Shock news: the bookies aren’t always right.
As hard as it is to believe, teams with the shortest odds going into a game don’t always get up, so here’s a look into the biggest upsets of each year since it’s been an 18-team competition, beginning in 2012.
2012, Round 22, Gold Coast beat Carlton
As disappointing as Carlton were in 2013, even they would’ve been hopeful of an easy four points against the young Gold Coast side. Instead they were down by 38 points at halftime, and in the end lost by 12 points. It was only the Suns’ third win of the season, Tom Lynch announced himself as a future forward prospect with four goals, and Brett Ratten would lose his job as Blues coach later that week.
2013, Round 13, Brisbane beat Geelong
Brisbane were 14th on the ladder and out of form coming up against Geelong, who were second on the ladder. But they were hoping to get up for Ash McGrath’s 200th game. Unsurprisingly the Lions were getting outdone and were down by 52 points deep in the third quarter. Unbelievably, the Lions kicked nine of the last ten goals with the milestone man McGrath scoring after the siren to win the game.
2014, Round 1, GWS Giants beat Sydney Swans
Sydney boasted a stacked side in their opening game of 2014, coming up against GWS, who only won one game the season before. Adding Lance Franklin in the off-season to their already impressive list, the Swans were expected start the season with a percentage-boosting win. However, to the surprise of everyone, the Giants competed with the Swans and were only three points down at the last change. The Giants dominated the last quarter, keeping the Swans goalless while the Giants scored six goals, cruising to a 32-point victory.
(AAP Image/Joe Castro)
2015, Round 6, GWS Giants beat Hawthorn
In 2015 the Giants were showing signs they were no longer a bottom-four staple of the competition and were going to be competing for a top-eight spot. And in Round 6, the side announced themselves to the rest of the competition, knocking off the reigning premiers. Jeremy Cameron starred with seven goals, leading to a ten-point victory. The Giants didn’t make the finals, but beating the eventual premiers is not a bad consolation prize.
2016, Round 2, Essendon beat Melbourne
Having a depleted list due to the supplements saga, Essendon were predicted by some to go winless in 2016. Smashed by the Gold Coast in the opening round, a similar fate was expected in their Round 2 clash against Melbourne. Surprisingly the Bombers led at every change and recorded an upset 13-point win, one of only three wins for the season.
2017, Round 15, Brisbane beat Essendon
Coming into the game the Lions had won only two games for the season, whereas the Bombers – now with the bulk of the playing squad back after their suspensions from the season prior – were sitting comfortably inside the top eight. The Bombers led at every change up and led by 27 points five minutes into the last quarter. The Lions would rally in the last quarter, scoring the next six goals to record their third win of the season.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
2018, preliminary final, Collingwood beat Richmond
The Tigers had beaten the Magpies in both of their clashes during the home-and-away season, winning by 43 and 28 points respectively, and the Tigers were expected to win once again in the prelim. But it was Collingwood up by 44 points at halftime. The only thing more surprising than the scoreline was the man who put them into a commanding position. Mason Cox had the quarter of his career, scoring three goals for the quarter. The Magpies would go on to win by 39 points, and booked themselves an unlikely spot in the grand final.
2019, Round 23, Hawthorn beat West Coast
If Hawthorn were any chance of making the finals, they needed to beat the Eagles in Perth. They couldn’t beat the Eagles in Melbourne earlier in the season, and travelled to Perth, the Eagles’ fortress. The Hawks shouldn’t have had a look in. Yet they won convincingly by 38 points, spearheaded by Tim O’Brien, who scored a career-high four goals. He was an unlikely hero in an unlikely win. Unfortunately it wouldn’t result in a finals spot for the Hawks, with the Bulldogs winning the next day to ensure the Hawks had a ninth-place finish.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
As much as I hate them, they are a scary good team when they're on. Will be an interesting season, hopefully we can stay first haha
sven
Roar Rookie
yeah in hindsight i reckon we were slightly off the boil at seasons end (when u really need to be peaking) & i guess other teams realized they had to be able to beat the tiges somewhere during the finals in order to win the flag & were def finding ways to play us better. proves the old adage no one wins a flag in july/august (when the media had us red hot favorites). in the end the pies gave us a touch up in the prelim, we were lucky to get as close as we did & if we had’ve somehow won thru reckon the weagles would prob have had our measure in the granny. proves how hard they are to win. cant wait for the season to get going again, hopefully the mighty tiges have a good crack at it again this year
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
sven, I tweeted the day Richmond beat the Bulldogs by 3 points in the final round of the 2018 season. I said that I was having some doubts whether Richmond could win the premiership or not, it's fair to say they got really lucky in some of those games later in the year. I was hammered on Twitter by Tiges supporters, come Grand Final week those tweets were deleted. Haha!
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
2012 Round 10 Essendon v Melbourne - Easily one of the greatest upsets and one of the best matches I have seen.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Maybe so, Pete, but that was a 50/50 crowd support situation at least. GWS had to contend with a 10/90 disadvantage. In a two-horse race they were understandably the rank outsider.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
I don’t think so Floyd. A lot of people rated the Giants. Tigers had beaten us well twice and won 13 in a row at the G .
Liam
Guest
No time for 2013 Elimination final Richmond vs Carlton? The last time Carlton beat the tigers, and the year in which Richmond came 5th and Carlton came 9th, the narrative was that the Tigers would beat the team that shouldn't have been there (and wouldn't have, but for Essendon) and the Tigers were all over the Blues in the first half before a Chris Judd and Bryce Gibbs inspired comeback? Such a shock that the network, instead of staying with the game and the team song, went straight to the news?
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
No one has mentioned the 2019 Preliminary Final. GWS at the MCG up against a Collingwood team with absolutely everything in their favour. The Pies nearly got there. It has to be one of the greatest upsets of all time, let alone the past decade. Just saying.
sven
Roar Rookie
dusty def looked like he had no power in the leg & he hardly kicked it the times he did get the pill. way it goes the tiges had been blessed on the injury front up till then, odds are its gonna bite u at some stage. reckon theres a bit of a myth about rance not being any good one on one, sure cox def gave him a touch up but he's beaten quality opponents plenty of times, anyway looks like he's gone so shame for us tiges. about as much as ive seen cox get off the leash though, normally teams are pretty good at blocking his run (or running him under the ball), more of a team effort to stop him (all the best defences work together to nullify their opponents), if he is allowed to run & jump at the ball without being bodied aint no one gunna get near the height he is plucking it at
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
Yeah I heard on the grapevine That dusty had bleeding inside his knee joint or something that was about that bad. I also think it revealed how bad rance is as a traditional one on one defender. Don’t get me wrong he was great as a full back but only because he effectively reinvented the role in much the same way that Matthew Scarlett did, but mason cox is a giant of a man and extremely strong so about the single worst match up for rance
sven
Roar Rookie
to be honest i reckon with the 2018 prelim the pies played brilliantly that night (recall degoie, sidebottom, crisp, grundy being really good as well as cox's inspired cameo) & i reckon the tiges had been worked out to some extent by the end of the season, plus we were probably just a fraction off the boil towards the end of the year (certainly didnt help dusty being hobbled & astonbury allegedly crook). was really hoping the pies were gonna be as good in the granny, they certainly gave it a mighty shake
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
Gold coast vs Sydney Swans 2018 was one hell of an upset.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
The Suns beat the Swans in Sydney in 2018, that was surely the biggest upset of not just the year but probably the decade
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
I must have watched the 2018 preliminary final 30 times, 5 or 6 the week after the GF to ease the pain. It wasn’t just Mason though. Grundy tore the Tigers apart. For a legion of pie fans, upsetting the Tigers plans for back to back was one of the sweetest memories. Alas the fairytale was a couple of minutes off script the following week.
Boo
Guest
I support Geelong and was at the game Joe and that is as big an upset as you will see.The Cat's record at home over the previous seven or so seasons was approaching 90% wins.
Gary
Roar Rookie
I would have put Fremantle beating Geelong at Kardinia Park in the 2013 QF as an upset result... outstanding performance. :thumbup: