The Excruciating 2010 AFL Grand Final Draw

[Ant85]

I've watched the drawn game, the replay, and the prelim quite a few times.

I watch the drawn game for the exciting game it was, comfortably knowing we took the cup in the end.

And yeah, my heart is still in my mouth when the ball bounces away from Milne.

 

[Histrionics]

I watched the first half and that's it. I don't know if I'll ever watch the second half.

 

[Optimax]

Haven't watched it, haven't bought it and have absolutely no intention to.

I'm not sure how we let it slip, then get back ahead thank god for maxwell, roidsy and heater for saving us 3 times down back.

But yeah after the empty feeling i felt that night, i have no want to relieve it

 

[el toado]

I think my initial shock after the game was due to the fact that all week I had built myself up and prepared myself to either feel complete elation or complete devastation. The nothing feeling was just so totally unexpected and I just didnt know what to do. Walking out of the ground with the wild winds and rain out of nowhere sort of added to the surreal experience.

One thing I do remember is being able to appreciate how good Goddards mark was. If we had lost I dont think I could have handled seeing that mark in the papers and replayed 200 times all week.

I think I was more confident about the replay than gf1. Reading the paper the next day and realising that so many of our good players didnt play well while their best (bar riewoldt) played exceptionally well made me believe that we cant be that bad again and they cant be that good again

 

[TradeDraft]

Haven't watched it, haven't bought it and have absolutely no intention to.

I'm not sure how we let it slip, then get back ahead thank god for maxwell, roidsy and heater for saving us 3 times down back.

But yeah after the empty feeling i felt that night, i have no want to relieve it

I did not buy it but it came with the Victory Pack so I may still watch it at a later date

 

[Frankie23]

When Goddard took that mark and kicked the goal I had actually resigned myself to the fact that we were going to lose.

It was a horrible feeling, I literally felt sick inside. Thank God Dawesy and Clokey combined for that goal or else we wouldn't be talking about this right now..

 

[handy point]

Surely everyone would love to watch the ball bounce the wrong way for Milne over and over again.

+1




No, + 1,000,001


And I couldn't watch it from the stands , had to turn away when the bounce wrongfooted Johnno.

 

[doppleganger]

I seriously had tears welling in my eyes and was sitting there silently in the stand in disbelief when Goddard took that hanger. I really couldn't see us scoring again at that point, and thought it was gone. This was a mere 10 minutes after me and a mate were huggging and jumping like crazy after Leon slotted his goal.

Then when Cloke kicked his goal I thought we had won and I went crazy again. Such an extreme range of emotions in such a short time nearly killed me!

When the siren sounded I sat there for about 5 minutes just staring at the ground, then it started pissing down rain and I thought 'how f#cking appropriate!'

I had huge plans to meet up with mates etc, so we all congregated at the agreed meeting place and then just went out seperate ways. I was so emotionally drained I just wanted to go back to my hotel and watch TV. Didn't have a drop of alcohol that night, just went to the hotel, ordered room service and wallowed in self pity. I think we watched Goonies on TV and went to bed, but I can't remember.

That is exactly what happened with me....except didn't watch goonies, just bailed on mates and crashed.

 

[lgarth80]

I don't really know what the aversion to watching the game is.

Consider it similar to "Geelong in 2007 Prelim Final" where we dropped the ball, played a game below our high standards, but still won the flag eventually.

I thought honestly it was a very good game of football, with two equally committed teams throwing their bodies where angels fear to tread.

Sure, I could say it wasn't great to cough up a sizeable half time lead, but when you consider it was almost level when Gilbert's goal went through with about 40 mins to play in the game, it wasn't the capitulation most media analysts want to paint it as.

Yes, I do struggle to watch from late in the 2nd to early final term where we fritter away some chances, but in the main, the game quality was quite high for a game of such significance.

As for the last part of the final term, I can watch that and enjoy it greatly being a massive fan not just of Collingwood but of great football in general. There were St Kilda's few stars pushing superhuman efforts against our team defence, led by the skipper, who had some inspirational acts of his own when push came to shove late in the game.

Cue the touched point to deny Riewoldt, and the mark and release from behind in the last term.

(Ironic that Riewoldt rushed behinds were such team lifting acts in both matches. Three GFs and he still hasn't fired a shot...tend to remember him getting inspirationally smothered by Harry Taylor in GF2009...)

The passion to rebound when all seemed lost. To take the joy out of Bruce' voice after he really enjoyed sticking it in "Collingwood has led all game...until NOW". The courage of Maxwell, vision of Didak, coolness of Macaffer, the spoil of Shaw, handball from Dawes and ... amazingly ... goal from Cloke was brilliant rearguard football.

The frantic last 30 seconds where Johnson, Reid and Shaw battled the ball out of danger is epic viewing. This is the crunch when the flag is won and lost and our boys held the line.

That, and it is fairly funny about Milne.

It gets better every time I watch it. Note though that if Milne had kicked a goal, there was still plenty of time for us to respond from the centre with a "Jack Anthony" type of response.

Just like we have had Harmes haunting us for the last 30 years, this will be one that hurts Milne for the rest of his life, or until the Saints eventually win a premiership.

Finally it lets me remember the gallant Saints, who were a brave opponent, and not to get too cocky in our title defence, and become as annoying as those Cats fans before the Prelim.

Just as I said after the game, the script from the draw is written by the winners, and the excruciating part of watching is more for Saints fans to realise that they have now led deep in time on in two grand finals and come away with nothing.

We have been undefeated in our last two grand finals...that's the facts ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Ed D]

I just remembered when we were a point up with a minute or two left and the ball was near our goals that I wanted us to at least get a behind. My mate said it was good the ball went out of bounds to keep it down our end but I didn't think so. As it turned out it probably would have won us the game but the GF rematch was worth it! Hahaha!

 

[Jair]

Have to admitt that I tried to watch it and only got to 1/2 time as well. I will manage it though one day soon though. Watched the replay 3 times After we lost the lead in the last quarter I thought it was gone to. Only to happy for a draw. I knew the boys would be better for the experience.

 

[favourites]

To me it seemed similar to 2002. So many times at the game thinking we had them... only to be disappointed at the end.

I'll never forget the people who sat around me... even the same copper was there again the next week!

I too was resigned to losing after Goddard marked it. I begun my walk to the train... I couldn't hack seeing us lose another Grand Final... but I got the courage to walk back in and have my heart broken all over again.

I loved the day for the emotion it brought.... I hated the day for the emotion it brought.

 

[Soul_Pie]

I haven't even bothered to watch it again yet. First thing I did when I got the boxset was put on the replay which I enjoyed thoroughly. When I thought about watching the draw I just couldn't bring myself to do it, I actually think I feel a little bitter about it still, strangely enough. You'd think by now that feeling would have gone.

I remember at the time I thought at the time we were going to be run over the top of. The cynical side of me just thought it was going to be yet another Grand Final disappointment for the Black and White. Thank goodness we held on, I don't think I could have handled another Grand Final loss. Maxwell's heroics in the last quarter cannot be underestimated.

It was definitely an excruciating match to watch, I reckon a lot of neutrals would have loved it but to me it was a very painful affair. We had very few standout players, we missed opportunities, many players struggled with the pressure and were fumbly and prone to uncharacteristic errors. We also never got into our groove, and the nature of the game was such that it was just a scrappy game not unlike the type that Sydney loved turning matches into. The last half almost felt like a nightmare coming true at the time, tip rat outmarking Harry O, Goddard taking a screamer, Saints making nearly all the play... to hold on was a gallant effort.

I reckon in a little while I'll be okay with the match, but right now I ain't so keen on watching it again.

 

[Ed D]

I haven't watched it again mainly because I know we didn't play well and I know the end result. I'll probably get around to it some time but I have better things to do right now.

 

[Daicos Mullets]

I was at the first GF & hated watching the game slip away. When Goddard took that mark I thought the game was lost. At the siren I was in disbelief & just caught the train straight home. When I got home I said to the wife something along the lines of "Why do the Pies have to do everything the hard way?".

I went to the second GF too & the atmosphere was completely different, we just kept kicking further & further away from them. The draw the week before made the win even sweeter.

I've watched the drawn GF on DVD three times now, once for each of the commentaries, followed immediately by the winning GF. Even though I know the result, I was still nervous each time watching the final quarter. I also get frustrated watching all of the missed opportunities; Cloke, Daisy, Blair, Dawes (had 4-5 shots on goal without success), etc.

 

[vjknight]

I loved the day for the emotion it brought.... I hated the day for the emotion it brought.

so all equal on that then - how ironic lol.

im just getting thru the game now, having bought the pack last week.
hadnt watched it since the day.

i personally love these games - tight, hard, desperation footy. i did go into the game thinking the saints would win, but after the game having seen our poor performance still grab a draw i was totally confident we'd win the next week.

i guess my love of footy is greater than my love of the pies.

theres nothing like edge of your seat footy.

 

[vjknight]

finally finished watching it - one question.

HOW IN THE HELL DIDNT THEY GIVE GODDARD THE NORM SMITH IN GF1 ?

he smashed every other player on the ground, including hayes.

and on the subject of 'who would have won if they did have extra time' ?

while the saints did catch & lead the pies, looking from when time on began the pies looked to be bouncing back again, or the saints had run their race. im now convinced the pies would have won in extra time. the tags had worn off, the defence had tightened right up again, and another 10 minutes i believe would have been quite one sided.

i did laugh when tim watson was interviewing goddard after the game. on the scoreboard behind them was the countdown clock to the bounce the following saturday. obviously some quick thinkers at the G.

so to those who cant bring themselves to watch it - please go ahead and find those points ive raised. and relax......we won.

 

[hgiel]

Might Goddard not getting the Norm Smith have something to do with him being told off by the umpire for a clumsy tackle on Luke Ball (knees in his head I think)?

 

[TradeDraft]

Might Goddard not getting the Norm Smith have something to do with him being told off by the umpire for a clumsy tackle on Luke Ball (knees in his head I think)?

The Media Votes not the Umps.

Though Goddard should of been suspended for that

 

[Johnson#26]

Just watched the last 5m of the draw again. Horrible. Horrible. How we made it through we have Maxy, Jonno and Heater to thank.

 

[footyfreak]

I have finally grown a pair and managed to sit through the drawn Grand Final again. Before you say "But why? We won in the end" I'd like to point out that in this game we so nearly did not.

This is one of the hardest matches of football to sit through even today.

Well that just about does it for me! Been trying to get enough strength up to watch it but your post has set me back months!

I was at the game and haven't seen it on TV at all. And like someone who has been as sick as a dog on Tequila doesn't want to see it or smell it again, I don't think i want to feel the sickness that i felt through much of that game again either!

I wasn't sure if it would be that bad and was starting to to convince myself it would be ok but you've confirmed what i first thought!

Horrible day that was, never felt so sick through a game of football and then didn't move out of my seat for more than 20 minutes. Funny thing was there were 4 of us and me and my mate were on the level all the corporate boxes are and the other 2 were just below us to the right a bit but we didn't know where exactly.

After the game sat there for 20 minutes in silence and then thought i better ring them and see where they were at now. They also hadn't moved and i lean over the railing and there they are, on there own still in their seats just as we were!

 

[KissStephanie]

I haven't watched the drawn GF since the actual week after that game, I just had to get it out of my system, and at the time it gave me such confidence in our boys going into the replay.

I was a bit flat for a couple of days, but thankful that we didn't lose. I didn't feel confident at half time because I didn't think that the 24 points lead was enough and it didn't reflect the dominance Collingwood had in the second quarter. I thought one more goal may have been enough, but it didn't happen.

Then I thought we were beaten in the final quarter when Brendon Goddard took that mark and kicked the goal to put them in front by 6 points for the first time in the match, and I didn't know where a Collingwood goal was going to come from after kicking only one goal in the second half up until then. The goal that followed for Collingwood was great though. The mark from Nick Maxwell, and then Chris Dawes was somehow able to handpass to Travis Cloke after landing on his backside.

I felt that St.Kilda had the momentum though and they obviously had the Grand Final experience and advantage of the pain of the 2009 Grand Final loss burning inside, and I think they would have won in extra time because too many Collingwood players were well down. I was thankful it was a draw because St.Kilda were playing much closer to their best than Collingwood were, but efforts from Nick Maxwell, Heath Shaw and Ben Johnson saved us.

By Tuesday following the draw I felt we were going to easily win the replay though. Collingwood had more players down in the draw, but despite that, we still had 29 more inside-50's and five more scoring shots. St.Kilda on the other hand threw everything, and had the experience and last years loss on their side, but despite that, they still couldn't win. I didn't think that St.Kilda would be able to repeat that effort, and I didn't think Collingwood would have so many players that were down again.

Before the replay I mentioned in this post and in this post that the draw reminded me a lot of the 1990 Qualifying Final draw against West Coast in many ways. Collingwood won the replay the following week by 59 points, and I felt that similar would happen this year, and the 56 point win in the Grand Final replay was very close to that!

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

Every Premier has an element of 'luck/what if?' to their flag.

2010 - What if Milne had toe poked that ball into goal?
2009 - What if Hawkins goal was paid a point as it should?
2008 - What if Mooney could kick?
2007 - What if the Prelim had gone for 1 more minute?

There's always a stroke of luck SOMEWHERE in the finals/season for the premier. Ours happened to be the bullet we dodged in the GF.1

With more luck on our side we could have just as easily had 02/03/07 AND 2010.

02
- Rocca's goal is apid a goal
- Tarrant get shte free kick in the last quarter he should have got
- Lynch doesn't get his 'free' paid to him

03
- Rocca doesn't lift his f**king elbow in the Prelim

07
- Prelim goes for 1 or 2 more minutes, we win and smash port in the GF

 

[jonbe54]

Every Premier has an element of 'luck/what if?' to their flag.

2010 - What if Milne had toe poked that ball into goal?
2009 - What if Hawkins goal was paid a point as it should?
2008 - What if Mooney could kick?
2007 - What if the Prelim had gone for 1 more minute?

There's always a stroke of luck SOMEWHERE in the finals/season for the premier. Ours happened to be the bullet we dodged in the GF.1

With more luck on our side we could have just as easily had 02/03/07 AND 2010.

02
- Rocca's goal is apid a goal
- Tarrant get shte free kick in the last quarter he should have got
- Lynch doesn't get his 'free' paid to him

03
- Rocca doesn't lift his f**king elbow in the Prelim

07
- Prelim goes for 1 or 2 more minutes, we win and smash port in the GF

Don't forget Buckley getting wiped out for that b*llshit "bringing the game into disrepute" crap report for talking back to umpire.

 

[Paranoid]

A mate of mine taped the games and made me copies, which I watched in order. The only game I wouldn't watch again is the qualifying final against the Doggies.

I've seen the draw 3 times now and I still wonder how we got out of it. Goddard took that mark and kicked the goal (a grand final moment, I believed), and it was surely all over. I think there was 3 and half minutes left and we were still trailing by 5 points. I was just thinking "we've lost another ****in' grand final!"... Then Caf sends the ball sailing to the goal square where GODDARD out muscles Dawes. Heater bolts to the contest and almost takes the mark himself, but the ball drops so elegantly into Dawes' arms (who's still on the ground from the Goddard contest), he hand passes to Trav and we're back in front. It all happened so fast. Those last couple of minutes were almost unwatchable.

The only reason I watch the draw is we because I know we win the replay.