current book. Luckily I'm down to the last couple of chapters.
Thanks Big X

 

[market]

How good was Pritchard. Judd like the way he'd explode and run away from packs and congestion at pace.

Obvious difference was that he'd nail a long 50m pass to someone lace out rather than be "uncharacteristic".

Not being a smartarse - but when i lived in Melb for 3 years in early 2000s, my family (and I) got to be friends with Darrin and his crew. He has to be one of the most low key relaxed blokes you could ever meet. (his first 5 years at the club were 4 GFs for 3 premierships) - I would grill him for ages on everything from pre-game prep, to yabbys speeches, training and anything else. Even going skiing up at Mt Baw Baw for a day trip (which we just took for granted) was taboo back in playing days.
I asked him one time, "hey remember in 89 GF, how tough was Dermie after getting smashed and then taking that mark to kick a goal - it set the G on fire" as casual as you like he says "yeah, i kicked it to him"....

 

[HawthornHawk]

Don't know who writes the puns on the HFC web site but this made me laugh.

Dunstall's pressure into Brereton's goal:
Not typically known for his forward pressure, Jason Dunstall laid a massive tackle on the Cats' last line of defence to set up a bustling Brereton goal.

Obviously this person never saw bung hole play.
He thrived on forward pressure in fact I'd go as far to say he may of been the first KPF who practiced the art!

Does anyone else remember that game in the 90's on a cold wet night at Waverley where we had a great win against the Blues.. SOS made one of his regular forays forward but Dunstall went with him and pinged him htb in their forward line, really stuck with me!

 

[MinerBoy]

What did him was from memory he kicked a few points in that game, if he had kicked 2 or 3 goals instead of points he would have taken the NSM imo.

I think it was the bloke who kicked 9 for the other team

 

[MinerBoy]

Its arrived!!

View attachment 857768
And it will be read after I finish my current book. Luckily I'm down to the last couple of chapters.
Thanks Big X

Ordered mine last week. Can't wait for it to arrive.

 

[Luv_our_club]

There is an article from Wilson about the 1989 grand final that was published years ago. I highly recommend it! Link bellow.

Dad, Dermie, Dipper, Donuts and Me

‘Dad, can I have some donuts?’It was a ritual that had evolved over a decade of watching football together at the MCG. Walk across the footbridge, ask for a Record,...

tonywilson.com.au

 

[Wizzmania]

Here’s another ISO buster.
A blow by blow account of the whole game:

Hawthorn v Geelong: VFL grand final 1989 – retro liveblog

Goal-by-goal report: Hawthorn secured back-to-back premierships in arguably the greatest grand final in the history of the game

www.theguardian.com