General Bombers Talk Essendon History

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fishardansin said:
On a side note can anyone tell me about North that year? They were one of the few to beat us in the back half of the season and looking at the results on wiki now they should have finished on top. They lost to Footscray who ended up 9th as a result of that win but would have finished 12th. Also Carlton only won against the wooden spooner, Sydney, by 1 point in the last round.

So tell me about the North side please. Obviously Carey was a young man. Did anyone, other than Old Skool, rate them as a big chance come finals?
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i seem to recall nth were on top when we played them..it was a pivotal time of the year for us, we were just in the 6 and a loss would put us out... we led them into half time and a little bit of the third.. it may have been one of symons first games and he was marking everything!.. then in the last carey and archer did us in and we lost.. but lost no friends at all.. then the week later we played wce.... if we lost it was curtains.... and that was the game that salmon kicked a bag of points but kicked the winner late on... was harveys 150th or 200th for memory? kickett kicked one of the biggest torps ive ever seen from inside the centre square for a goal, cleared the fence... bring on the jacket wave sheeds!

i do rememebr carlton winning or losing by a point in the last game.... i kinda remember we had a bye last round.. is this possible? were there byes that year? i thought we played geelong at kardinia and got beat cause we had 5 injuries that game, then we had to sit and watch the last round... and sydney nearly beat carlton to give us top. all that may be wrong but it kind of rings a bell in my mind.
 
Yeah I was very fortunarte.

Was always a Bombers fan, but really started going weekly about mid 93, when I was 13.

Saw some cracking games, as the poster above mentioned.

By the end of the GF, I just was like, "how good is this. Easy as you like." there were probably about 6-7 teenagers in the team who would have thought the same.

Somehow the cup turned up at our school and I got heaps of photos holding it.

Add in that Wanga's pinched the Brownlow. It really was a charmed year.

94 was such a fall to earth.
 
I have got a few historical Essendon stories if anyone wants to read them.
 

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Old Skool said:
I have got a few historical Essendon stories if anyone wants to read them.
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Very interested mate:thumbsu:

And, not to be pedantic, but it was round 20 1992 when we lost to the hawks by 160 points. I'm only bringing this up because it was on the first of August which was barely a year before we won the flag which I thought was pretty remarkable.
 
North line up for the count at Essendon

August 18, 1958

Round 17, 1958 and Essendon & North square off for an early finals berth knock out match at Windy Hill. North have led comfortably for most of the day and hold a 28 point lead in the last quarter when Essendon captain Jack Clarke calls for a controversial head count in order to establish how many players North have on the ground.

North captain John Brady, lines up his men to reveal 18 players on the ground, play resumes and North go on to win the match and knock Essendon out of the 1958 finals series.

Essendon coach Dick Reynolds makes a point of stating after the match that he did not instigate the event.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...g=5164,2717343&dq=bill+barbour+essendon&hl=en
 
Umpire Jack McMurray 1949-1950

McMurray had made one of the most controversial decisions of his career in the 1949 Preliminary Final. North Melbourne were enjoying their first real taste of success since joining the VFL in 1925 when they met Essendon to see who would face Carlton in the Grand Final.

Again there were fiery clashes in the opening quarter that took a strong umpire to control and McMurray excelled. Jock McCorkell was on top of first season goal kicking sensation John Coleman but Essendon had managed to gain a two-goal advantage by the last change.

The final quarter was North's best. They charged into attack early and narrowed the gap to three points. Essendon managed to go forward and score a couple of behinds to Coleman and a goal to Tate. What happened next was the talking point of the finals series.

North were on the attack when a pack rose in front of their goals. North full-forward Jock Spencer flew high over the Bomber back men McClure and Brittingham to take a screamer. A goal was certain but the yelling crowd was stunned when McMurray raced in, took the ball from Spencer and handed it to McClure. He considered that Spencer had unlawfully infringed by planting his feet in McClure's back. Spencer claimed the free was not justified given he had not used his hands for anything other than taking the mark but McMurray was not to be moved.

The inexperienced North seemed demoralised and, despite a late goal, Essendon kicked two majors to seal victory by 17 points. What would have happened had Spencer been allowed the mark? It was certainly the question asked by the crowd, newspapers and even those who were not there ventured an opinion. Nevertheless, McMurray was appointed the next week for Essendon's trouncing of the Blues which signified his place as best umpire of the season.

McMurray made it three Grand Finals in a row when he umpired the 1950 premiership decider. Another spiteful Essendon - North Melbourne match with the crowd seated inside the boundary resulted in three reports. McMurray's big match experience was vital in keeping both sides in check.

Alf Brown wrote in 'The Herald', "The first sign of vigour came when Dons rover McEwin went down heavily from a nasty knock and players exchanged punches. Umpire McMurray was quickly on the scene and wisely awarded a number of free kicks to get the game moving."

Rain fell during halftime making conditions slippery and Essendon handled them better to have a 20-point lead by three-quarter time. Early in the final term violence again broke out. Essendon captain, Dick Reynolds, was flattened from a blow to the face and from the free he kicked high to the goal square. McCorkell marked to save North but Harper (Ess.) suddenly rushed in and punched him on the neck. In a reflex action McCorkell hit him back. To the North fans horror McMurray reversed the mark and Harper immediately goaled. Like the 1949 Preliminary Final, McMurray's decision appeared to rattle North. They threw away all discipline, giving away free kicks that resulted in goals and were finally beaten by 38 points, Coleman kicking four goals.

http://www.aflua.com.au/jack_mcmurray_junior
 
Yeah cheers Old Skool - great to get some of those 'old skool' match reports. North & the Dons have certainly had some great clashes over the years - and Im looking forward to round 1 with some anticipation!
 
130 years and counting.

Let's get it on.
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'Same-olds' and Bombers may find something of interest here:

2012 will see the completion of 116 seasons of competition.


The ‘Four Quarters’ of the League.
Four 29 year periods 1897-1925, 1926-1954, 1955-1983, and 1984- 2012 to be completed this year.

A series of tables attempting to given a snapshot of each team’s performance overall and in the four eras in variety of categories - by individual team and head-to-head.

Full tables starting here. or here

for instance they might observe,

The ‘Same Olds’ the most the same.

Essendon’s match/win percentages
1897-1925: 57.56%
1926-1954: 57.93%
1955-1983: 56.65%
1984-2011: 57.66%

No other club has quite the same long term consistency.
 
That's pretty damn neat. Wish it was a higher percentage, but whatever.

Are there similarly consistent trends for any other teams since 1897, just out of curiosity?
 

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As a long time Bomber fan I was pleased to see the mention of "The Count" game Vs North melbourne in 1958. As a 16 year old boy from the bush I was at that game and I well remember it.

Another game I remember watching, perhaps also in the late 50s, had Essendon captain, Bill Hutchinson being driven around the boundary at three quarter time. And with him in the open car was the reigning Miss Victoria, (perhaps even Miss Australia). Yes, the match day captain during the final break! I think it was at Windy Hill. Dont expect Jobe to try this any time soon.

I wonder if anyone has any information on the topic.
 
Hoot said:
As a long time Bomber fan I was pleased to see the mention of "The Count" game Vs North melbourne in 1958. As a 16 year old boy from the bush I was at that game and I well remember it.

Another game I remember watching, perhaps also in the late 50s, had Essendon captain, Bill Hutchinson being driven around the boundary at three quarter time. And with him in the open car was the reigning Miss Victoria, (perhaps even Miss Australia). Yes, the match day captain during the final break! I think it was at Windy Hill. Dont expect Jobe to try this any time soon.

I wonder if anyone has any information on the topic.
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Fantastic story, mate :thumbsu: Appreciate it
 
Hoot said:
As a long time Bomber fan I was pleased to see the mention of "The Count" game Vs North melbourne in 1958. As a 16 year old boy from the bush I was at that game and I well remember it.

Another game I remember watching, perhaps also in the late 50s, had Essendon captain, Bill Hutchinson being driven around the boundary at three quarter time. And with him in the open car was the reigning Miss Victoria, (perhaps even Miss Australia). Yes, the match day captain during the final break! I think it was at Windy Hill. Dont expect Jobe to try this any time soon.

I wonder if anyone has any information on the topic.
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Good to see you posting mate.:thumbsu:

Most of the folks on this website are blissfully unaware of any footy history pre-1980, aside from the mindbogglingly inane XX flags >>>>> X flags type stuff.

No luck with Hutchison and the lady but I dragged up a picture of Bill being chaired off as victorious Vic captain in 1953:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/57835837?searchTerm=Bill Hutchison&searchLimits=

Here is his comments regarding the loss of Coleman on the eve of the 1951 finals campaign:

I CAPTAINS' LAST WORDS |
BILL HUTCHISON
ESSENDON

"We have had a severe setback in the loss of John Coleman, but that will give Essendon the incentive to win.

"This blow will spur our boys to greater effort. We have to try to give the answer by winning all three finals.

"Our job today will be to give new full-forward John Gill the same co- operation we gave John Coleman.

"I believe that our backs will be too strong for Faotseray's forwards, and our strong ruckmen will keep the pressure on and give us plenty of drive. I am very confident."

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/23078828?searchTerm=Bill Hutchison&searchLimits=
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Articles on Hutchisons 1953 Brownlow:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/69488011?searchTerm=Bill Hutchison&searchLimits=

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/23319399?searchTerm=Bill Hutchison&searchLimits=

The bloke must have been a certifiable star.
 
This thread of mine from a few years ago might be of interest to some.

There was a lot of talk through this thread about many Essendon players over the course of about a year.

In fact just about every player that ever played got a mention..:p





http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=279102
 
Great to read the responses to my question, I appreciate the replies. And I am pleased to see that I am not the only old bloke still above ground. Thanks for the the newspaper site you posted Old Skool, its a great source of info. And yes Tassieboy, Hutchy was indeed a gun.
 
I too have sometimes wandered this, it means nothing now, but had we played Syd the following week, I reckon we would have rolled them as the game was at the MCG and our finals experience would have blown the Swans out of the water, so the stage would be set up for a Hawthorn v Essendon Preliminary, which I have no doubt we would have been belted up by the fitter and hungrier Hawks!!
 
Great to read some posts about Essendon's history.

I went to most Essendon games from about 1974-1981. I was a North Melbourne supporter but an Essendon member as my uncle took me to the footy. I clapped at the games but kept a little eye on how North was going.

We used to stand on the wing in front of the commentators at Windy Hill. At 12 noon we used to buy a couple of Chop Suey rolls for lunch. After a few years we had to move to the other wing as they put reserved seating in this area.

We used to go to every ground and some of these games were very memorable.

- The Windy Hill brawl with happened right in front of us.
- The game when Lethal broke the point post.
- The game when Ronnie Andrews dropped Stewart Gull.
- The return game for Van Der Haar and the massive banner.
- The game when Trevor Barker took the mark of the year over Dennis Scanlan. ( I think this is right )
- The game at Moorabbin when Gary Sidebottom hit Cahill? and I think Ditterich got Neagle?
- The game at Princes Park when Neale Daniher kicked 3 or 4 goals in the last 5 minutes.
- The ANZAC Day match at Waverley when there was 77,000 people out there.
- Tim Watson's first match which I think was against Richmond at Waverley.
- There was a match at Arden St when North with 17 players beat Essendon
- Also at Arden St when Sheedy and Barassi nearly had a blue. Pretty sure Barassi had just recovered from a car accident

There are probably many others but these stick in my mind.


 
Great read guys - I've always loved looking into the history, and I still remember my teacher in about grade 5-6 telling giving us the guidlines for the subject of a project saying "and before you ask, no John, you cannot do another project on John Coleman, Dick Reynolds, or anything else to do with Essendon!!"

One thing I remember from one of my Essendon projects was that Coleman played for Hastings in '47 & '48 before playing for Essendon from '49-'54.....he kicked his 100th in the GF v's Carlton in his first year (well after the result was settled i think?), and in '54 he kicked 14 goals v's Fitzroy the week before he did his knee v's Nth Melb (I may have those 2 sides the wrong way around).

He kicked 100 goals in every full season he played in, and his 140 and 160 goals that he kicked for Hastings as a teenager where still the most by anyone in MPNFL history at the time I was a kid in the 80's - I'm fairly certain I heard Simon Goosey, who I played against when I was 18 (i was back pocket, but we triple teamed him!!) finally broke Coleman's record about 55 years later (after I'd left the MPNFL) - so it was a solid record from a young KP forward!!

I was a kid in the 80's (born '78) and the first game I can remember attending was the Fitzroy v's Hawthorn final when i was about 6.....I still have a scrap book I made from cutting and pasting pictures from the Sun the day after the '85 Grand Final. My Mum must have bought 2 papers for me as there are plenty of pages where I've pasted the other side of the page next to it.

I remember it was either '89 or '90 that I started going to the games each week - a long train ride from Frankston, followed by a tram to Windy Hill, and then back again, was fine by me at the time. In hindsight I'm glad I got to see most of those old grounds whilst they were still up and running (just!).

I remember attending the 2nd Semi in 1990 and simply being stunned at the thrashing handed out - I was just positive we would win the flag (after beating the pies twice that year), and couldn't really comprehend what had happened!!

The game v's West Coast at Windy Hill (I think in 1991) when WC were about 8-0 was a beauty, and a great atmosphere - I think it was still 2 on the bench, and we had about 7 or so blokes recieve serous injuries during the course of the game - pretty sure Michael Long was sent back out with a punctured lung and Salmon was literally just standing in the goal square rather than let their two opponents be spare men. - we eventually went down by 7 points (again, i think) and it was one of the bravest efforts I've ever seen.

'93 i was in my mid teens and was obsessed with footy by this stage - I remember the early night final v's Carlton well - as mentioned Ridley, Ezard and a couple of others who were well and truley out of the 22 by then came in that night, and it was that night that I knew we had Carlton's measure....essentially I felt we didn't play that well, and knew we had 5 or so decent players to return.

One of my greatest memories and regrets also, was that I had enough money to go to the prelilm v's adelaide, but never having been to a Grand Final i decided to skip it and try and get a GF ticket (which i didn't get) - having said that I listened to it on radio (almost unthinkable now that a prelim wasn't televised until 6pm), and I was going mental in my bedroom yelling at the speakers!!!

I actually remember jumping up and down on my bed screaming when Timmy put through the goal!!!
 
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