This week, in the continued absence of live sport, we look back at another four Grand Finals, as well as a huge comeback win by the Brisbane Lions from 2013, a finals boilover from 2016, plus one of the closest Western Derbies of the 21st century.

This year marks two decades since Essendon’s most recent premiership, and this Sunday’s home game against Melbourne would’ve been the perfect way for the Bombers to commemorate what was without doubt the most dominant premiership win by any club in history.

Plus we look back at the Kangaroos’ premiership win in the centenary season of 1996, which saw the club win the only golden premiership cup to date, as well as Richmond’s thumping win over the GWS Giants in last year’s decider.

So, sit back and relax while we continue to take you down memory lane between the would-be round seven opponents from this weekend.

1966 VFL Grand Final: St Kilda 10.14 (74) defeated Collingwood 10.13 (73) at the MCG
For St Kilda, the AFL’s perennial underachievers, the year 1966 will forever go down as one of the most memorable years in the club’s history, for all the right reasons.

It was 54 years ago that the club won its solitary flag by defeating Collingwood by the barest of margins in the Grand Final to finally get the premiership monkey off the back.

The club had previously contested two Grand Finals, including the previous year’s loss to Essendon, and were out to ensure it was not third time unlucky.

The Saints went into the finals series in second place on the ladder after defeating Hawthorn by ten points in its last regular season match, when a loss would have seen them miss September altogether.

Their ruckman Carl Ditterich was to take no part in the Saints’ premiership bid due to suspension, while there was a lot of media focus on captain Darrel Baldock, who had suffered a knee injury in the final rounds of the minor premiership.

After losing to Collingwood by ten points in the major semi-final, the Saints would turn the tables on the Bombers in the preliminary final to book a rematch against the Pies in the big dance.

The decider proved to be a very close affair, with the margin at quarter, half and three-quarter-time no greater than a kick.

Then, with scores level at 10.13 (73) apiece in the dying minutes, Wayne Richardson had a running shot at goal for the Pies, which could have put the Grand Final out of the Saints’ reach, but it went out on the full.

From the ensuing kick-in, the Saints made their way up forward, and Barry Breen would snap at goal, eventually missing for a behind, but history would tell us that it would prove to be the most valuable point scored in the club’s history.

Eventually, the Saints would hang on to win by a point, winning the club’s first premiership, while the Pies were left to taste the bitter pill of defeat during a period dubbed by the media as the “Colliwobbles”.

It would not be until another 44 years that the teams would meet again in a Grand Final; after a cruel bounce evaded Stephen Milne in the initial match, which ended in a draw, the Pies thrashed the Saints by 56 points in the replay to take out its 15th premiership.

As of 2020, the Saints are currently enduring the second-longest premiership drought of all active clubs; only Melbourne (whose last flag was in 1964) has endured a longer wait for another flag.

Round 14, 2013: Adelaide Crows 16.15 (111) defeated Gold Coast Suns 12.11 (83) at Metricon Stadium
In 13 meetings between the Adelaide Crows and Gold Coast Suns, only one has ended in a margin of less than five goals, and this is the match that we will look at.

Fresh off a bye, the Crows arrived on the Gold Coast needing a win to keep their finals hopes alive, having lost seven of their first twelve matches, the worst of them a 77-point thrashing by the Sydney Swans in what was Patrick Dangerfield’s 100th AFL game.

The Suns were also coming off a bye and were starting to make some progress on the field, and were looking to break their duck against the Crows in what was their fifth meeting since entering the competition in 2011.

The home side started well, kicking three goals to one in the first quarter to lead by 13 points at the first change. However, their inaccuracy would cost them dearly in the second quarter, kicking 2.6 (18) in the second quarter to trail by 14 points at half-time.

In the meantime, the Crows kicked seven majors in the second quarter, having been baked by coach Brenton Sanderson at quarter-time.

An even third quarter saw the Suns kick four goals to three in the third quarter to reduce the three-quarter-time margin to eight points, but the Crows would show their class in the final quarter to win by 20 points.

While the Suns lost the match, midfielder Dion Prestia shone above all, claiming three Brownlow Medal votes for his 42 disposals. Jarrod Harbrow was their next best, with 31 touches, while Gary Ablett Jr. racked up 30 touches.

For the Crows, Matthew Wright kicked four goals after starting the match as the sub.

2019 Grand Final: Richmond 17.12 (114) defeated GWS Giants 3.7 (25) at the MCG
Going into preliminary final weekend, there was the wide expectation that the Grand Final was going to be contested by Richmond and Collingwood, two of the biggest clubs in the AFL.

While Richmond held up their end of the bargain by defeating the Geelong Cats in their preliminary final, Collingwood were made to pay the price for having an eye on the decider when they lost to the GWS Giants in their preliminary final, losing by just four points.

This put the Giants into their first Grand Final where they would be pitted up against the Tigers, who had won the flag just two years previously and were peaking at the right time of the year.

Accordingly, the Tigers went into the decider as hot favourites, but not before the Giants built up a massive wave of support with those not willing to support the yellow and black instead jumping on the orange bandwagon.

The Giants’ theme song formed the basis of countless memes that lit up social media in the lead-up to the match.

But the Grand Final itself proved to be a whimper; after Jeremy Cameron kicked the first goal of the match for the Giants, the Tigers dominated the rest of the match, winning by a club-record 89 points to claim its twelfth premiership.

While Dustin Martin bamboozled his way to a second Norm Smith Medal in three years, undoubtedly the story of the match was the debut of Marlion Pickett, who became the first debutant since Francis Vine in 1926 to win a premiership medal.

Pickett had been called up after Jack Graham was ruled out of the decider due to injury, and made the most of his chances, setting up several goals and then kicking one himself in the third quarter, by which point the premiership was already in yellow and black hands.

By the end of it, the Tigers had won their second premiership in three years, and had they not lost to Collingwood in the preliminary final in 2018, they could so easily have joined the Brisbane Lions (2001-03) and Hawthorn (2013-15) as three-peat premiers this century.

Round 4, 2005: Port Adelaide 15.19 (109) drew with Carlton 16.13 (109) at AAMI Stadium
The contrasts of Port Adelaide and Carlton could not have been more stark when the two teams met at AAMI Stadium in round four of the 2005 season.

The Power were the reigning premiers, having beaten the Brisbane Lions by 40 points in the previous year’s decider, while Carlton were continuing to languish in the bottom half of the ladder after being decimated by punishments arising from salary cap breaches in 2002.

Both sides had lost two of their first three games going into this encounter, with both their wins coming in round two – the Power over the Brisbane Lions and Carlton in a comeback win against Essendon.

At home, the Power started stronger, kicking six goals to three in the first quarter to lead by 19 points at the first change. Five goals to each side, including a stretch of four straight by the Blues, saw the margin remain unchanged at half-time.

Coach Denis Pagan then decided to send Glen Bowyer to mind Peter Burgoyne, while Lance Whitnall had done well in curtailing Power forward Warren Tredrea, who had only kicked one goal to that point of the game.

This proved a coaching masterstroke as the Blues clawed back the deficit, and when Trent Sporn goalled at the 27-minute mark of the final quarter, the visitors had moved ahead and were threatening an upset victory on foreign territory.

However, two misses from Adam Kingsley and Brendon Lade at the death saw the match tied 109-apiece – marking the first and only draw of the 2005 season.

Port would win the return clash at the MCG in round 19, ruining what was Blues forward Brendan Fevola’s 100th AFL game.

Round 13, 2013: Brisbane Lions 15.13 (103) defeated Geelong Cats 14.14 (98) at the Gabba
For many AFL fans, the match between the Brisbane Lions and Geelong Cats at the Gabba will forever be known as the “Miracle on Grass”.

Deep in the third quarter, after Steve Johnson kicked a goal at the 22 minute mark of the third quarter, the Cats led by 52 points and were seemingly on their way to another easy victory, which would’ve been their 10th of the season.

However, the Lions would peg back two goals – one each to Joel Patfull and Jonathan Brown – to reduce the margin to 38 points at three-quarter-time. At this stage, the Cats were looking the goods, while the Lions were only trying to make the scoreboard look a bit more respectable.

A spray from Lions coach Michael Voss set the tone for one of the most dramatic final quarters of the season, and after the Lions kicked the first three goals of the term, the fans were daring to dream of an improbable comeback by their side.

Another goal to Steve Johnson, however, put the Cats up by 26 points, but unknowingly to them, they would not kick another goal as they looked to hold on for the win.

With nothing to lose, the Lions kicked the next four goals to level the scores at 97-apiece with less than two minutes remaining. A miss to the Cats’ Tom Hawkins, when a goal could have won his side the game, then put the visitors up by a point in the final minute.

From the subsequent kick-in, the Lions went forward in an attempt to find the match winning goal, but Joel Hunt would mark in defence and then send the Cats forward one last time.

Lions fullback Daniel Merrett would mark deep in defence, and with 20 seconds remaining the side would have to conjure a miracle if they were to win the game. Forward they went, and as the siren sounded, the ball landed into the hands of the 200-gamer, Ashley McGrath.

This gave him the chance to either win the game, or force a draw. In the end, he kicked truly, winning the match for his side by five points, and completing what Fox Footy commentator Anthony Hudson dubbed “the Miracle on Grass”.

In whatever way you look at it, it remains one of the most incredible AFL matches played this century.

2016 Semi-Final: Western Bulldogs 16.11 (107) defeated Hawthorn 12.12 (84)
After three consecutive flags, it was inevitable that the Hawks’ golden era was going to come to an end.

But nobody would have forecast the manner in which it did.

The Hawks entered the 2016 finals series after finishing third on the ladder, and were bidding to join the Collingwood class of 1927-30 as the only four-peat team in AFL history.

After losing their qualifying final to the Geelong Cats after Isaac Smith missed a set shot at goal after the final siren, the Hawks were pitched into a semi-final against the Western Bulldogs, who’d beaten the West Coast Eagles on the road in the elimination final.

Alastair Clarkson’s side started as the warm favourites, and all appeared to go to script when they led by 23 points halfway through the second quarter, with five of their six goals coming directly from Bulldog turnovers.

But the Bulldogs would not lie down, whittling the margin down to a solitary point at half-time, and it was game on.

With Jack Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli pulling the strings in the midfield, Luke Beveridge’s side would turn the match upside down in the third quarter, kicking six goals to one to take a 26-point lead into the final change and leave the Hawks’ four-peat dreams in tatters.

The Bulldogs would keep their foot on the pedal in the final quarter, kicking four goals to record a 23-point victory and put the Hawks’ golden era to an end after three consecutive premierships, four consecutive Grand Finals and five consecutive preliminary finals.

It ensured that Collingwood’s record of four consecutive premierships would remain unmatched, and with that the Dogs created some history of their own, winning consecutive finals matches for the first time in 55 years.

They would eventually go all the way, first defeating the GWS Giants in the subsequent preliminary final before ending a 62-year premiership drought by upsetting the Sydney Swans in the Grand Final.

1996 Grand Final: North Melbourne 19.17 (131) defeated Sydney 13.10 (88) at the MCG
When North Melbourne and the Sydney Swans met in the 1996 Grand Final, neither side had reached the final game of the season for extended periods of time.

To that point, the Roos’ most recent Grand Final appearance ended in a loss to Hawthorn in 1978, while you had to go all the way back to 1945 to find the Swans’ previous appearance in the decider, which it lost to Carlton in what was known as the Bloodbath.

Coached by Denis Pagan and captained by Wayne Carey, the Roos advanced to the decider by defeating the Brisbane Bears (who were playing their last match before merging with Fitzroy to become the Brisbane Lions) in their preliminary final.

Meantime, the Swans defeated Essendon by a solitary point in the other preliminary final, which became best known for Tony Lockett kicking the match-winning point after the final siren, after the Swans had trailed by six points in the final two minutes.

Under first-year coach Rodney Eade, the Swans started well, leading by 18 points at quarter-time, and when Jason Mooney (the older brother of future three-time premiership player Cameron) kicked a goal early in the second quarter, their lead had ballooned out to 24 points.

Roos coach Denis Pagan then decided to send Glenn Freeborn forward, and his three goals proved to be the turning point in the game, as the Roos took a two-point lead into half-time.

Four goals to one in the third quarter put the Roos on their way to a third premiership, and they then put the icing on the cake with a seven-goal final quarter, putting to rest a 19-year premiership drought and claiming the only gold AFL premiership cup (as it was the league’s centenary season) in history.

The Swans were far from disgraced though, with Tony Lockett kicking six majors in his only Grand Final appearance. It was also Paul Roos’ 314th game of AFL football; he would later coach the Swans to a drought-breaking premiership in 2005.

Reaching the 1996 Grand Final proved to be a major turning point in the Swans’ history, as they would consistently make the finals all but four times since. In addition to winning the flag in 2005, they would also win another flag in 2012, under the coaching of ex-Kangaroo John Longmire (who missed the entire 1996 season due to injury).

2000 Grand Final: Essendon 19.21 (135) defeated Melbourne 11.9 (75) at the MCG
After the heartbreak that was the 1999 preliminary final, Essendon were out to ensure that the same mistake did not repeat in 2000.

The Bombers entered the new millennium on a huge mission and, in an unprecedented year of dominance, lost just one match for the entire calendar year, against the Western Bulldogs in round 21 of the regular season.

This included taking out the pre-season competition, in which the Bombers defeated reigning AFL premiers the Kangaroos in the Grand Final, in what many argued should have also been the previous year’s premiership decider.

Kevin Sheedy’s side finished the year as minor premiers, and then thrashed the Kangaroos by 125 points in the qualifying final, which saw 22-year-old full-forward Matthew Lloyd kick his 100th goal for the season.

They then faced Carlton in the preliminary final, in a rematch of the previous year’s Grand Final qualifier, which the Blues had won by a point. But this time, there would be no repeat as the Bombers won by 45 points to book its first Grand Final berth since 1993.

In the premiership decider, they faced Melbourne, who had finished 14th the previous season, but under first-year captain David Neitz, had rocketed up the ladder and qualified for its first Grand Final since 1988 after beating the Kangaroos in their preliminary final.

The Grand Final proved to be a one-sided affair, with James Hird, who’d missed all but the first two rounds of the 1999 season due to a foot injury, inspiring the Bombers to a ten-goal thrashing as they began the 21st century, and the new millennium, with a bang.

Hird won the Norm Smith Medal as the best-on-ground, while Paul Barnard and Matthew Lloyd each kicked four majors as the Bombers capped off arguably the greatest year by any club in AFL history.

It would be the last AFL premiership won by a Victorian club until 2007, when the Geelong Cats prevailed, and it would not be until 2008, when Hawthorn won, that the cup would remain in the metropolitan Melbourne area.

The Bombers would return to the big dance in 2001, but would become victim to the Brisbane Lions’ first of three consecutive flags.

Round 6, 2006: Fremantle 12.16 (88) defeated West Coast Eagles 12.11 (83) at Subiaco Oval
We finish off this round of flashbacks by revisiting one of the closest Western Derbies ever.

Going into the first Derby of season 2006, the Eagles had won their first five matches of the year, while the Dockers had endured a week of controversy surrounding their match against St Kilda which had initially ended in a draw, but was amended to a one-point win on protest.

A fired up Dockers side took it right up to their blue and gold neighbours, kicking four goals to three in the first quarter to lead by five points at the first change.

From there it proved to be a very close affair, with neither side able to break the game open in the ensuing three quarters. The Dockers led at half-time and three-quarter-time, but only by margins of two and three points respectively.

Six minutes into the final quarter, a goal to Chris Judd saw the Eagles reclaim the lead, but the Dockers would refuse to give in, enduring ten minutes without a goal before their captain Peter Bell goalled to give them back the lead by a solitary point.

But the Eagles would hit back through Brent Staker at the 22 minute mark to give his side back the lead by two points.

With two minutes remaining, Josh Carr would snap at goal, but it would be off-target, bringing the Dockers to within a point of their rivals.

After the Eagles shifted out of defence, the ball would find the hands of Bell, who blasted it forward and found an unmarked Paul Hasleby inside the forward 50 arc.

Hasleby slotted the goal to give the Dockers back the lead by five points, and after Mark Seaby was caught holding the ball at the subsequent centre bounce to restart play, the port club knew they couldn’t be beaten.

For Fremantle coach Chris Connolly, the win came as a massive relief given the scrutiny his side had been under after a mediocre start to the season, as well as the drama the club had endured in the week leading up to the match.

The Dockers would complete the double over the Eagles later that season, winning the second Derby by 50 points. Despite this, the Eagles would go on to claim its third flag at the end of the year, beating the Sydney Swans by a solitary point in the Grand Final.