Worst side ever to win a flag

[PowerfulPies2023]

I think North lost Carey or Longmire due to a knee late 93 didn't they

 

[Corn Cobbers]

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They did the football world a favour but you'd struggle to find a more underwhelming premiership team than that on paper? McGovern and Kennedy aside that team just screams meh.

Richmond were the standout team, they flushed that one down the toilet

Also remember no NicNat or Gaff

 

[pOleK]

Dogs finished that H&A season 15-7 / 115%.

Richmond won the flag the next year with 15-7 / 118%.

So not quite that clear.

Very true, was just trying to stay as objective as possible. If anything that’s a testament to how strong that top 7 of 2016 was. Going strictly by home and away records (excluding 2020), the Lions last year with 14-8-1 would take the cake.

Id rather a perfect month is September than dominating all year then shitting the in September like us in 2011

At least you had the 2010 flag to soften that blow. Had to sit through 5 years of “so close yet so fars” just to get written off multiple times before our perfect month

 

[Clark G]

I think North lost Carey or Longmire due to a knee late 93 didn't they

No, 1997 was the year Carey missed a lot of footy due to injury and Longmire missed all of 1996 due to injury. In 1993, North may have peaked too early and Essendon had an excellent second half of the season and took the strong form into the finals.

 

[Gavin Excell]

No, 1997 was the year Carey missed a lot of footy due to injury and Longmire missed all of 1996 due to injury. In 1993, North may have peaked too early and Essendon had an excellent second half of the season and took the strong form into the finals.

1999 comp denied the glamour GF Essendon v Nth

 

[Freofalcon]

St Kilda.

No contest.

Lucky 1 point win in a suburban league with winning team photos wearing the opposition jumper. Minnow club.

Only admitted into the VFL because they had a nice oval. Should have been relegated back to the VFA

 

[kriles76]

Yeah right.

1998 - had to win 4 finals on the road including the GF.

North should have been 10 goals up at HT if they’d kicked straight.

But credit to Adelaide for rolling them in the second half.

 

[Bulldog1954]

I mean 2016 Doggies? Hard to say any team that won the flag is bad, but they finished 7th and strung together the perfect month of form.

Including finals went 19-7, better winning percentage than quite a few premiers including last year and beat 16 of the other 17 teams.

 

[Clark G]

Those Adelaide teams in 97/98 would be up there.

Interestingly although Adelaide’s regular season ladder positions those years were fourth and fifth, both years they had the best percentage and the lowest points against. They might not have dominated the regular season, but their game style must have held them in good stead.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Barry Hall shouldn't have played in the 05 grand final. If he misses we win. Whether we'd have won 06 also we dont know.

Crows 97 and Swans 05 were kind of freakish. I guess Bulldogs 2016 and Lions 2024 were pretty ordinary for patches. Pies in 2023 weren't that great but no one else was either.

 

[Lions2Good]

Essendon 2000

 

[pie chucker]

I couldn't care less about being called the worst team to win the flag. Much rather that than the best team who lost the GF!

If I had to call it, would be Doggies in 2016. Weren't top 4 and haven't been great since. A brilliant Month of footy which their fans will relive for ever.

 

[PhatBoy]

I think the answer to this is CLEARLY the 1993 Essendon 'Baby Bombers'

It was a bizarre year, tbh. For some reason the AFL decided to only play 20 games rather than 22.

Essendon and Carlton were equal top with 13 wins and a draw, and % of 119 and 117 (uggh). But really:

• North should have finished top but blew a home game to 10th placed Footscray in the last round.
• Carlton (who were still 6-7 key pieces off their 1995 dominance) should have finished ahead of Essendon but somehow managed to only beat a 1-19 Sydney team by 1pt at Princes Park. That season also featured Kernahan failing to score from shot after the siren from 40m out - even a point puts Carlton to top and Essendon to 4th.
• West Coast should have finished ahead of Essendon but somehow managed to lose to BOTH Geelong (in Perth) and Footscray in the last 2 weeks.
• Geelong (runners-up the year prior) had a shocker of a start with injuries affecting them, and came barnstorming home, beating Essendon (1st), North (3rd), West Coast (6th) and Hawthorn (4th) in the last 4 matches to finish 7th, but only 1.5 games behind top.

It was ridiculously even - 12th placed St Kilda were only 3.5 games off top (in a 15 team league), and the short season made it an absolute crapshoot.

So then we head into finals and all three lower ranked teams win - North and Hawthorn manage to lose to non-victorian teams at home. Of course, this is the utterly nonsensical final 6 system which means Carlton (2nd) play Adelaide (5th) for a spot in the grand final the following week, while Essendon (1st) play West Coast (6th) in an elimination game.

Then the famous preliminary final - Essendon manage to get 42 points behind at home at half time before an Adelaide player farts during the half time huddle, the Crows players completely lose the plot, and blow the game by 1pt. Yes, footy used to be ridiculous.

Essendon were very good on grand final day, and Essendon fans will say that they got back a few players for that game. That's true. But it was still a really bizarre year and they were the ultimate Bradbury premiership imo

Yeah I’ve heard a lot of Cats people that were older than me back then (I was 10 so don’t have much memory of how things panned out beyond the losing grand finals) say that that was our ‘chance’ had we made it given the relative strength of the GF teams we lost to, and the end of season form we had - we were basically the best team in the comp form wise but had already blown it

 

[BigVic]

Eagles 2018, Bulldogs 2016 and Sydney 2005 are the worst

 

[Rod Stroker]

Crows in 97 and 98 won only 13 games each year to make finals. That's not much.
I could be wrong but that's probably the least amount of games ever won by a premier in the AFL era.

They did have great Septembers though once they got there.

 

[Rod Stroker]

I think North lost Carey or Longmire due to a knee late 93 didn't they

Carey did a shoulder at the start of 97, missed half the season.
Horse did his knee in 96, was out for the year and missed the flag.

 

[PhatBoy]

Crows in 97 and 98 won only 13 games each year to make finals. That's not much.
I could be wrong but that's probably the least amount of games ever won by a premier in the AFL era.

They did have great Septembers though once they got there.

Also if memory serves from 1-22 (or 20, can’t remember how big the benches were back then) the names were pretty impressive, and they were without Modra as well

 

[Lunchtime]

Phil Matera played the Eagles win. Unlucky Injury. Sampi was being held too at the end I reckon he would have missed though the pressure. Should have played lynch also went in with Gaspar who didn't get a touch or maybe a couple at best.

Travis Gaspar - 2005 Grand Final

4 disposals
1 mark
1 tackle
0 goals/0 behinds

Not sure why he was picked.

 

[PhatBoy]

Travis Gaspar - 2005 Grand Final

4 disposals
1 mark
1 tackle
0 goals/0 behinds

Not sure why he was picked.

His name is a synonym for a durry

That’s as good a reason as any

 

[Lunchtime]

Id rather a perfect month is September than dominating all year then shitting the in September like us in 2011

Although that final month of footy is only short, it's that period of footy which truly matters most - Finals footy. Not Home and Away footy.

 

[Lunchtime]

Barry Hall shouldn't have played in the 05 grand final. If he misses we win. Whether we'd have won 06 also we dont know.

Crows 97 and Swans 05 were kind of freakish. I guess Bulldogs 2016 and Lions 2024 were pretty ordinary for patches. Pies in 2023 weren't that great but no one else was either.

The Eagles probably should of won the Premiership in 2005 and 2006. Lost opportunity from being a very good team and turning into a great team.

That team they had, so much talent.

 

[Clark G]

Crows in 97 and 98 won only 13 games each year to make finals. That's not much.
I could be wrong but that's probably the least amount of games ever won by a premier in the AFL era.

They did have great Septembers though once they got there.

Essendon won 13 games and had a draw in 1993, but there were 20 regular season games that year due to a state of origin carnival.

 

[PizzaPie]

Geelong 2011.

The Cats fell into the top 4 only 4.5 games clear of 5th, finishing the season having lost games to 3x as many teams as Collingwood, 1.5x more losses than Collingwood, and a percentage of only 157% vs. 167% for Collingwood.

 

[PhatBoy]

Geelong 2011.

The Cats fell into the top 4 only 4.5 games clear of 5th, finishing the season having lost games to 3x as many teams as Collingwood, 1.5x more losses than Collingwood, and a percentage of only 157% vs. 167% for Collingwood.

Well played

 

[revo333]

North 99

Top heavy very good but the bottom 4-5 players were very average.