In interviews years later, Ron Barassi was still lamenting losses in those GFs saying North were clearly the better team. I've never heard anyone saying "Bullshit Ron, you're just a bad loser". In those 2 seasons, the Hawks and North met 8 times with Hawthorn winning 7 of them including all 4 finals, and yet Barassi still thinks North were the better team. He's an idiot. If North were the better team, then obviously it must be the coach's fault.
A lot of people got fooled by the fact North recruited from all over Australia and had a lot of big names in the team, as well as high profile administrators and benefactors. Hawthorn were an unfashionable team in unfashionable colours existing in our sleepy hollow at Glenferrie. The 1976 premiership team had only 1 interstate player, Rodney Eade, and he was recruited as a lad. Most of the people in the media now were around back then, and they still under-rate the Hawks. To them, we are still that unfashionable team from Glenferrie.
I want to win this game badly to stick it right up Warren boofhead Tredrea who wrote in the Advertiser the other day that the Hawks simply don't have the class to match it with Sydney. Obviously a comment made from a disgruntled Power man after we'd just ousted them from the finals, but we could do with less of that kind of crap in the media. Too many media people think with their heart, not their brain ... not that Tredrea has one.