The logical follow up to the piece I wrote about Australia’s greatest sporting debuts, is Australia’s greatest farewell performances.
Fred Fanning
Melbourne missed the playoffs in 1947, a rarity in those days, but finished the season with a bang! The Demons walloped St Kilda by 93 points in the last game of the season. Star forward Fred Fanning kicked a VFL/AFL record 18 goals!
In a performance that the great Norm Smith described as the “greatest piece of full forward play I have ever seen,” Fanning achieved the feat from only 20 kicks.
He slotted four goals in the first quarter, seven in the second, three in the third and four in the last. At one stage he slotted 13 straight before hitting the post.
Fanning finished the season with 97 goals, still a Melbourne record. He had kicked 10 goals against the Saints earlier in the season and 10 goals in the penultimate game of the season too.
In 1948 Fanning accepted 20 pounds, Melbourne were paying him three, to join the Hamilton Football Club in the Western District Football League.
Fanning held the Western District record for most goals in a game by kicking 22 against Heywood in 1949.
An honourable mention goes to Michael Tuck who won his seventh premiership with Hawthorn in 1991 in his record 426th and final game.
Greg Chappell
In his last Test for Australia in 1984, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Greg Chappell made 182 against Pakistan. His innings set up a 10-wicket victory and saw Chappell become Australia’s all-time leading run maker, passing Sir Donald Bradman.
On a slow pitch Chappell faced 400 balls and struck 17 fours.
An honourable mention to Anthony Stuart who took 5/26, including a hat-trick, against the same opponent in his last one day international at the MCG in 1997. Unlike Chappell though, Stuart didn’t retire, he just wasn’t selected again.
John Eales
John Eales is by far and away the Wallabies’ greatest captain. In 55 Tests he won 41 times, which is a more than 20% improvement on the historical average.
What’s more he won a two World Cups, tamed the Lions and in his last Test in Sydney in 2001 completed a rare whitewash in a Bledisloe Cup series. Down 26-22, with barley minutes left, Toutai Kefu barged over for a try to send Eales off a winner.
Eales last game for Australia was typically busy, skillful, smart and gusty.
Royce Simmons
Norm Provan (St George 1965), Ray Price and Mick Cronin (Parramatta 1986), Steve Mortimer (Canterbury 1988), Mal Meninga (Canberra 1994), Glenn Lazarus (Melbourne 1999) and Shane Webcke (Broncos 2006) are just some of the most notable players to have won a NSWRL/NRL premiership in their last game, but has anybody’s last game been as dramatic as Royce Simmons in 1991?
Simmons produced a man of the match performance and scored two tries, including the clincher in the final minutes to win the Panthers their first ever premiership against the highly fancied Canberra Raiders.
Bradley Clyde officially won the Clive Churchill medal, but there is no doubt that the 235-game veteran Simmons was the star on that sunny afternoon at the Sydney Football Stadium.
The Panthers won all 11 games that Simmons played during his last season.
Makybe Diva
In 2005 the great mare became the first and so far only horse to win the Melbourne Cup three times. Who could ever forget that storming finish from near the back of the field to first over the final 300 meters?
The Diva was actually in doubt to start the race because of unsuitable track conditions. Additionally the Diva carried 58 kg, 2 kg above the standard weight-for-age scale, which was her personal weight record.
The last horse to carry more than weight-for-age and win was Rain Lover, who was one kg over when he won his second cup in 1969, with 60.5 kg.
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