Most Heartbreaking Loss

[MasterSamurai]

2012. Average 120 points per game that season and yet we couldn't hit the side of a barn in that God awful second QTR which cost us the game.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

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 next week was even worse. Sitting through that demolition on Easter Monday was one of the worst experiences I’ve had outside of a grand final loss. I still remember at one stage of the match watching Breust just put his head down and it was one of the only times I screamed at our players and told him to pick his head up. Watching that many 3/4 time premiership players offer so little that day was infuriating. It was a capitulation.

From the words here thankfully I was a toddler in 1984. Like most of the Gen Y vintage Hawks 2012 still burns deeply. I stormed out of the ground as soon as the siren sounded and was just despondent - listening to that stupid ****ing banjo. I couldn’t listen to Paul Kelly again until we won in 2013.

 

[Bruno Oresar]

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

No. If you’re Hawthorn. Just no

 

[vanders]

2001 Prelim was the first one that springs to mind.

2016 and 2011 prelims also.

For H&A games the one against Richmond where we were up by 50 and lost. 2003 I think it was.

The one where Hawkins kicked a goal after the siren too burned a bit.

2012 gf was the first grand final loss that I’m old enough to remember and the only GF we were in that I missed since 1991. Thankfully I was in the US watching it in Houston so it was easy to avoid the coverage after the loss so it didn’t sting as much and the three peat took the sting out of it too.

Bit of a random one but losing to the Crows in their first AFL game by nearly 100 points sucked especially then having to watch Darren Jarman run around as a Crow

 

[KermitJagger]

The next week was even worse. Sitting through that demolition on Easter Monday was one of the worst experiences I’ve had outside of a grand final loss. I still remember at one stage of the match watching Breust just put his head down and it was one of the only times I screamed at our players and told him to pick his head up. Watching that many 3/4 time premiership players offer so little that day was infuriating. It was a capitulation.

From the words here thankfully I was a toddler in 1984. Like most of the Gen Y vintage Hawks 2012 still burns deeply. I stormed out of the ground as soon as the siren sounded and was just despondent - listening to that stupid tucking banjo. I couldn’t listen to Paul Kelly again until we won in 2013.

It was the combination of those two weeks where we didn't put up a fight that really hurt, but the Gold Coast one was demoralising.

 

[LRobbo]

2012 GF

Couldn’t get a ticket all week, missed in the ballot, went out the night before for a few beers with mates and wound up at a strip club.
A friendly stripper asked my plans for the day and I told her I was a disappointed Hawthorn supporter who wasn’t going to the game so would watch at home.
She then made a phone call after excusing herself and came back with a ‘give this number a call at 9am’.

Didn’t really believe the young girl but thought couldn’t hurt so I called at 9, bloke on the end of the phone said ‘yep got heaps of tickets mate, meet me at gate 4 at 11’.

Met some 6’6 biker looking bloke at gate 4 at 11 and thought he’s gonna take my $400 and just walk away nothing I could do to stop him, but he opened his wallet to about 25 tickets and asked me ‘how close do you wanna sit mate, I’ve got front row bottom deck, back row top deck, all $400’.

Took the front row, still sceptical until it actually scanned at the gate and it got me in, I sat front row, right where Clinton Young fell over in the goal square gifting Kieran Jack a goal.

The worst part was, all off season Fox Sports would run an ad of Malceskis goal in slowmo, as it sailed through, the camera at ground level was focused on him watching the ball go through, but I was in the back ground on camera, watching it myself, then after seeing it go through you could see me turn and head for the exits, every ad break during a sporting event, for 5 months.
Absolutely the grimmest day at the footy.

 

[threesixpio]

2012 GF

Couldn’t get a ticket all week, missed in the ballot, went out the night before for a few beers with mates and wound up at a strip club.
A friendly stripper asked my plans for the day and I told her I was a disappointed Hawthorn supporter who wasn’t going to the game so would watch at home.
She then made a phone call after excusing herself and came back with a ‘give this number a call at 9am’.

Didn’t really believe the young girl but thought couldn’t hurt so I called at 9, bloke on the end of the phone said ‘yep got heaps of tickets mate, meet me at gate 4 at 11’.

Met some 6’6 biker looking bloke at gate 4 at 11 and thought he’s gonna take my $400 and just walk away nothing I could do to stop him, but he opened his wallet to about 25 tickets and asked me ‘how close do you wanna sit mate, I’ve got front row bottom deck, back row top deck, all $400’.

Took the front row, still sceptical until it actually scanned at the gate and it got me in, I sat front row, right where Clinton Young fell over in the goal square gifting Kieran Jack a goal.

The worst part was, all off season Fox Sports would run an ad of Malceskis goal in slowmo, as it sailed through, the camera at ground level was focused on him watching the ball go through, but I was in the back ground on camera, watching it myself, then after seeing it go through you could see me turn and end for exits, every ad break during a sporting event, for 5 months.
Absolutely the grimmest day at the footy.

How come this thread is one of the funniest for a while. With Dewnior’s mum and you being immortalised as a farked off hawk in an ad. He he

 

[eldorado]

I said 1984, but it was not by panels, 2012 was close...

In 2012, I had a habit of setting my alarm to SEN, so I'd wake up to the radio.

I remember for the few months after the GF, snoozing after the alarm went off, until they started playing their semi-regular promo, which was commentary from the match...that would get me to leap out of bed and turn it off.

Like many others here, I've never watched the replay, and never will

 

[Dewnior]

How come this thread is one of the funniest for a while. With Dewnior’s mum and you being immortalised as a farked off hawk in an ad. He he

It's not funny for me

 

[Symons]

2012 was the season I got my mates to watch. I'm in the UK, so I got up after about 3 hours sleep to watch live - and then had to re-watch it later with my mates, all whilst giving nothing away.

Not my favourite replay.

That off-season really sucked - but I think 2014 was all the more sweet because of the burn of 2012.

 

[luciien]

84 is the absolute nadir. In 2012 I resisted the urge to destroy my own home and strangle the dozen or so s******ing guests watching me become increasingly unhinged during the 2nd quarter.

Another worth a mention was the elimination final in 93 vs Adelaide. I swear we hit the post six or eight times.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

2012 was the season I got my mates to watch. I'm in the UK, so I got up after about 3 hours sleep to watch live - and then had to re-watch it later with my mates, all whilst giving nothing away.

You're a better person than I. If I begin to see a clip of that ****ing Malceski goal I go into a meltdown to change it quickly. I couldn't ever willingly sit through that game again.

 

[Symons]

So valid.

You don't meet many AFL fans here but my supermarket delivery driver during lockdown was one. He had lived in Aus for 10 years and he was quite animated when he heard I was into AFL, and then we both did the long pause of, "Wait, who do you support?"

We both winced visibly when he said he was a Swans fan just as he spotted my Hawks scarf hanging in the hall - but we both agreed it could've been worse if one of us had said Essendon.

 

[Endorphin Machine]

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

I disagree, we were the better side in 84 and had the better of the scum in every game that year except for that last q . We were gassed and tactically beaten . From interviews with various players, team mates were apparently squabbling at 3/4 time about match ups and were unsettled . On top of all that you had the incident earlier that week with the police investigating whether our players were sniffing drugs during the breaks . Everyone back then sniffed those salts to clear the nasal passages, Sheedy (the conniving basterd) would have known that as a player. No, that 84 loss was head and shoulders above 2012, as bad as that was.
One other thing most people have forgotten is the knee injury to Kanga in 84 , I think against Footscray. That was critical in my view. He plays , we probably win . Same with Guerra in 2012.

 

[play2win]

84 GF for me. Always place finals over the H&A games so followed by 2012.
As for H&A, some of the ones already mentioned but I’d also add r22 2009 game against the scum where the sniper took out Sewell. Lost the game, missed finals and Max also did his knee again. Shit day.

 

[threesixpio]

84 GF for me. Always place finals over the H&A games so followed by 2012.
As for H&A, some of the ones already mentioned but I’d also add r22 2009 game against the scum where the sniper took out Sewell. Lost the game, missed finals and Max also did his knee again. Shit day.

That was an all round come down from 2008 hey

 

[Charchi]

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.

You just caused my wife and I to piss ourselves laughing at that memory of Tim Clarke and his ‘pass’ to the crane. Our daughter, born several years later has no idea.

 

[Nugett]

84 for sure. First year, I really started following footy.

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.

I was unfortunately at that game. I think in the opening 5 minutes of the first quarter, Steven May made a beeline for JOM and knocked him over. Much to the local crowd’s approval. It was the beginning of the end though.

Never had any respect for Gold Coast or May after that game. Hope that Gold Coast never plays finals. It’s just a shame that May has a premiership medal.

 

[Randy Campbell]

Every GF loss.

But I hate Essendon.

 

[Mercy Seat]

The next week was even worse. Sitting through that demolition on Easter Monday was one of the worst experiences I’ve had outside of a grand final loss. I still remember at one stage of the match watching Breust just put his head down and it was one of the only times I screamed at our players and told him to pick his head up. Watching that many 3/4 time premiership players offer so little that day was infuriating. It was a capitulation.

From the words here thankfully I was a toddler in 1984. Like most of the Gen Y vintage Hawks 2012 still burns deeply. I stormed out of the ground as soon as the siren sounded and was just despondent - listening to that stupid ****ing banjo. I couldn’t listen to Paul Kelly again until we won in 2013.

Those games were god awful but I remember just laughing by the time we played that Geelong game. We’d had so much success and were playing so poorly all of a sudden, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It never really hurt though the way some other games have.

2012 ripped through my soul. Thankfully we were able to find redemption, but it took a threepete to do it.

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

2011 prelim still hurts, that roar when Ball kicked that goal still haunts me.

Tom bloddy Hawkins after the siren.. I was fuuuuming waking out of the ground. I just went straight home to bed.

Smith shot after the siren in 16… just deflating

Both port games from last year really hurt.

 

[Strebi3]

The port loss last year was close. At the time I remember thinking “at least we aren’t going to make finals so it won’t impact our year”. It stung for a week but what was worse was the PTSD that came with it. Every time we had a 4-5 goal lead I wasn’t comfortable. From that game, it meant every time we were playing well I couldn’t enjoy it until the final siren.

The second half of the season did enough to make me believe it won’t happen again but knowing it can, and is possible, will forever make me scared.

 

[peetoo]

A spinning Leon Baker

84 and 2012 have echos. Some absolute spuds having games of their lives against us

 

[Manila_Hawk]

1984.... was definitely the worst.... feeling... ever.

2012... we were always playing catch up.... overwhelmed by the occasion

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Every time we had a 4-5 goal lead I wasn’t comfortable. From that game, it meant every time we were playing well I couldn’t enjoy it until the final siren.

Being a fan of the NSW origin team who has time and again found new ways to cough up late leads - I am never, ever comfortable with a 4-5 goal lead at any time outside of the final handful of minutes. I am still trying to figure out how we had a 30 point lead 5-6 minutes into the final term against the Bulldogs in 2019 only to lose by 19 after they kicked 8 unanswered goals.