BCs Top 10 Wins of the Noughties

[Bartram_Class]

First of, a Happy New Year/Decade/Era to you all.

Seeing as we're into January doldrums, I've decided to indulge myself with a look back at our (IMO) best 10 wins of the Noughties. I apologise in advance if they appear biased towards the earlier years, but frankly the available material in our last handful of years is somewhat restrictive...

I'll be revealing one a day to maximise the drama o) as we head towards No. 1

Will do my best to find footage/comment on all the games.

No. 10: Melbourne v. Geelong, 2000
No. 09: Melbourne v. Fremantle, 2008
No. 08: Melbourne v. Western Bulldogs, 2005
No. 07: Melbourne v. Geelong, 2005
No. 06: Melbourne v. Essendon, 2005
No. 05: Melbourne v. Collingwood, 2000
No. 04: Melbourne v. St. Kilda, 2006
No. 03: Melbourne v. Adelaide, 2001
No. 02: Melbourne v. Brisbane, 2002
No. 01: Melbourne v. Carlton, 2000

 

[Bartram_Class]

Number 10...

Melbourne v. Geelong, Round 21, 2000

Ladder (as of R.20)

Essendon  80
Carlton     60
Kangas     52 (105.9)
Demons    48 (115.9)

Anyone old enough to remember the end of the '00 season will recall our desperate attempts to track down the Kangaroos in 3rd and avoid facing the Bombers first up. This was to be the game which would eventually set up our QF against the Blues.

Helping the drama of the occasion was both the form of the Cats, who were in 6th and half a game out of 5th, and, hindsight being 20/20, Woey's 3 votes here would be enough to get him over the line for the Brownlow (though a couple the week after got him it outright).

75,033 crammed into the 'G that afternoon and I wish I could pull the clip off 'Hotter than Hell' that summed up the afternoon for me, but alas all I have is a picture:

Woey taking the ball on the wing, running up the Olympic wing, strolling to 50, drilling the goal in the 3rd quarter(?) and then turning and saluting the faithful with the double bicep tense pictured above. There weren't many better sights in footy than Woey in full flight...he had 35 touches and 4 goals that afternoon, figures we didn't see again from a Melbourne mid. till early 2009 I believe.

Of course, there was more to the game than Woey and that one goal. We were down by 8 points at half-time but wrestled back control in the 3rd and eventually ran out 18 point winners. At the same time, the 'Roos lost to the Pies and we took 3rd place for the first time since Round 8.

 

[demonfan9]

Great game that, I remember being there on a beautiful sunny day with a huge crowd. I think there was some Olympic-related event which took place that day, hence the bigger than usual crowd. I think this win was part of our 10/11 wins on the road to the Grand Final. Great times they were!

Hope you don't mind BC but I've added some stats from that game.

In addition to Woey's best on ground performence, Jeff White had 30 hitouts and David Neitz kicked a bag of 5. For Geelong, a young Clint Bizzell had 8 disposals against his future club, while an even younger Cameron Ling managed just 1 handball for the day.

 

[Bartram_Class]

Feel free, imagine it being like Bert's Top 20, and you are all my useless B-grade celebs who pitch in with their own views on the games.

Brownlow Votes from that game:

3. Woey
2. David Neitz
1. Peter Walsh (oh yes)

 

[Supermercado]

The Olympic Torch ran around the ground beforehand and there was all sorts of 1956 propaganda going on.

http://wiki.fcmelbourne.com.au/tiki-index.php?page=Round+21+2000

 

[WattsGoodForYou]

I hope that game at the GABBA where Neitz kicked 7 on a sunny sunday arvo rates a mention!

 

[davey_magik]

I hope that game at the GABBA where Neitz kicked 7 on a sunny sunday arvo rates a mention!

That's in my top 5.

My top 3 (In no particular order) is probably the 2008 Freo game, the Carlton QF win and the win at Kardinia Park in 2005.

Then there is still the Round 21 Bulldogs game in 2005, the St.Kilda elimination final, away to Adelaide in 2001, the round 4 game against Sydney in 2006, gee there is heaps now I think of them.

 

[Bartram_Class]

Few QB wins you might want to consider too DM.

Took me ages to work out my 10.

 

[Supermercado]

My personal shortlist in chronological order. I won't hijack the countdown and do my rankings yet - still trying to get motivated to do a top 50 moments of the decade anyway.

* Round 14, 2000 - Farmer goes nuts in the second half and wrecks Collingwood with 9 goals
* 2000 Qualifying Final - the comeback
* 2000 Preliminary Final
* Round 2, 2001 - Leoncelli goals with three seconds left
* Round 14, 2002 - The big comeback against Brisbane
* Round 15, 2002 - Neitz kicks 9 against Carlton
* Round 14, 2003 - Big comeback from five goals down at 3/4 time against Carlton at Optus
* Round 2, 2004 - Neitz kicks 9 against Richmond
* Round 6, 2004 - The 105pt win over Carlton
* Round 11, 2004 - Winning in the wet against Freo. Peter Vardy plays his last quality game.
* Round 12, 2004 - The comeback win on QB when I almost got arrested for cracking the shits.
* Round 18, 2004 - A terrible game, but we went top of the league after beating Hawthorn
* Round 1, 2005 - The tribute to Troy, and a slashing performance against Essendon.
* Round 9, 2005 - Slaughtering Carlton for 3 1/2 quarters in the last game at Princes Park, then almost giving up a ten goal lead in the last quarter
* Round 12, 2005 - Another big QB win
* Round 20, 2005 - The 1pt win in Geelong.
* Round 21, 2005 - The equally dramatic win over Footscray
* Round 22, 2005 - The Robbo miracle bounce seals the deal and knocks the Bulldogs out of the eight.
* Round 4, 2006 - Close win against Sydney gets our season back on track. Rivers pinged for the worst 50 ever.
* Round 11, 2006 - Queen's Birthday madness
* Elimination Final 2006 - Brock goes nuts, I nearly get murdered by St. Kilda fan behind me.
* Round 7, 2008 - the comeback against Freo.
* Round 14, 2008 - the 1pt win over Brisbane

 

[Bartram_Class]

It's a shame we didn't beat the Crows in that Semi Final in '02, because all things considered, that was some game.

TJ's 3rd quarter was the best 20 minute spell from a Demon in a long time, ending in very TJ fashion with him asking to come off...

 

[Demon 86]

* Round 14, 2008 - the 1pt win over Brisbane

PJ's run down on Sherman- amazing. Is on Fox right now! Where was that sorta desperation from him last year?

 

[Oscarman]

It's a shame we didn't beat the Crows in that Semi Final in '02, because all things considered, that was some game.

TJ's 3rd quarter was the best 20 minute spell from a Demon in a long time, ending in very TJ fashion with him asking to come off...

I think that game was our best loss of the decade. Were we 7 goals down at 1/4 time? The goal to Tyson Edwards (?) just before 3/4 time was what killed us.

A couple of my faves that are in Super's list - beating Carltank by over 100, the 2000 prelim (I was bouncing around the lounge room before halftime, ****en pumped about being in the GF) and 2005 against the Bullies. One that isn't in the list is Round 1, 2002 v the Dawks when Neita nearly killed Luke McCabe and goaled from the spillage.

 

[On the bench]

One of my favourites was in 2002,might of faded from many memories but the win against West Coast at Subiaco by 6 points was an absolute classic,that was the game where Travis Johnstone ran around the wing going to the left of screen & slotted the goal,was a thriller from start to finish!

 

[Bartram_Class]

Number 9...

Melbourne v. Fremantle, Round 7, 2008

It would be pointless describing a game like this when you could watch this instead...

[YOUTUBE]lA110Y3TS2Y[/YOUTUBE]

A horrid year and time to be a Melbourne supporter, but it was hard to watch that game and not be fairly content about where we were going. I hope beyond all hopes it won't be the only thing Wonna is remembered for...

Incidentally, how good was Miller's bump to get rid of Schammer and then set up Aussie's penultimate goal? Exceptional.

3. B McLean
2. M Pavlich
1. J White

This could have been much higher on the list, but objectively speaking, it was only Freo, we were at home and jeez were we poor in that first half.

 

[Supermercado]

This is one of my moments of the decade
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/18/1071337101987.html

A bizarre business deal with a builder and passionate Melbourne fan also cost the Demons a $400,000 windfall. He was constructing the Big Brother house and promised to give it to the club when the series was finished. Melbourne agreed to sell it to the Ten Network for almost half a million dollars. The builder, however, ran out of funds and - committed to the sale to Network Ten - Melbourne were forced to pay to finish construction. They didn't lose any money on the project but didn't make them the expected cash.

--

Then there's the tax bill that got left in a drawer..

 

[Bartram_Class]

Ah..the Szondy and Gardner golden years.

 

[Tulip]

It's a shame we didn't beat the Crows in that Semi Final in '02, because all things considered, that was some game.

TJ's 3rd quarter was the best 20 minute spell from a Demon in a long time, ending in very TJ fashion with him asking to come off...

Bloody hell, I remember that. My dad's boss get us tickets. I was till in primary school, one of my first games I remember attending

Any Stats??

 

[Supermercado]

Bloody hell, I remember that. My dad's boss get us tickets. I was till in primary school, one of my first games I remember attending

Any Stats??

98% of Melbourne fans become depressed when thinking about that night.

Oh, real stats? http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/games/2002/011120020914.html

 

[Demon Revival]

98% of Melbourne fans become depressed when thinking about that night.

Oh, real stats? http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/games/2002/011120020914.html

Interesting stats there Super, only 6 players 21 or younger, players such as Wheatley, Lamb, Jolly, Green, Godfrey & Armstrong, not a strong bunch that carried us through the next phase of the clubs history... Hopefully our current bunch of youngins blossom quickly & outperform those guys....

 

[Bartram_Class]

Number 8...

Melbourne v. Western Bulldogs, Round 21, 2005

6. Geelong 40
7. Brisbane 40
8. Fremantle 40
9. WB 40
10. Melbourne 40
11. PA 38
12. Richmond 36

Therein lies why this game took on extra significance. Bear in mind the Doggies had won four on the trot, had most of the Victorian media on their bandwagon and we were stumbling having been 2nd in Round 13 (when we lost to the Eagles at home).

11 points down at 3/4 time.

2 points down with about a minute on the clock.

Davey smothers Cooney(?) in the forward pocket, ball is thrown back into play and Skipper decides to come in late and knock White onto the floor. Dodgy free-kick, but we take it, White slots it from about 40 on an angle. Gets a brownlow vote for his troubles.

Cue celebrations of the like not typically reserved for Round 21; Daniher running down the stands, high-fiving the members, hugging players.

Great night.

 

[Supermercado]

That was a low night to have to work. Some of the wildest scenes ever listening on the radio, especially when Davey almost kicked another one at the end and hit the post.

 

[demonfan9]

That was one of the most memorable wins I've seen, what a night! I remember hugging and high-fiving strangers next to me, it was really something special.

After sitting pretty in 2nd spot at the halfway mark, we lost seven in a row and our season had turned to absolute shit. It was then Round 20 and we needed to win all three games to make the finals. We sat 11th on the ladder, one win and 11% off eighth spot. We really had no right to make the finals from there.

First up was Geelong at Geelong, where we hadn't won in 18 years. Remarkably, we came back from about seven goals down to win by a point after the siren. Then it was this game against the young in-form Bulldogs. We actually got to 22 points down with 8-9 minutes remaining, and Cooney had a chance to bury us with a running goal but he missed. Then the miracle began, with White (twice), Yze and Holland all kicking straight to give us the lead. With an unknown amount of time left, the ball was thrown in on the wing. We were all shitting ourselves but then I saw from the corner of my eye a fist-pumping Neale Daniher running out of the coaches box towards the ground. It was then that I knew we'd won, the siren sounded seconds later, and absolute euphoria hit the MCG!

Now I think I'm gonna go treat myself to the last quarter of that game on DVD.

 

[Headless]

That was one of the most memorable wins I've seen, what a night! I remember hugging and high-fiving strangers next to me, it was really something special.

After sitting pretty in 2nd spot at the halfway mark, we lost seven in a row and our season had turned to absolute shit. It was then Round 20 and we needed to win all three games to make the finals. We sat 11th on the ladder, one win and 11% off eighth spot. We really had no right to make the finals from there.

First up was Geelong at Geelong, where we hadn't won in 18 years. Remarkably, we came back from about seven goals down to win by a point after the siren. Then it was this game against the young in-form Bulldogs. We actually got to 22 points down with 8-9 minutes remaining, and Cooney had a chance to bury us with a running goal but he missed. Then the miracle began, with White (twice), Yze and Holland all kicking straight to give us the lead. With an unknown amount of time left, the ball was thrown in on the wing. We were all shitting ourselves but then I saw from the corner of my eye a fist-pumping Neale Daniher running out of the coaches box towards the ground. It was then that I knew we'd won, the siren sounded seconds later, and absolute euphoria hit the MCG!

Now I think I'm gonna go treat myself to the last quarter of that game on DVD.

An oxymoron?

 

[ExTasDeeMan]

Christ - I was there going completely mad. Helps that I was pissed as well.

 

[demonfan9]

An oxymoron?

Thankfully Dutchy defied his usual form and nailed the goal. He stole the mark from Neitz, so luckily he kicked it or the big skipper may have had a few choice words for him.

Although in fairness, he kicked at 63% accuracy throughout his career.