The biggest "What could've been?"

[Syd]

Paul Kelly kick to Lockett that fell just short of him taking a chest mark about 30m out in the second qtr of the 96 grand final. He would have been lining up to give us a 4-5 goal lead but as it turns out the ball spilt free and north goaled 20 seconds later. Huge shift in momentum and north never looked back from then on. A real 12 pointer.

Always wonder how far we could have went had Lockett marked and goaled as north were very much on the backfoot .

Conversely Plugger marks and goals and we win '96 do we get the Bloods era and 2005 and 2012?

 

[RedmanWasHere]

What if Barry Hall didn't hit Brent Staker.

 

[Total_Juddshanks]

What if Ben Cousins, six months sober and being regularly drug tested, didn't do his hamstring in the third quarter of the 2007 QF against port?

Immediate consequences

- West coast win that game instead of losing by 3 pts to the eventual grand finalist

- With cousins kerr and judd, whose chronic OP benefits from the extra week of rest, west coast dismember north in the PF, and make a third successive grand final, where their experience on the big day easily accounts for untested Geelong on 29 September 2017.

- Mainwaring is not home alone on 1 October 2017, he's in Melbourne covering a fourth eagles premiership for ch 7, and flying back to attend the victory rally at subi.

 

[NathanMX]

What if Sydney did not give up John Longmire cheap and throw in Wayne Carey too practically for free?

1996 would look way different.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Travis Varcoe kicks the goal at the end of the 2013 prelim. I reckon we beat Geelong and all the Ross Lyon threads on big footy aren't created and Chief has one less luxury car.

Morabito - many freo fans would've said at the end of 2010 he'd have a better career than Fyfe.

Wouldn't that have just forced extra time?

 

[Boxhead_31]

What if Ben Cousins, six months sober and being regularly drug tested, didn't do his hamstring in the third quarter of the 2007 QF against port?

Immediate consequences

- West coast win that game instead of losing by 3 pts to the eventual grand finalist

- With cousins kerr and judd, whose chronic OP benefits from the extra week of rest, west coast dismember north in the PF, and make a third successive grand final, where their experience on the big day easily accounts for untested Geelong on 29 September 2017.

- Mainwaring is not home alone on 1 October 2017, he's in Melbourne covering a fourth eagles premiership for ch 7, and flying back to attend the victory rally at subi.

What if Ben Cousins said yes to Geelong's Father Son offer and got away from the influences in Perth that lead him down the self-destructive path?

 

[BigVic]

What if Stephen Milne kicked the goal in the 2010 Drawn Grand final.
Jack Darling marks in the 2015 Grand Final
Lynch caught holding the ball in the dying seconds of the 2006 Grand Final
No Scarlett toepoke
Ben Cousins healthy all of 2007

 

[Syd]

Never know. But Eade was spent by the time he left which was 6 years later, not sure how much he could have built on '96 had we won it.

The big what if in regards to 05 and 12 is would they have happened had we gone ahead with Terry Wallace instead of Roos

Eade could've been Clarkson...

 

[Benny78]

Pavlich/Riewoldt not moving clubs.

 

[clivenator26]

Wouldn't that have just forced extra time?

Yes. Obviously a bit more needed Togo our way.

 

[Wallaby]

And we hadn't have sacked Norm Smith......

Richmond won the flag in 74. Made prelim final in 75. Missed finals in 76 (still won 10 games).

So - 4-time premiership coach out the door after one year of missing finals. Goes to Collingwood and gets them from the Wooden spoon to a drawn GF in his first year (admittedly, 1976 was the only time Collingwood missed finals from 69-81, so they weren't that bad).

If Hafey had stayed on at Richmond, and won the 80 GF with Mark Lee (age 21), Dale Weightman (20), Michael Roach (21) and the rest - we could have won a couple more along the way.............................

 

[King Brown]

All Hawthorn's wasted high picks in the mid 2000's....
2005 Draft
Pick 3 - Xavier Ellis... chosen over Scott Pendlebury and Josh Kennedy (WCE)
Pick 6 - Beau Dowler... chosen over Paddy Ryder, Nathan Jones and Shannon Hurn
2006 Draft
Pick 6 - Mitch Thorp... chosen over Joel Selwood, David Armitage and Jack Riewoldt
Pick 24 - Brent Renouf... chosen over Kurt Tippett, Tom Hawkins, Todd Goldstein and Robbie Gray
2007 Draft
Pick 29 - Brendan Whitecross... chosen over Jack Steven and Easton Wood

One final one that hurts is 2010 Draft...
Pick 38 - Mitch Hallahan to Hawthorn
Pick 40 - Luke Parker to Sydney.....

Every club has these - you've done better than most in drafting.

 

[Monopoly_Man]

What if Ablett never busted his shoulder against the Pies back in 2014, that one always springs my mind.

On SM-G900I using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[HeathySure]

What if JPod doesnt get injured and goes off in the 2011 Grand Final.
Collingwood arguably wins the premiership, succession plan out the window. MM stays for a few more years , players stay because they get on with MM, we have a totally different looking list and we may have won 2 to 3 premierships in the meantime,
meanwhile... ughh

 

[adammania9]

What if Steve Johnson passed his Collingwood medical in 2006?

The Pies might have won the 2007 premiership instead of Geelong, the Buckley succession plan never would have happened, 2010 might not have been won if Malthouse knew his long term future was at Collingwood and not topped up on Ball+Jolly. Geelong's success might never have been built if they didn't win 2007 and as such, Gary Ablett Jr never would have left for the Suns who might have recruited Kurt Tippett instead and the Crows wouldn't have had their salary cap saga and had picks stripped.

I'm overthinking this.

 

[Scholz Supremacy]

What if Hawthorn won the 2012 flag?

They would've gone differently in 13-15 if they didn't have the pain of 12 spurring them on.

 

[offtherails9]

Freo easily. Geelong were cooked at the end of the PF. Hate to see how the GF that year would have gone for the Cats. Grateful that Hawthorn won as we'd never hear the end of a freo flag...

Geelong were cooked at the end of that prelim exactly, so the Hawks would have won extra time and still managed to beat Free the next week.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

What if Hawthorn won the 2012 flag?

They would've gone differently in 13-15 if they didn't have the pain of 12 spurring them on.

Doubtful. Only difference is we probably don't get lake, and instead of 3peating, we do a Geelong, and get a split of premierships

 

[Scatter]

I still think the occasion would have gotten the best of you and we'd have won.

Quite possibly, but we accounted ourselves reasonably well against Sydney after a long road trip and playing on a ground we had never been on before. It takes it from a 20/80 chance to 50/50.

 

[magpienato]

Promotion/Relegation National League
There was talk sometimes in the 50s to have a national league that incorporated promotion/relegation from the state leagues. Would that have been the more ideal setup to the eventual VFL/AFL transition? Would this have been your preferred method?

I honestly never knew about this and it is actually interesting. A system familiar to many suburban football leagues where there are multiple divisions and the Grand Finalist of each division is relegated up to the next division, whilst the wooden spooner from the above league is relegated down. During the 50's this would have been an amazing idea. It would make league expansion a lot more common however i would admit it would be a lot more boring to watch.

 

[Nomad12]

If Ryan Griffen never walked out on the dogs... Bob Murphy wouldnt of been made captain. That was defintley a turning point in the club and for all the unjustufied hate Murph gets he was a crucial part in turning it around and stepped up when the club desperately needed unlike pea heart.

Also Tom Boyd wouldnt of been a bulldog and for all the shit he cops he was a beast through finals and especially the GF. I thought he deserved the norm smith.

 

[magpienato]

Hawthorn lose the 2013 prelim.

Game goes other way - would Hawks have stuck with Clarkson?

I'll send one back at you: Collingwood doesn't choke their lead in the Q3 of 2011 GF and win (only in my dreams ). My bet is Malthouse would be coaching the Pies until 2015 probably and Chris Scott's future would be very uncertain.

 

[magpienato]

I'm overthinking this.

Aren't we all

 

[SizeMatters]

What if Buckley never left the Bears.

 

[adammania9]

What if Buckley never left the Bears.

Would he have prevented the development of a young mid like Black/Power or to a lesser degree McRae? The Lions would never have drafted Chris Scott and therefore never would have recruited Brad Scott - meaning Brisbane's back line is underdeveloped in their prime era and Nick Riewoldt's collarbone remains in tact?

Brad Scott might never have returned to AFL footy so would never have become a coach. Chris Scott would not have had such a successful playing career and likely would not have pursued a coaching career either. Brendan McCartney would have become senior coach at Geelong succeeding Bomber and who knows what happens after that.