1985 VFL finals series

1985 premiership season
Date	7–28 September 1985
Teams	5
Premiers	Essendon (14th premiership)
Runners-up	Hawthorn (9th grand final)
Minor premiers	Essendon (12th minor premiership)
Attendance
Matches played	6
Total attendance	385,589 (64,265 per match)
Highest	100,042 (Grand Final, Essendon vs. Hawthorn)
←  1984 1986  →

The 1985 Victorian Football League finals series was the 89th annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 1985 VFL Premiership season. The series ran over four weekends in September 1985, culminating with the 1985 VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 28 September 1985.

The top five teams from the 1985 VFL Premiership season qualified for the finals series, which was played using the McIntyre final five system.

Qualification

See also: 1985 VFL season

Matches

See also: McIntyre system

The system used for the 1985 VFL finals series was the McIntyre final five system, which had been used continuously by the VFL since 1972.

Week one (qualifying and elimination finals)

Elimination final (Carlton vs North Melbourne)

The opening match of the 1985 VFL finals series saw fourth-placed Carlton host fifth-placed North Melbourne in the elimination final at VFL Park. This marked the sixth final between the two sides, having previously met in the second semi-final in 1979.

Scorecard

	Elimination final
Saturday, 7 September (8:10pm)	Carlton	def. by	North Melbourne	VFL Park (crowd: 49,126)	Report
	3.6 (24) 10.10 (70) 14.10 (94) 16.11 (107)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.3 (15) 6.3 (39) 12.5 (77) 20.6 (126)	Umpires: Cameron, Robinson Television broadcast: Seven Network
Maclure 3 Harmes 2 Madden 1		Goals	4 McCann 3 Glendinning 2 Schimmelbusch, Demetriou 1 Jonas
Madden, Maclure, Marcou, Johnston		Best	Holt, Larkin, Schimmelbusch
Blackwell (bruised ankle)		Injuries	P Krakouer (bruised thigh), Ramsey (bruised thigh), Demetriou (bruised jaw)
Nil		Reports	Demetriou (striking), McDonald (striking)

Qualifying final (Footscray vs Hawthorn)

The Qualifying final saw second-placed Footscray host Hawthorn at the MCG. This marked the second VFL final between the two sides - having previously met in the 1961 VFL Grand Final, which was won by Hawthorn. The Bulldogs were playing in their first VFL finals series since 1976.

Teams

The line-ups below were as published in The Football Record . ^[1]

Footscray B: 03 Mark Kellett 08 Rick Kennedy 45 Michael Ford HB: 49 Brian Cordy 32 Peter Foster 04 Brad Hardie C: 51 Michael McLean 24 Stephen Wallis 07 Doug Hawkins HF: 20 Jim Edmond (c) 37 Neil Peart 27 Stephen MacPherson F: 21 Tony Buhagiar 18 Simon Beasley 09 Les Bamblett Foll: 01 Andrew Purser 17 Phil Maylin 33 Brian Royal Int: 02 Jim Sewell 11 Allen Daniels 43 Rod MacPherson 14 Robert Groenewegen 29 Neil Cordy Coach: Michael Malthouse

Hawthorn B: 07 Gary Ayres 02 Chris Mew 29 Russell Greene HB: 15 Russell Morris 06 Rod Lester-Smith 30 Peter Schwab C: 09 Robert DiPierdomenico 16 Terry Wallace 04 Peter Russo HF: 34 John Kennedy 23 Dermott Brereton 11 Gary Buckenara F: 28 Chris Langford 19 Jason Dunstall 03 Leigh Matthews(c) Foll: 21 Michael Byrne 37 Robert Handley 22 Richard Loveridge Int: 25 Peter Curran 39 Paul Abbott Coach: Allan Jeans

Footscray made no late changes to the starting line-up, selecting Allen Daniels and Jim Sewell as the interchange players. Hawthorn also made no changes to the starting line-up, but replaced the named interchange players - Paul Abbott and Peter Curran- with emergencies Rodney Eade and Colin Robertson.

Match Summary

Scorecard

	Qualifying final
Sunday, 8 September (2:30pm)	Footscray	def. by	Hawthorn	MCG (crowd: 58,367)	Report
	2.3 (15) 3.5 (23) 6.11 (47) 8.14 (62)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	6.5 (41) 11.11 (77) 15.16 (106) 22.23 (155)	Umpires: Sawers, Howlett Television broadcast: Seven Network
Bamblett, Beasley 2 Edmond, S MacPherson, Royal, Peart 1		Goals	5 Dunstall 3 Byrne, Brereton 2 Matthews 1 Buckenara
Hardie, Bamblett, Hawkins, Wallis, Royal		Best	Wallace, Lester-Smith, Morris, Greene, Mew, Langford, Dunstall
Daniels (strained ankle)		Injuries	DiPierdomenico (calf)
Nil		Reports	Nil

Week two (semi-finals)

First semi-final (Footscray vs North Melbourne)

The first semi-final saw Footscray host North Melbourne at the MCG. This was the first meeting between the two clubs in a VFL final.

Teams

The line-ups below were as published in The Football Record . ^[2]

Footscray B: 04 Brad Hardie 08 Rick Kennedy 45 Michael Ford HB: 49 Brian Cordy 32 Peter Foster 03 Mark Kellett C: 17 Phil Maylin 24 Stephen Wallis 07 Doug Hawkins HF: 51 Michael McLean 37 Neil Peart 09 Les Bamblett F: 21 Tony Buhagiar 18 Simon Beasley 20 Jim Edmond (c) Foll: 01 Andrew Purser 11 Allen Daniels 33 Brian Royal Int: 02 Jim Sewell 27 Stephen MacPherson 43 Rod MacPherson 14 Robert Groenewegen 29 Neil Cordy Coach: Michael Malthouse

North Melbourne B: 30 Roy Ramsay 16 Stephen McCann 49 Darren Crocker HB: 27 Keith Greig 13 John Law 15 Ross Smith C: 28 Andrew Demetriou 07 Darren Steele 02 John Holt HF: 45 Peter Jonas 04 Ross Glendinning 20 Wayne Schimmelbusch (c) F: 48 Mark Arceri 06 Ian Fairley 08 Phil Krakouer Foll: 25 Donald McDonald 09 Matthew Larkin 03 Jim Krakouer Int: 56 Paul Spargo 37 Michael Passmore 29 Peter German 17 Kym Hodgeman 32 David Dwyer Coach: John Kennedy

North suffered a major blow before the game when captain Wayne Schimmelbusch was omitted after failing to recover from a torn thigh muscle in time, ^[3] and ended up being replaced by Kym Hodgeman, with Paul Spargo and David Dwyer being confirmed as the interchange players. Footscray also made one change to its line-up, omitting Neil Peart and replacing him with Jim Sewell. Robert Groenewegen and Stephen MacPherson were the confirmed interchange players.

Match Summary

Under pressure against a North Melbourne team buzzing from its come-from-behind win against Carlton in the elimination final, the Bulldogs responded after their previous week's Qualifying final thrashing to end the Kangaroos' season and record their first VFL final victory since 1961.

The loss of Schimmelbusch was somewhat mitigated by the return of suspended rover Jim Krakouer, who ended up being among North's best players. The first half was filled with free-flowing and vigorous play, as both sides traded goals. By mid-way through the first quarter, Footscray were down two players when Ford and Kellett came off injured within minutes of each other; the former when he was met solidly by Larkin and was stretchered off with concussion, and the latter when he came off the ground with suspected cruciate ligament damage. ^[4] Despite this, the Bulldogs managed to go into half-time with a three-point lead. The game up to this point had been characterized by swings of momentum as one team would kick a string of goals in a few minutes, then the other would do the same.

The critical period of the game occurred early in the third quarter, starting at the five-minute mark when Beasley, who had comprehensively outplayed his opponent Fairley, took a superb pack mark. From the set shot, he slotted his fifth to bring up his 100th goal of the season, to the delight of fans and teammates. Then a minute later Daniels, a much-improved player from the previous week, smothered an attempted clearing kick from North defender Law and snapped his second goal. ^[5] Further goals from Bamblett, Beasley and Royal capped off a ten-minute purple patch for Footscray that pushed the lead out beyond 30 points ^[6]

After the game Bulldogs coach Michael Malthouse expressed his delight with his team's turnaround in form:

Last week the guys were genuinely embarrassed and they were out today to make amends. We don't want to over emphasise revenge but we will be thinking about Hawthorn and just try to do the right things. [... The players] realise that finals are more intense. The sides that win finals are played by guys who want to do it together. Next week will be a different game at a different venue. We have six days to analyse what we will do. ^[4]

Scorecard

	First semi-final
Sunday, 15 September (2:30pm)	Footscray	def.	North Melbourne	MCG (crowd: 56,112)	Report
	3.1 (19) 9.8 (62) 14.16 (100) 19.23 (137)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	4.3 (27) 9.5 (59) 11.9 (75) 16.11 (107)	Umpires: James, Robinson Television broadcast: Seven Network
Beasley 7 Royal 5 Daniels, Edmond 2 Hawkins, Bamblett, Buhagiar 1		Goals	3 J Krakouer 2 Glendinning, Larkin, Holt 1 P Krakouer, McCann, Demetriou, Jonas, Arceri, Spargo, Fairley
Hawkins, Wallis, Royal, Maylin, Foster, B Cordy, Daniels		Best	Larkin, Holt, McDonald, J Krakouer, Steele
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Nil		Reports	Nil
This marked Footscray's first VFL final win since 1961

Second semi-final (Essendon vs Hawthorn)

The second semi-final saw minor premiers Essendon host Hawthorn at VFL Park. The match was the fourth time the clubs had played in a final having contested the 1983 grand final as well as the second semi-final and grand final of 1984.

Scorecard

	Second semi-final
Saturday, 14 September (7:25pm)	Essendon	def.	Hawthorn	VFL Park (crowd: 67,063)	Report
	4.4 (28) 4.8 (32) 11.14 (80) 14.18 (102)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.2 (20) 6.2 (38) 6.3 (39) 9.8 (62)	Umpires: Cameron, Ryan Television broadcast: Seven Network
Foulds 3 Merrett, Thompson 2 Baker 1		Goals	2 Brereton, Kennedy 1 Buckenara
Watson		Best	Mew
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Nil		Reports	Nil

Week three (preliminary finals)

Preliminary final (Footscray vs Hawthorn)

The Preliminary final saw Footscray host Hawthorn at VFL Park on Saturday, 21 September. This marked the third final between the two sides and second in this series, having previously met in the Qualifying final two weeks earlier.

Scorecard

	Preliminary final
Saturday, 21 September (2:30pm)	Footscray	def. by	Hawthorn	VFL Park (crowd: 55,246)	Report
	4.4 (28) 6.6 (42) 10.7 (67) 15.9 (99)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.2 (20) 7.4 (46) 10.8 (68) 16.13 (109)	Umpires: James, Sawers Television broadcast: Seven Network
Beasley 3 Edmond 2 Royal, Buhagiar 1		Goals	4 Judge, Dunstall 2 Matthews 1 Brereton
Hardie, Hawkins, Purser		Best	Loveridge, Judge, Ayres, Wallace
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Nil		Reports	Nil

Week four (Grand Final)

Main article: 1985 VFL Grand Final

This was the third consecutive VFL Grand Final contested between Hawthorn and Essendon.

	Grand final
28 September (2:30 pm)	Essendon	def.	Hawthorn	MCG (crowd: 100,042)	Report
	6.4 (40) 11.9 (75) 15.11 (101) 26.14 (170)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	5.1 (31) 9.3 (57) 11.5 (71) 14.8 (92)	Umpires: Cameron, Robinson Norm Smith Medal: Simon Madden Television broadcast: Seven Network
Salmon 6 Merrett 5 Harvey 4 Watson 3 Baker, Ezard, Williams 2 Thompson, Duckworth 1		Goals	8 Brereton 1 Matthews, McCarthy, Loveridge, Judge, Lester-Smith, DiPierdomenico
Madden, Merrett, Watson, Salmon, Baker, Thompson, Williams		Best	Brereton, Lester-Smith, Kennedy, Morris, O'Halloran
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Nil		Reports	Nil
Essendon won its 14th VFL premiership and achieved back-to-back VFL premierships for the fourth time. The Bombers broke their Grand final record last quarter score from the previous season, kicking 11 goals 3 behinds.

References

1. "Teams As Selected on Thursday Night". Football Record . Vol. 74, no. 24. 7–8 September 1985. p. 15 – via State Library of Victoria.
2. "Teams As Selected on Thursday Night". Football Record . 14–15 September 1985. p. 15 – via State Library of Victoria.
3. Silver, Harvey (16 September 1985). "From the losers, a tune of glory". The Age . No. 40, 657. p. 34.
4. "'Guys that want to do it together' – Footscray humbles Roos". The Canberra Times . Vol. 60, no. 18, 248. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 16 September 1985. p. 21. Retrieved 14 September 2021– via National Library of Australia.
5. Atkinson & Atkinson (2009), p.382
6. Smithers, Patrick (16 September 1985). "Beasley tops 100, Dogs top North". The Age . p. 34.

Bibliography

• Atkinson, Graeme; Atkinson, Brant (2009). The Complete Book of AFL Finals (4th ed.). Scoresby, Victoria: The Five Mile Press. ISBN   9781742112756.

External links

• "1985 VFL season - Finals". AFL Tables.
• 1985 VFL Elimination Final - Carlton Vs North Melbourne (Extended Highlights) on YouTube