Discussion Wacky 1993 Season

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theyellowsash said:
i wonder (being 5 at the time so knowing nothing about it) whether making finals would have given fitzroy the momentum to stave off the merger for another few years. given that jackson apparently supported the failing clubs instead of wanting to kill them, that might have taken them to the point where the afl were supporting clubs rather than trying to bury them and they may still be around today (along with the bears).

dear barrett: that would be a true sliding doors moment
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In the podcast when they talk about Fitzroy and also the richmond one they said they introduced some picks and assistance to clubs but then the formula ruled out fitzroy and also richmond from the extra pick. or uncontracted player cant remember which one.

So what happened was clubs raided fitzroy, Brisbane took Lynch etc

So their semi success hurt them in a way anyway

Though if they win the flag who knows? but seems like the afl were convinced someone had to go
 
The King! said:
We were absolute shite, but we did get some high scores by modern standards at least, just had cricket scores against us.
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If it's any consolation you ruined my day in Round 13.
 
The greatest season that was 93! Get on it people! An in depth look at footy not only in 1993 but the 90's itself! a must listen if you value VFL/AFL history!
Download from your itunes store or listen to the episodes in the link below

https://omny.fm/shows/the-greatest-season-that-was-93
 

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Amazing episode tuned into last night. The way clubs flaunted the rules to register players under their own clubs was amazing. Glen Archer was never meant to be a Kangaroo player.


Episode 2 - North Melbourne: The Roos Rise


Description
Just a month out from the 1993 season North Melbourne were in tatters, the so-called next big things had stalled. A bad 1992 and now a 147 point thrashing in the Pre-Season Fosters Cup by the Crows saw coach Wayne Schimmelbusch sacked with just weeks until the season proper started. So how did a club that had no money, no coach and no captain turn it all around within 6 weeks to be top of the AFL ladder and the new glamour team of 1993 . We talk to North Melbourne football supreme Greg Miller about the events of 1993 and how its legacy turned North Melbourne into the team of the 90s.


https://omny.fm/shows/the-greatest-season-that-was-93/episode-2-north-melbourne
 
footyfan78 said:
oh, that is right. North were thrashed by 147 points in pre-season cup game in late February and Schimmelbusch got sacked and Pagan got the gig. In round 6 North get 35 goals in the match against Swans. Quite a turn around from 25 goal loss only t
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The Swans were that deplorable i remember a lot of hype surrounding Ablett being a chance to break the record for most goals in a game the week he played them.
 
revo333 said:
The Swans were that deplorable i remember a lot of hype surrounding Ablett being a chance to break the record for most goals in a game the week he played them.
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Yeah, Swans early 90's probably worst side I seen apart from Poor Fitzroy when AFL were winding them up. Barassi saved them from possibly going out of league imo. Him and and a few other big figures for them off field. They were actually the original reason priority picks came into being. They got quite a few in that period to bolster their stocks in a hurry. Also league did everything on run to help them get Lockett and Paul Roos not long after. But when Buckenara was coach they were really really bad.

Ablett probably could kick 20 against them around then given he kicked about 14 on Gold Coast at one point in early 90's.
 

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It was the year Modra mania hit adelaide. I don't think any anyone expected the bloke from west adelaide to have an impact like he did. He was unlucky not to be part of the 97 premiership team through injury, And then Blighty dropped him during the 98 finals series, He really did deserve to be part of those premierships. Ony Eddie Betts would rival Modra in single handedly generating the excitement in Adelaide crowds.
 
If memory serves Blight was trying to get Geelong to play a more accountable style in 93 so we didnt have to kick big scores to win. It took him 2/3rds of the season to realise it wasnt working so he let the team off the leash the final 1/3rd. It came to a head when St Kilda beat us by 71pts in rnd 16, I vaguely remember he was under quite a bit of pressure to keep his job after that game. We were 10th on 7-8 with a percentage of 100.5 at that point.
 
Jim Dixon said:
What was with the 20 round season?
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IIRC there was a lot of sooking that the season was too long. Wimps like Tony Shaw were saying the long season was too hard. The AFLPA agreed so a shorter season was fixtured. Luckily everybody lost money on a shorter season so the 22 rounds were restored.
 
footyfan78 said:
Yeah, Swans early 90's probably worst side I seen apart from Poor Fitzroy when AFL were winding them up. Barassi saved them from possibly going out of league imo. Him and and a few other big figures for them off field. They were actually the original reason priority picks came into being. They got quite a few in that period to bolster their stocks in a hurry. Also league did everything on run to help them get Lockett and Paul Roos not long after. But when Buckenara was coach they were really really bad.

Ablett probably could kick 20 against them around then given he kicked about 14 on Gold Coast at one point in early 90's.
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Gazza's three bags of 14 were against the Tigers in '89, Bombers in '13 in the Salmon Shootout, and 14 against the Swans in 1994 in Sydney.

He kicked 9 in the game Geelong kicked the record score against the Bears in '92. In retrospect as a Cat fan this was the real one that got away. The '91 2nd semi against Hawthorn kicking badly in the last 40 minutes of the match was another one. But one can only say C'est la vie i guess.
 
Re: SOO, that failed attempt at a carnival was probably the beginning of the end of the format. I think the strength of the club competition had grown to such a level by that year that SOO instead of being a highlight of the season was now seen as an irritating diversion.

As for that year's version of the final 6, I'm probably one of the few defenders of it. Every position counted which didn't happen with the dire 1991 version or inevitably with any of the Final 8 formats.

#1 Double chance and potential home final
#2 Double chance
#3 Go straight through to second-semi if win first final
#4 Potential home final and would get to second-semi if 3 doesn't win
#5 Would get to second-semi if 3 doesn't win
#6 As should be the case with the lowest finalist, gets no benefits.

A shame it only lasted two seasons.
 
wagstaff said:
Re: SOO, that failed attempt at a carnival was probably the beginning of the end of the format. I think the strength of the club competition had grown to such a level by that year that SOO instead of being a highlight of the season was now seen as an irritating diversion.

As for that year's version of the final 6, I'm probably one of the few defenders of it. Every position counted which didn't happen with the dire 1991 version or inevitably with any of the Final 8 formats.

#1 Double chance and potential home final
#2 Double chance
#3 Go straight through to second-semi if win first final
#4 Potential home final and would get to second-semi if 3 doesn't win
#5 Would get to second-semi if 3 doesn't win
#6 As should be the case with the lowest finalist, gets no benefits.

A shame it only lasted two seasons.
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So wrong on both conclusions for SOO and finals series.
SOO format was simply neglected and not given the attention by the league as a whole four our game.
If you play it during the season a club with a six month campaign to win a flag is very protective and manipulative of keeping some of their better players taking part. As a result SOO were a watered down version of what they should have been. It is no different to one day international cricket matches in Australia that never pick the best 11 unless it is World Cup time so people like me that would go watch a genuine best of best game no we are got getting it so no longer pay to go to and watch. Nothing to do with club competition grown. Clubs thinking just become more insular, not stronger. If SOO had or was given a time where it did not clash with a six month season competition it would and could have flourished. That time has always been around three to four weeks before club premiership season starts where players are ready to play in something meaningful but powers that be have simply not done it. As a result we actually have no SOO.

As for finals series in 1993 is was an absolute joke, It got thrown out as it was flawed. There is no defending the 1st team on ladder playing 2nd team on ladder and the loser gets kicked out of top two rankings at expense of a team below them beating sides out of top two... That is what that system did that you claim you would defend....lol
 
Melbourne finished 1993 10th with a 10-10 win loss record and a percentage just over 100, which helped mask one of the most enigmatic teams ever.

Starting the season with a scrappy loss to Hawthorn in a low-scoring game in an otherwise high scoring round, Melbourne went down in a thriller to the Bulldogs at Princes Park the next week. The Dees' third match of the season at the GABBA saw them trail the Brisbane Bears saw them trail by 43 points early in the third quarter before kicking 9.6 to nil for the remainder of the term to lead by 17 points at 3/4 time. The Dees dominated the early part of the third quarter and seemed set to go away with a win, but stopped to a walk when the Bears came back and eventually went under by 2 points.

This bizarre match in Brisbane was followed by a standard 32 point loss to North Melbourne at the MCG, before the 0-4 Demons upset the 4-0 Crows at the MCG. Melbourne then annihilated the hapless Richmond Tigers at the MCG in Round 6, but after looking to post a good win over Fitzroy the following week with a 31 point lead they fell down in the second half as the Lions came back to win by a point.

The following week it was the Demons turn to come back to win, trailing the Eagles most of the day at the MCG before over running and stunning the reigning premiers in the final term. However they could not go on with it, and the following week Carlton thrashed them by 54 points at Princes Park. The Blues were highly inaccurate in this game, and the Dees were lucky not to have been outscored by 18.6 rather than 6.18 and lost by 114 points.

Melbourne bounced back from their Carlton hiding by thrashing Collingwood by 51-points in a high scoring Queens' Birthday match at the MCG and the next week looked good again, easily beating top team and eventual premiers Essendon by 34 points the next week. Three wins in a row looked a given the next week given Melbourne were playing bottom, winless team the Sydney Swans. Somehow the Demons went down by 40 points, providing the Swans their first and only win of season 1993, and the Swans' first since May 1992.

Again, Melbourne bounced back from failure, this time completely shutting down Saints' forward Tony Lockett at Waverley and thrashing St Kilda in a low scoring match in the wet at Waverley Park. The next week Melbourne came up against another team with a champion full forward in Geelong with Gary Ablett. The Demons had no answer to Ablett who kicked 10 goals, but engaged the Cats in a shoot-out, beating them at their own game and winning a high scoring game over Geelong.

Facing a team with a champion full forward for the third week in a row (Hawthorn and Jason Dunstall), the Demons made all the running in the first half but were blown away by the Hawks in the second, Hawthorn making Melbourne look pretty ordinary. The next week presented Melbourne with a difficult assignment - Footscray at the Western Oval in a howling wind and rain. This scenario brought many teams undone in the past, but Melbourne managed to beat the Bulldogs at their own game and win by 13 points.

The Demons last four matches must have made fans feel like they were on a roller coaster. An 89 point thrashing of the Brisbane Bears at the MCG in Round 18 was followed by a bye and then a 59 point loss to the Crows at Football Park in Adelaide, which like the Carlton game earlier in the season would have seen the Crows win by more if not for poor kicking. The next week Melbourne played Richmond at the MCG in an extraordinary game. After scores were level midway through the second quarter, Melbourne kicked away to destroy Richmond by 121-points, the first time a team had won by this margin. The Demons then played Fitzroy in the last match of the season, but a 23 point loss to the Lions was never close, Fitzroy having a 63 point lead at the final change.
 
Because of this virus thing I've been watching all those old replays on foxtel and I was watching the 93 the preliminary final when I decided to see what happened in the finals that year. That final 6 system is a headache (as was the top eight system was from 94-99.) I came in here to find some answers which I did but it's still a confusing system. The best way imo is this
Playoffs6.jpg
 
mrmonkey said:
Because of this virus thing I've been watching all those old replays on foxtel and I was watching the 93 the preliminary final when I decided to see what happened in the finals that year. That final 6 system is a headache (as was the top eight system was from 94-99.) I came in here to find some answers which I did but it's still a confusing system. The best way imo is this
View attachment 856117
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Both versions of the Final 6, the one used in 1991 and the amended version used in 1992 and 1993 were flat out awful, and the Final 8 system used in 1994-1999 was even worse, just complete garbage. How did these get green lit? Anyone with a basic knowledge of football, mathematics and access to a pen and a piece of paper could sit down and in five minutes show how confusing and ridiculous these systems were.

It's a real pity that the CEO of the AFL in the early 1990s wasn't the high school principal from 'Billy Madison'. I think I know what he would have said if these Top 6 or Top 8 systems had landed on his desk along with a speech explaining these finals formats and extolling their virtues.
 
mrmonkey said:
Because of this virus thing I've been watching all those old replays on foxtel and I was watching the 93 the preliminary final when I decided to see what happened in the finals that year. That final 6 system is a headache (as was the top eight system was from 94-99.) I came in here to find some answers which I did but it's still a confusing system. The best way imo is this
View attachment 856117
Click to expand...
You've got the titles all wrong for first few weeks of finals series.

Week 1 are both Elimination Finals.
Week 2 is 1st Semi-Final of teams that advanced through the Elimination Finals and the match of top side and second on ladder should be called the 2nd Semi-Final with both teams having a double chance to reach the Grand Final as it was for many many decades before this.
Third week is simply the traditional one Preliminary Final.
 
footyfan78 said:
You've got the titles all wrong for first few weeks of finals series.

Week 1 are both Elimination Finals.
Week 2 is 1st Semi-Final of teams that advanced through the Elimination Finals and the match of top side and second on ladder should be called the 2nd Semi-Final with both teams having a double chance to reach the Grand Final as it was for many many decades before this.
Third week is simply the traditional one Preliminary Final.
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Haha I didn't make this I just used it to illustrate my point as I found it too hard to explain it properly in writing. I stole it from another site.

emuboy said:
Both versions of the Final 6, the one used in 1991 and the amended version used in 1992 and 1993 were flat out awful, and the Final 8 system used in 1994-1999 was even worse, just complete garbage. How did these get green lit? Anyone with a basic knowledge of football, mathematics and access to a pen and a piece of paper could sit down and in five minutes show how confusing and ridiculous these systems were.

It's a real pity that the CEO of the AFL in the early 1990s wasn't the high school principal from 'Billy Madison'. I think I know what he would have said if these Top 6 or Top 8 systems had landed on his desk along with a speech explaining these finals formats and extolling their virtues.
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I didn't realise there were other final 6 versions. As for final the original final 8 I'm suprised they didn't change it after 97 when second place geelong lost and had to travel to Adelaide in the second week. You could also look at the first year 1994. Hypothetically the bottom four could beat the top 4 and 3rd and 4th would be knocked out. Imagine Collingwood 80 vs west coast 82 went the other way, Hawthorn and north Melbourne game went into over time that could've gone either way, Geelong beat Footscray by 5 points and Melbourne actually rolled Carlton. If all those lower placed teams got up Geelong and north would be out. As a Melbourne supporter I can't help feel cheated in 98. We beat Adelaide quite easily then the saints then had to get north on a 6 day break. Adelaide after losing to us then went on to beat Sydney because they best the higher ranked team they ended up getting the dogs. I'm not taking anything away from Adelaide Malcolm blight got Adelaide to play to the conditions to beat the swans. It's the system we got punished for winning. Under the current system Melbourne would have played north week one and play them in fairer circumstances. Ok I'm not saying we win but worse case scenario we would have crossed to the easier side. In fact the way it went we probably would have had Adelaide in the semifinals. I guess that was the system and at least it was fixed. Despite this the NRL stubbornly stuck with this system I guess they were embarrassed to copy the AFL again. Took them until 2012 to change. After doing some research the ARL had the proper top eight system from 95-97 then had a weird top 10 which normalised once it became 8 teams. For some reason when they went back to top 8 they adopted the McIntyre system. I still think they were stubborn.
 
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