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Worst side ever to win a flag

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btdg said:
This is a thread about the worst team ever to win a flag though?

I don't think Adelaide '98 was that weak, though. My memory is being more surprised by '97.

That year Adelaide were only 13-9 which is pretty ordinary. The Crows went into finals in pretty ordinary form, losing to 14th placed Essendon in the last round of the season, and getting belted by the Bulldogs at home in round 20. That was a very weak/even season where 13th spot was 10-12.

'97 was the first of a series of finals series thrown into absolute chaos by the combination of the rubbish McIntyre top 8 system and the AFL's weird finals fixturing policies.

That year things went haywire when 2nd placed Geelong (who had oodles of finals experience and most expected to win) lost to 7th placed North in week 1 of the finals. Ok, that happens. So then in week 2 Geelong had to play away against 5th placed Adelaide, while 7th placed North hosted 6th placed Adelaide at the MCG. Adelaide won and ended up getting an inexperienced Bulldogs, then St Kilda, and it was all a bit surprising in the moment.

At least in '98 Adelaide finished 5th, but had won 5 out of their last 6 pre-finals, including some big wins over decent Port and ST Kilda teams, and everyone was a bit more aware of them after the year before. The first week of finals went to plan (5th lost to 4th) and the Crows then smashed Sydney and the Bulldogs. North probably blew the grand final with inaccurate kicking but otherwise I think '98 Adelaide was better than '97.

Incidentally, I think it slightly underrated just how bad the McIntyre finals series was after going to a top 8, and how this skewed half a decade of grand finals (and consequently the careers of a whole bunch of players).

  • '94 we had a 13 win Geelong team reach the grand final from 4th (and get belted) after 2nd placed Carlton lost to 7th placed Melbourne on a neutral ground.
  • 95 was relatively chalk, but also saw 6th placed North make the prelim after winning against 3rd in week 1, then getting an easier (and home) match the following week because the finals system SHOULD have seen them play North again (so the AFL switched match-ups)
-96 the GF was 1v2. However, we had a taste of what was to come when 6th placed Essendon got belted in week 1, then got a HOME semi-final against 4th placed West Coast the following week, even though West Coast WON their first final. Had Plugger not kicked a goal after the siren, the Bombers would have made an extremely undeserved GF
  • 97 we had a 13 win Adelaide team win the premiership from 4th
  • '98 we had a 13 win Adeladie team win the premiership from 5th after losing finals week 1
  • '99 was the zenith - a 12 win Carlton team lost by 60 in the first final, then got a home final against 5th placed West Coast who had won their final away the week before. Carlton then managed to beat a dominant Essendon team in the GF

2000 they changed the finals series and normality returned. But in a 6 year run FOUR years were completely messed up by the horrid finals structure, and the other two were also messed up in their own way.
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Good post. A few wrong facts in there but not important. It all made sense.
 
What if for West Coast. Got rorted because of the MCG rule many times. How do you finish top of the ladder in 91 and travel to Melbourne in week 2 of the finals because you lose in week 1. Played Melbourne who would have finished 4th at best. McIntyre final 8 system and MCG rule were rubbish.
 
PowerfulPies2023 said:
What if for West Coast. Got rorted because of the MCG rule many times. How do you finish top of the ladder in 91 and travel to Melbourne in week 2 of the finals because you lose in week 1. Played Melbourne who would have finished 4th at best. McIntyre final 8 system and MCG rule were rubbish.
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I agree that the initial final eight system was not a good one but in 1991 it was a final six.
 

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PowerfulPies2023 said:
What if for West Coast. Got rorted because of the MCG rule many times. How do you finish top of the ladder in 91 and travel to Melbourne in week 2 of the finals because you lose in week 1. Played Melbourne who would have finished 4th at best. McIntyre final 8 system and MCG rule were rubbish.
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It was a completely different structure back then and it took finishing on top of the ladder to actually get a home final in the first week. It was considered to be more of an allowance than a right and that was all they'd be getting, win or lose.
 
Soul_Pie said:
For me it's Adelaide 1998. Finished 5th in the home and away, got absolutely trounced in the first week by Melbourne. That should the end of it but because of a quirk in the frankly broken finals system back then they get another go at it. Fair play to them they go on a great run of form for the rest of the finals, and capitalise on North completely shitting the bed but they should have never been in it to begin with.
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You can’t really judge them for losing the first match when they knew it didn’t matter. Suppose you’re five goals down at half time and you know the result doesn’t matter - do you try the tricks you’ve been saving for such an occasion, or do you keep them for a more important match?
 
SA HAWK said:
Collingwood 1990 or Crows 1997-98
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Yep Adelaide 1997 and 1998. Luck went our way.

Then it all went opposite after that. Thanks West Coast, Collingwood and Hawthorn for that! (and of course ourselves) 1 win and 8 losses vs those sides in finals since 2002.
 
Captain_Bender said:
West Coast 2018, ducked a dynasty Richmond
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Lucky Tigers didn't have to play WC in Perth in 17, 19, 20 like in 18. They barely got over the line at the MCG in 17 & 19.

2019 the most set up fixture flag ever.

2020 the most 'got something missing' AFL flag.

2018 GF the legendary game that people will remember forever. So good because the 2 biggest Vic MCG teams couldn't claim it. What was the point of having that best MCG winning streak ever anyways if you were just going to get Mason Coxd?
 
Dark Eagle 9 said:
Lucky Tigers didn't have to play WC in Perth in 17, 19, 20 like in 18. They barely got over the line at the MCG in 17 & 19.

2019 the most set up fixture flag ever.

2020 the most 'got something missing' AFL flag.

2018 GF the legendary game that people will remember forever. So good because the 2 biggest Vic MCG teams couldn't claim it. What was the point of having that best MCG winning streak ever anyways if you were just going to get Mason Coxd?
Click to expand...
3-1 Richmond's way between 2017-2020, West Coast were and still are Richmond's bunnies
 

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PowerfulPies2023 said:
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.
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Phil Matera wasn't fit enough sadly, which was why he didn't play in the prelim or grand final.

Quentin Lynch kicked 31 goals and 22 behinds in that 2005 season but his form wasn't great in his last 4 or 5 games in the lead up to that 2005 grand final. Quentin Lynch at full forward and Ash Hansen at Centre half forward in that 2005 grand final would of been good enough forward line to win.
 
Simple Question with an easy answer

B: 39 Jason Johannisen 30 Joel Hamling 5 Matthew Boyd
HB: 24 Shane Biggs 38 Dale Morris 10 Easton Wood (c)
C: 7 Lachie Hunter 4 Marcus Bontempelli 42 Liam Picken
HF: 11 Jack Macrae 12 Zaine Cordy 9 Jake Stringer
F: 29 Tory Dickson 17 Tom Boyd 14 Clay Smith
Foll: 23 Jordan Roughead 6 Luke Dahlhaus 21 Tom Liberatore
Int: 16 Toby McLean 18 Fletcher Roberts 20 Josh Dunkley
35 Caleb Daniel
Coach: Luke Beveridge
 
Collingwood 2023
Geelong 2022

The competition should hang their heads in shame that these two lists won premierships.
 

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Soul_Pie said:
For me it's Adelaide 1998. Finished 5th in the home and away, got absolutely trounced in the first week by Melbourne. That should the end of it but because of a quirk in the frankly broken finals system back then they get another go at it. Fair play to them they go on a great run of form for the rest of the finals, and capitalise on North completely shitting the bed but they should have never been in it to begin with.
Click to expand...
The final 8 structure from 1994-1999 was the McIntyre Eight system with no finals at Football Park then. Only Top 4 teams played home finals
 
BigVic said:
The final 8 structure from 1994-1999 was the McIntyre Eight system with no finals at Football Park then. Only Top 4 teams played home finals
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Not true, they played 2 Football Park finals in 1997. North Melbourne and Carlton who finished outside of the top 4 played home semi finals against West Coast at the MCG due to that infamous deal. But I think North Melbourne would have got a home final anyway, because they were week 1 victors, or West Coast could have got one without that MCG deal, and both were outside the top 4 in 1997. Also, Geelong finished 2nd for example in 1997, but had to play their semi final away after they lost in week 1.
 

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Worst side ever to win a flag

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