Most Heartbreaking Loss

[fabulon31]

84 GF has to be the answer, but 85 was a dark day too.

I agree.. 1984...
I was 11 years old sitting in the Ponsford stand at the MCG.
At 3 quarter time I was loving life... No child should have to endure what happend to me over the next 30 minutes.. I'm still suffering PTSD.

 

[fabulon31]

Beat me to the punch. But there is no second. 10 year old footy obsessed Hawk boy left with a broken heart and lifelong PTSD slightly mended by 8 subsequent friendships. Explains most of my irrationally rational absolute hatred for Essenscum and Kevin Sheedy.

I'm with you brother.. I never fully recovered.
When we lost in 2012, I was talking to my father after the game. He said that I sounded depressed to which I replied.... "Dad, I haven't been this depressed since 1984"...

 

[Endorphin Machine]

2012 was bad, but not a patch on 1984 (Charchi keep your pants on).
The ship sunk fast in the last quarter, its still unpleasant to see any footage from that game.
I always think , what if we just possessed the ball , slowed the game, played the boundary etc.
Coaches didn't take those risks back then.
I remember Dad was absolutely apoplectic in that last quarter , never saw him in that state since.
I was at the game in 2012, it had weird vibes all throughout . Mitchell overthrowing the ball, Rioli's run, several uncharacteristic misses. I knew we were in trouble .

 

[TazHawk15]

1984

The 2011 PF and the 2012 GF stung a lot, but 1984 still gives me the shits.

 

[Bedi]

I agree.. 1984...
I was 11 years old sitting in the Ponsford stand at the MCG.
At 3 quarter time I was loving life... No child should have to endure what happend to me over the next 30 minutes.. I'm still suffering PTSD.

Absolutely. Likewise 1985 , it was a different sort of pain, but i didnt know what depression was till that day.

 

[Tall poppy Syndrome]

Absolutely. Likewise 1985 , it was a different sort of pain, but i didnt know what depression was till that day.

Yeah different feeling in 85.

In 84 it was that we should’ve won, the missed opportunity knowing that we were good enough. In 85 the pain was knowing the bitter undeniable truth, that Essendon were just so much better than us…Essendon of all clubs.

2001 and 2011 prelims were both really gritty fighting performances as the underdog, the what ifs hurt but overall a feeling of pride. I also feel we would’ve been blown away in the GF had we made it either of those years so neither felt like a blown premiership to me.

Still, how fortunate are we to be Hawks fans given all the success? As a counterpoint I’m also West Ham fan. To this day the 2006 FA Cup Final haunts me when we took it to Steve Gerrard and the far more credentialed Liverpool all day. 3-3 after extra time then lost on penalties. A match we absolutely should’ve won. But also one where you realise (as a middling EPL club that can’t match the finances of the biggest clubs) that we’re probably not gonna be back at Wembley for a long long time…and so it’s proved.

 

[Tall poppy Syndrome]

Yeah different feeling in 85.

In 84 it was that we should’ve won, the missed opportunity knowing that we were good enough. In 85 the pain was knowing the bitter undeniable truth, that Essendon were just so much better than us…Essendon of all clubs.

2001 and 2011 prelims were both really gritty fighting performances as the underdog, the what ifs hurt but overall a feeling of pride. I also feel we would’ve been blown away in the GF had we made it either of those years so neither felt like a blown premiership to me.

Still, how fortunate are we to be Hawks fans given all the success? As a counterpoint I’m also West Ham fan. To this day the 2006 FA Cup Final haunts me when we took it to Steve Gerrard and the far more credentialed Liverpool all day. 3-3 after extra time then lost on penalties. A match we absolutely should’ve won. But also one where you realise (as a middling EPL club that can’t match the finances of the biggest clubs) that we’re probably not gonna be back at Wembley for a long long time…and so it’s proved.

Oh and I forgot to mention 2012, the year the Mayans forecasted to be the end of the world.

They were right.

 

[threesixpio]

It was. I think that’s the worst part about all the losses, there were so many unbelievable games there. Huge momentum swings, games chock full of multiple hall of famers on both sides.

GREAT games of footy. Even the one years later where Danger was plonked at full forward and won the game for them. If you were a first time viewer of AFL those Hawks Cats games would have got you hooked

 

[threesixpio]

So is 1984 to us what 2008 is to the Cats?

And is that why some of us to this day hate the Scum? Asking for a friend

 

[fabulon31]

Excluding Grand Final losses, Round 4 2004 against the Western Bulldogs when Tim Clark was running down the wing unopposed and drilled it straight into the construction site at the MCG.. I thought it was the lowest point but then Shane broke his arm in round 10 against Adelaide and we hit rock bottom.

There was also a day in the 80’s when I went to Vic Park expecting an easy win and saw an unknown guy called James Manson kick 8. Going to Vic Park and experiencing a loss was not great… Pies supporters in those days were the kind of animal that would eat their young during the quarter time breaks. They weren’t normal.

 

[Tall poppy Syndrome]

So is 1984 to us what 2008 is to the Cats?

And is that why some of us to this day hate the Scum? Asking for a friend

It’s Part 1. The fact they rubbed our noses in it the following year by destroying us in the GF is Part 2. We got some measure of revenge in the 89 Second Semi, a very satisfying win where we came back after they kicked the first few goals.

Have to say Dermie was a huge part of it all. The defiant 8 goals in the 85 GF loss, the Billy Duckworth kiss, running through the Bombers huddle, and ironing out Paul Van der Haar in that 89 semi (which these days would get him weeks and weeks).

 

[eldorado]

84 GF...


Took a cricket bat to half the garden, and numerous other things in the back yard, and then stormed off.

Walked around Traralgon aimlessly for hour, possibly looking for someone to start something with me, possibly not, just in a blind rage.

Couldn't bring myself to go home, through a mixture of fear (of my dad) and blind rage (towards mum, who assured me after the siren that it was "only a game")


Eventually found an unlocked cabin in the caravan park about 100 meters from home, and slept the night there.


2012 wasn't too far behind, TBH...but without the feeling that the game have been buried earlier, as with 1984. Just empty.

 

[Dewnior]

84 easily and I was at the 2012 GF.

I still have nightmares of my mum (a scum supporter) running into the room in the last quarter and offering my dad sex if they won. I was just a kid ffs

 

[ralphwiggum]

My answer would differ if it was heartbreaking because of

1) the stakes of the game; or
2) the manner by which we lost

For 1) probably 2012 GF
for 2) probably that Geelong game in 2012

 

[Blackhawk42]

Far out... I'm glad I was born in 1990. I'm learning a lot about 1984 that I never had any idea about.

 

[cryptor]

Wasn't born yet for 1984. So 2012 GF by default. But the only GF loss in my lifetime is a pretty easy answer.

I still vividly remember the disappointment in the Hawkins goal after the siren loss. On one hand Cyril should've been awarded a free kick in front of goal late in the last quarter for that tackle. On the other hand we should've turned up in the first quarter. It really felt like there was a curse that night.

2011 PF also quite bad. Buddy's goal (you know the one) would be remembered a lot more fondly had we won. Ultimately we just didn't execute as well as we could have.

2016 QF. Smith missing after the siren. A true sliding doors moment because I reckon if we get the week off we at least make the GF.

And add to the list, 2024 SF. Doesn't matter what the expectations were for us last year. I don't care what anyone says, we were good enough to go all the way and yet sometimes it's just the ball going a few inches one way that costs you.

And special mention to the H&A game against Port last year too. We really shouldn't have lost that from 3QT and it cost us a top 2 finish on the ladder and the opportunity of a clear run of games at the MCG through finals.

 

[threesixpio]

84 easily and I was at the 2012 GF.

I still have nightmares of my mum (a scum supporter) running into the room in the last quarter and offering my dad sex if they won. I was just a kid ffs

Wow. You just brought a whole level of wrong to something already traumatic

 

[threesixpio]

Dewnior - I hope you don’t have a sibling directly tied to the 1984 GF loss

 

[KermitJagger]

I'm gonna pick a bit of a smokey one, not finals or a close game, and say the 86 point Gold Coast loss in Rd 3 2017. It wasn't a heartbreaking last minute loss, but it was heartbreaking in the sense it was the point where you could see that we had lost our identity completely and fallen apart against a perennial bottom 4 side. Confirmation that the great side of the threepeat was done.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

recency bias and nowhere near as devastating in terms of stakes but that loss to PA last year was absolutely ****ed. i straight up had nightmares about that shit for a few days after

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

2012 was bad, but not a patch on 1984 (Charchi keep your pants on).
The ship sunk fast in the last quarter, its still unpleasant to see any footage from that game.
I always think , what if we just possessed the ball , slowed the game, played the boundary etc.
Coaches didn't take those risks back then.
I remember Dad was absolutely apoplectic in that last quarter , never saw him in that state since.
I was at the game in 2012, it had weird vibes all throughout . Mitchell overthrowing the ball, Rioli's run, several uncharacteristic misses. I knew we were in trouble .

Playing devils advocate here but the Bombers were probably a better side than us that year and played at their highest level when it mattered to just swamp us. It would hurt more if we went into the game as favourites and got overrun by the outsider IMO. Therefore 2012 is the one for me. Simply pissed away a flag through so many unforced errors it was ridiculous

 

[MrBeefSeven]

2012 GF is the one. Pretty sure 84 was worse but I wasn't around to see it.
As a kid R22 2009 was pretty devastating especially as we'd been winning.
Underrated one, not so much heartbreaking but extremely disappointing, but R17 2017 Hodgey's 300th was rough. Would've been perfect at the time if Smith had kicked a goal after siren, redemption for the 2016 miss. Hodgey's goal was such a big moment and if we win that game it's an instant classic, remembered forever.

 

[Nick the Pig]

84 Grand Final was devastating. We had their number all year and lost in all in a qtr. My worst footy memory.

The most depressing non final I can remember was a game against the Tigers early 2000's. We were 50 points up before half time at the G and got steamrolled. Everett went off just before half time and it changed the game. It was a sad lonely train ride home.

 

[grumbleguts]

1977 semi vs Collingwood.

 

[Briar Gold]

I'm gonna pick a bit of a smokey one, not finals or a close game, and say the 86 point Gold Coast loss in Rd 3 2017. It wasn't a heartbreaking last minute loss, but it was heartbreaking in the sense it was the point where you could see that we had lost our identity completely and fallen apart against a perennial bottom 4 side. Confirmation that the great side of the threepeat was done.

This is a good one. I was at that game and it was a unique feeling.

But for me it's 2012 GF. I can still feel it. The 3peat helped but doesn't take away the devastation of the final siren