This week, in what should’ve been the Anzac Day round, we revisit a classic between Essendon and Collingwood which saw the birth of a rising star, three grand finals, the GWS Giants’ first ever win plus a thriller decided after the final siren.

In the normal world, the Pies and Bombers would’ve been preparing for what is traditionally the most-attended regular season match of the year this weekend, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has put paid to what would’ve been the 26th instalment of the Anzac Day clash.

Despite the suspension of matches, the AFL has confirmed that the annual Anzac Day ceremony will still go ahead, albeit inside an empty MCG, with fans able to watch the service on the AFL’s website and via social media.

New Swan Lewis Taylor would’ve also been gearing up for a return to the Gabba to face his old side the Brisbane Lions, while Fremantle would’ve hosted the Len Hall Tribute match against the Geelong Cats.

Again I will be sticking to the originally-fixtured rounds as the trip down memory lane continues between the would-be Round 6 opponents.

Round 10, 2005: Melbourne 20.11 (131) defeated Richmond 11.8 (74) at Telstra Dome
When Melbourne and Richmond met in a Friday night blockbuster at the Dome in mid-2005, both sides sat fourth and third on the ladder respectively.

Wooden spooners the previous year, the Tigers had started the season strongly, recording seven wins from their nine matches including upset victories over Port Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions (at the Gabba) in rounds six and nine respectively.

Central to their impressive start was the form of small forward Nathan Brown, who went into Round 10 trailing only Fraser Gehrig on the Coleman Medal leaderboard having kicked 32 majors for the year.

Meanwhile, the Dees were looking to build on a resurgent 2004 season that saw them finish fifth, only to lose an elimination final against Essendon by five points at the MCG.

The first quarter was played at breakneck speed, with the Dees kicking seven goals to five in the first quarter to lead by 11 points at the first change.

The Dees dominated what was mostly an uneventful match, until about five minutes into the final quarter, things took an ugly turn when Nathan Brown broke his leg after his snap at goal was smothered by Melbourne’s Matthew Whelan.

WARNING: Video contains graphic content

Brown was immediately stretchered off the field and taken to hospital, where he had surgery to repair the badly broken leg, which surgeons compared it to that of a car crash victim.

He missed the remainder of the season, and while he returned for the opening round of the 2006 season, he was never the same player again.

The injury sickened AFL great Robert Walls, who immediately switched off his television upon viewing the replay, while some people were reportedly hospitalised after fainting over the incident.

The Tigers would only win three matches thereafter (one of which was against the eventual premiers, the Sydney Swans, by a solitary point) to fall to 12th place on the ladder by season’s end.

2015 grand final: Hawthorn defeated West Coast Eagles at the MCG
Without doubt the most dominant team of the last decade was Hawthorn.

It started with coach Alastair Clarkson skating on thin ice after a poor start to the 2010 season, but by 2015 he would achieve a hat-trick of flags which could so easily have been a four-peat had they not underestimated the Sydney Swans in 2012.

The third of those flags came against the West Coast Eagles in what was the warmest grand final on record, with the temperature peaking at 31.3 degrees Celsius at 3:28pm, eclipsing the 30.7 degrees Celsius that was recorded in the 1987 decider, which also featured the Hawks.

Pre-match, many favoured the Hawks on the basis that they play at the MCG more regularly than the Eagles, though they had to play three consecutive finals, including travelling to Perth twice, without having a week off, to qualify for its fourth straight grand final.

Eagle Luke Shuey would kick the first goal of the match, but the rest of the match would be dominated by the Hawks, who recorded a 46-point win to capture their 13th flag and become the first team since the Brisbane Lions in 2001-03 to capture three consecutive flags.

The Eagles’ diabolical performance was best summed up when Jack Darling dropped a simple chest mark in the third quarter, which could have given his side some momentum.

Instead, the Hawks kicked four unanswered goals to all but seal the premiership by three-quarter-time, leading by 50 points at the final change, before settling for a 46-point victory.

It marked their second win over the Eagles in a grand final, after winning by 53 points at Waverley Park in 1991.

Cyril Rioli would win the Norm Smith Medal for being best-on-ground, emulating his two uncles, Maurice Rioli and Michael Long who both won it in 1982 and 1993 respectively.

Rioli, Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge, Jordan Lewis, Jarryd Roughead and Grant Birchall all became four-time Hawthorn premiership players with the win, while Shaun Borgoyne also became a four-time premiership player after adding the three Hawthorn premiership medals to the one he won with Port Adelaide in 2004.

And after playing in several mediocre Melbourne sides before crossing to Hawthorn via free agency, James Frawley also captured his first premiership medallion after keeping Coleman Medallist Josh Kennedy goalless in the grand final.

Round 5, 2009: Essendon 13.15 (93) defeated Collingwood 12.16 (88) at the MCG
The 15th instalment of the Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood was arguably one of the best, if not the best.

Having lost the past three Anzac Day encounters, the 2009 match started disastrously for the Bombers when their leading ruckman, and 2006 stand-in captain, David Hille, ruptured his ACL in the first two minutes of the game.

This saw fourth-year player Paddy Ryder thrust into the middle to ruck against the more-experienced Josh Fraser. He would play the entire match to claim the Anzac Medal, and later the three Brownlow Medal votes.

It will also be remembered for the Bombers’ final-quarter comeback, in which it came from 14 points down to kick the final three goals of the match, the last of them from rookie forward David Zaharakis at the death to give the Bombers a five-point lead.

Seconds after the subsequent centre bounce to restart play, the final siren sounded to signal victory for the Bombers, their first in the Anzac Day encounter since 2005.

Despite the Bombers’ victory, neither of their twin towers, Matthew Lloyd or Scott Lucas, managed to kick a goal between them; it was the first time that neither player kicked a goal in the same match since Round 19, 2004, and on Anzac Day since Lucas’ AFL debut in 1996.

To date, neither Essendon nor Collingwood have won four consecutive Anzac Day matches. The Pies have done the hat-trick four times (1996-98, 2006-08, 2010-12 and 2014-16), while the Bombers have done it twice (1999-2001, 2003-05).

Round 3, 2005: Sydney Swans 13.9 (87) defeated Brisbane Lions 11.15 (81) at the Gabba
When the Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans met at the Gabba in Round 3 of the 2005 season, both sides had won their Round 1 matches at home, but lost their Round 2 matches on the road.

The Leigh Matthews-coached Lions were at the peak of their powers, having won three consecutive flags and falling agonisingly short of a record-equalling fourth, while the Swans had taken a step backwards in 2004 after reaching the preliminary final in 2003.

In what was captain Michael Voss’ 250th AFL game, the Lions started hot favourites to win at home, but hadn’t done so against an opponent other than St Kilda since Round 17 of the previous season, when it thrashed the Adelaide Crows by 141 points.

An uneventful first quarter saw the Lions lead by two points at the first change, and by three-quarter-time, they all but had the match under lock and key when they stormed to a 32-point lead.

But a roasting by Swans coach Paul Roos prior to the start of the final quarter saw them kick five goals to one going into red time, which saw the scores locked at 81-apiece.

As the clock ticked down, the Swans blasted the ball into their forward 50, with Barry Hall in position to take the mark. Lions defender Chris Scott appeared to have successfully spoiled him, but as Mal Michael ran out of defence, Scott was pinged for clipping Hall too high.

Much to the displeasure of the pro-Lions crowd, Hall received the free kick and the final siren sounded just as he was about to take his shot at goal. All he needed to do was to score, and he did just that, slotting a goal right at the death to give the Swans a six-point win.

Remarkably, this put the Swans in front for the first time in the match after the final siren, and it is only one of two instances (the other being the West Coast Eagles’ win over Port Adelaide in Round 21, 2018) that a team has won without being in front during actual game time.

Hall also became the first (and, as of 2020, only) player to twice kick a match-winning goal after the final siren, doing so in his final game for St Kilda against Hawthorn in Round 22, 2001.

Channel Ten commentator Tim Lane said after the match that “seasons are built on wins like that”. While this proved true for the Swans, who went on to capture the 2005 premiership, it also marked the beginning of the Lions’ on-field decline, as they eventually finished 11th and missed September for the first time since 1998.

Round 12, 2016: Western Bulldogs 15.10 (100) defeated Port Adelaide 14.13 (97) at Adelaide Oval
Halfway through what proved to be a successful 2016 season for the Western Bulldogs, the team ventured to Adelaide Oval looking to break its duck at the iconic venue, having lost on two previous visits to the ground, both times against Port Adelaide.

Thus, the Bulldogs were keen to ensure it was not third time unlucky when they headed to the City of Churches, fresh off an eight-point win over the West Coast Eagles in which Marcus Bontempelli stepped in as captain.

The Dogs kicked four of the first five goals of the match to lead by ten points at quarter-time. But the Power, who to that point of the season had not yet beaten a top-eight team, kicked two of the three second quarter goals to get to within two at the long break.

Goals to Ollie Wines and Charlie Dixon then saw the Power take the lead by ten points, but the Dogs would not let up, and they would kick the next three goals to lead by ten points themselves.

A pair of goals to Chad Wingard, followed by one to Dougal Howard on the three-quarter-time siren saw the Power lead by nine points at the final change of ends.

But the Bulldogs would regain the ascendancy in the final quarter, with two goals to Jake Stringer inside five minutes, on either side of one to Mitch Honeychurch, seeing the Dogs reclaim the lead by nine points.

Another goal to Dixon, however, would see the Power close to within one point, but that would be as close as they got as the Dogs hung on for a three-point win, marking their first win in Adelaide since 2011.

Round 7, 2012: GWS Giants 13.16 (94) defeated Gold Coast Suns 9.13 (67) at Manuka Oval
Even for a match between two winless sides, there was so much intrigue surrounding the match between the GWS Giants and Gold Coast Suns in Round 7 of the 2012 season.

Neither side had won a match for the season, while the Suns hadn’t won a match since Round 17 the previous season. The return of the game’s best player, Gary Ablett Jr, from a knee injury saw the second-year Suns start favourites.

But the Giants saw this match as a golden opportunity to break the club’s duck, playing a fellow inexperienced team at their secondary home ground, Manuka Oval in Canberra, which would’ve hosted the teams’ clash this Sunday afternoon.

Kevin Sheedy’s side started strongly, with Devon Smith kicking the first goal of the match inside the first minute, and another three goals to the home side followed before Harley Bennell pegged back a goal for the Suns to see the visitors trail by 17 points at the first change.

Whatever then-Suns coach Guy McKenna said to his troops at the quarter-time break seemed to work, as the 2011 debutants, led by Ablett Jr dominated the second quarter, kicking six goals to one to lead by 13 points at halftime.

After Dom Tyson goalled for the Giants within seconds of the third quarter starting, another two goals to the Suns – through Sam Day and Michael Rischitelli – gave the visitors what appeared to be a comfortable 18-point lead.

However, the Giants would not throw in the towel, and goals to Smith and Jacob Townsend saw them go into the final change of ends just four points in arrears, and while they were behind, they could sense that a first victory was not too far away.

Ten minutes into the final quarter, Dylan Shiel kicked a goal to give the Giants back the lead, and after a lull in proceedings, the Giants would kick the final four goals of the game to record a 27-point victory and register the club’s first ever win in the process.

The Suns would return serve with a 30-point win at Metricon Stadium in 2012, which saw them record their first win at their home ground after 17 straight losses.

1999 grand final: Kangaroos 19.10 (124) defeated Carlton 12.17 (89) at the MCG
It seems like a lifetime ago that North Melbourne, then known as the Kangaroos, were the most dominant team in the AFL.

In 1999, the Roos won their fourth (and to date most recent) premiership by downing Carlton by 35 points in a grand final match-up nearly no-one had forecast at the start of the finals series.

The Kangaroos, coached by Denis Pagan, had finished the regular season in second place, only behind minor premiers Essendon, and progressed to the decider after defeating Port Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions in the qualifying and preliminary finals, respectively.

The Blues, on the other hand, had a tougher road to the grand final, first losing its qualifying final to the Lions at the Gabba before defeating the West Coast Eagles in the second semi-final which was controversially relocated to the MCG.

They then qualified for the big dance after upsetting Essendon by a solitary point in the preliminary final, denying fans what would’ve been a grudge decider between the Bombers (whose coach Kevin Sheedy infamously labelled two Kangaroos executives as “soft” the previous season) and Kangaroos.

The David Parkin-coached Blues started the game positively, with Brett Ratten kicking the first goal six minutes into the match, but the Roos, who were missing suspended defender Jason McCartney, settled into the match and led by twelve points at quarter-time.

Two goals to Corey McKernan saw the Roos go into halftime with a 20-point lead, and from there it became a procession as they all but sealed the premiership by kicking six goals to two in the third quarter to lead by 43 points at the final change of ends.

Goals to Shannon Motlop and Peter Bell would see the margin extend out to more than 50 points, but the Blues would save some face, reducing the final margin to 35 points.

Shannon Grant, who played for the Sydney Swans in their grand final loss to the Kangaroos in 1996, earned the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground, while it was also the 200th and final AFL game for John Longmire, who’d later coach the Swans to a premiership in 2012.

The game also featured a young Cameron Mooney, whose involvement in the grand final was limited, as he spent the majority of the match on the bench. He would later enjoy premiership success at the Geelong Cats in 2007 and 2009, before retiring in 2011.

In response to the Blues’ unexpected qualification for the grand final, the AFL amended its finals system the following year, with the top eight split into two pools of four in the first week with the bottom group of four (teams 5-8) put into sudden death in the first week.

Since then, only the Western Bulldogs (in 2016) and GWS Giants (last year) have managed to reach the grand final from outside the top four, with the Dogs managing to go all the way while having to win two sudden-death finals interstate.

The MCG finals contract, which came under heavy criticism in the 90s and the early part of the noughties after interstate teams were wrongfully stripped of home finals, was later renegotiated and now all interstate clubs can host home finals so long that the MCG hosts at least ten finals (plus grand finals) every rolling five-year period.

1997 grand final: Adelaide Crows 19.11 (125) defeated St Kilda 13.16 (94) at the MCG
It is over two decades since the Adelaide Crows won their only two premierships, doing so in consecutive years.

Their first flag came against St Kilda in 1997, after they had to play three consecutive finals just to reach the big dance.

Their qualifying final against the West Coast Eagles was rescheduled from its original Saturday evening slot to the Sunday afternoon to allow the Seven Network to televise the funeral of Princess Diana live across Australia.

Despite winning that game, the Crows also had to play the following week (under this finals system, only the two highest-ranked week one winners went straight to the preliminary final), and they were drawn to face the second-placed Geelong Cats at AAMI Stadium.

The Crows then won that game to progress to a preliminary final against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG, which they would win by just two points despite losing their leading goalkicker for the year, Tony Modra, to the dreaded ACL injury in the first quarter.

In their first grand final, the men from West Lakes faced minor premiers St Kilda, which hadn’t won a premiership since 1966 yet went into the game as heavy favourites, having breezed through their finals matches against the Brisbane Lions and North Melbourne.

The Crows led by two points at quarter-time, but the Saints managed to work their way into the match in the second quarter to lead by 13 points at halftime, with the highlight being a length-of-the-field goal from defender Aussie Jones.

However, the Malcolm Blight-coached Crows would reassert themselves after halftime, kicking fourteen goals to six to romp to a 31-point victory and claim the club’s first flag.

Andrew McLeod won the first of his two Norm Smith Medals as best-on-ground, and would be on hand to present Cyril Rioli his medal when Hawthorn won in 2015 (see above).

Barry Hall, who kicked three goals for the Saints, would later captain the Sydney Swans to premiership glory in 2005. The Saints would endure a twelve-year wait for another shot at a premiership, but they would fall twelve points short of the Geelong Cats in 2009.

Round 10, 2005: Fremantle 14.7 (91) defeated Geelong Cats 11.16 (82) at Skilled Stadium
Having never won at Kardinia Park, and coming off a nine-goal home thrashing by Hawthorn the previous week, Fremantle entered their Round 10, 2005 clash against the Geelong Cats as heavy underdogs.

Making their task even tougher was the fact that Cats midfielder Cameron Ling was to celebrate his 100th AFL game, and his side were also seeking a seventh straight victory.

However, the Dockers made it clear that they were out to play, kicking the first four goals of the match to lead by as much as 27 points before the Cats pegged back three goals, one of them to fullback Matthew Scarlett, to cut the margin to nine points at quarter-time.

Another two goals to the visitors, through Jeff Farmer and Heath Black, saw them lead by 22 points before the Cats kicked the next four goals, two of them to Paul Chapman, to lead by three points at halftime, to which point both sides had kicked seven goals apiece.

A goal to Tom Lonergan saw the Cats extend their lead to nine points at the start of the third quarter, but the Dockers would dominate the rest of the quarter, with Aaron Sandilands and Farmer kicking goals to give the visitors a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the match.

Just as it seemed the Cats would come back strong, the Dockers managed to keep their noses in front in the final quarter, and it was ultimately left to Matthew Pavlich to kick the final goal at the death to give his side their first win at Kardinia Park in nine attempts.

It was the perfect result for debutant Ryan Crowley, who kicked three goals and would later finish his career as a top-up player at Essendon during the club’s supplements saga.

In the end, inaccuracy cost the Cats dearly, while coach Mark Thompson also conceded his side hadn’t prepared well for a Dockers side which had copped plenty of criticism in the past fortnight.

Success at Kardinia Park has been few and far between for the Dockers since; they have since only won twice at the venue, in the 2013 qualifying final, and in Round 2, 2015.