1989 VFL finals series

1989 premiership season
Date	9–30 September 1989
Teams	5
Premiers	Hawthorn (8th premiership)
Runners-up	Geelong (13th grand final)
Minor premiers	Hawthorn (18th minor premiership)
Attendance
Matches played	6
Total attendance	429,057 (71,510 per match)
Highest	94,796 (Grand Final, Hawthorn vs. Geelong)
←  1988 1990  →

The 1989 Victorian Football League finals series was the 93rd annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 1989 VFL Premiership season. The series ran over four weekends in September 1989, culminating with the 1989 VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 1989.

Qualification

See also: 1989 VFL season

After thoroughly dominating the competition the previous season, it again appeared that nothing could stand in the way of the Hawthorn juggernaut. They moved to the top of the ladder in Round 4 after beating Richmond and stayed there for the rest of the home-and-away season, finishing two games clear of second-placed Essendon with 19 wins and a percentage of 153. Full-forward Jason Dunstall reached his second successive century of goals in a season against Carlton in Round 18 and would finish the home-and-away season with 128 majors.
The Bombers, who narrowly missed out on the finals in 1988, put together an eight-game winning streak in the second half of the season, the high point being their 142-point thrashing of West Coast, keeping them to a solitary goal for the match. The streak began after a loss to Sydney and ended with another loss to Sydney in Round 21, which cost them any chance of top spot.
Under new coach Malcolm Blight, Geelong qualified for their first VFL finals series since 1981 after a season where they broke various club and League scoring records. After their thrilling Round 6 shoot-out against Hawthorn (in which they set the League record for the highest losing score), the Cats went on a rampage, starting with three consecutive victories of over 100 points against St Kilda, Brisbane Bears and Richmond. They strung together six further wins to consolidate their spot in the Top Five, eventually finishing the home-and-away season in third place with 16 wins and a new League record for the highest points aggregate with 2916 points, breaking Sydney's 1987 record. Paul Couch racked up over 600 disposals on his way to the Brownlow Medal, while prolific on-ballers Mark Bairstow, Andrew Bews and Garry Hocking would also consistently provide quality service to Geelong's spectacular forwards led by Gary Ablett, who was ably assisted by Gavin Exell, Barry Stoneham and Bill Brownless.
1988 runner-up Melbourne had a strong first half of the season, at one stage sitting second on the ladder after winning a hard-fought match against Hawthorn. In the end, the three-game buffer the Demons held over the teams battling for fifth spot was enough to secure them a third consecutive finals berth, despite losing five of their last six games in the home-and-away rounds. In the process, Melbourne became one of only a few teams to make the finals with a percentage of less than 100.

Matches

See also: McIntyre system

The 1989 VFL finals series was contested using the McIntyre final five system, which had been in use since 1972.

Week one (Qualifying and Elimination Finals)

Elimination Final (Melbourne v Collingwood)

The Elimination Final saw fourth-placed Melbourne host fifth-placed Collingwood at VFL Park. This marked the 22nd final between the two clubs, having previously met in the 1988 First Semi-Final which was won by Melbourne. They had contested seven Grand finals – in 1926, 1939, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960 and 1964. Melbourne had won all but one of those Grand finals (when Collingwood famously prevented them from matching the four-in-a-row premiership feat in 1958), and the overall record was also in Melbourne's favour, with 15 wins, 5 losses and a draw in the 1928 Second Semi-Final.

Teams
This shows the teams as listed in The Football Record on the Thursday before the game. ^[1] Both teams were missing key players due to injury; Melbourne were missing star key-position player Garry Lyon (who had been out for several weeks with a groin/thigh injury) and defender Danny Hughes (groin strain), ^[2] while for Collingwood Darren Millane and Paul Hawke were unavailable, and full-forward Brian Taylor was omitted after admitting to coach Leigh Matthews that he was not fully fit. ^[3]

Melbourne

Collingwood

B: 27 Sean Wight 4 Tony Campbell 9 Alan Johnson HB: 14 Rod Grinter 28 Jamie Duursma 17 Brett Lovett C: 41 Peter Rohde 7 Brian Wilson 18 Steven Stretch HF: 21 Steven Febey 5 Earl Spalding 12 Todd Viney F: 48 Luke Beveridge 19 Darren Bennett 11 Jim Stynes Foll: 1 Steven O'Dwyer 34 Stephen Newport 33 Greg Healy (c) Int: 8 Graeme Yeats 45 Ricky Jackson Coach: John Northey

B: 43 Brendan Tranter 12 Denis Banks (vc) 3 Michael Gayfer HB: 28 Gavin Crosisca 21 Michael Christian 54 Terry Hecker C: 7 Shane Morwood 22 Tony Shaw (c) 19 Graham Wright HF: 24 Jamie Turner 33 David Cloke 2 David Robertson F: 35 Peter Daicos 27 Craig Starcevich 37 Athas Hrysoulakis Foll: 38 Damian Monkhorst 26 Gavin Brown 44 Shane Kerrison Int: 23 Craig Kelly 25 Ron McKeown Coach: Leigh Matthews

Match summary
Collingwood started well, with captain Shaw prolific early, gathering eight possessions in the opening 15 minutes and ably supported by Wright and Hrysoulakis. ^[4] In the absence of Taylor, Starcevich provided a viable alternative with three first half goals. A five-goal burst at the start of the third quarter helped Melbourne gain a lead they would not relinquish. The siren eventually sounded with the Demons having won their third consecutive elimination final, while for Collingwood it was again a bitter disappointment. Matthews

Scorecard

	Elimination Final
Saturday, 9 September 2:30pm	Melbourne	def.	Collingwood	VFL Park (crowd: 63,062)
	2.1 (13) 5.4 (34) 14.6 (90)  17.9 (111)	Q1 Q2 Q3  Final	3.2 (20) 6.7 (43) 10.7 (67)  13.10 (88)	Umpires: Carey, Sheehan
Bennett 4 Wilson 3 Campbell, Healy, Jackson 2 Newport, Spalding, Yeats, Viney 1		Goals	3 Starcevich 2 Kelly 1 Banks, Brown, Cloke, Crosisca, Daicos, Hrysoulakis, Robertson, Shaw
Febey, Spalding, Wilson, Lovett, Stynes, Duursma, Johnson, Jackson		Best	Wright, Hrysoulakis, Starcevich, Robertson, Turner
Beveridge (jarred knee)		Injuries
		Reports	Kerrison (striking)

Qualifying Final (Essendon v Geelong)

The Qualifying Final saw second-placed Essendon host third-placed Geelong at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Match Summary

Essendon's finals experience proved vital as they brushed aside a nervous Geelong team.

Scorecard

	Qualifying Final
Sunday, 10 September 2:30pm	Essendon	def.	Geelong	MCG (crowd: 75,861)
	5.5 (35) 12.9 (81) 19.12 (126)  24.13 (157)	Q1 Q2 Q3  Final	2.4 (16) 6.5 (41) 7.7 (49)  11.15 (81)	Umpires: Rich, Mitchell
Vander Haar 5 Long 4 Bewick, T Daniher 3 Antrobus, Plain, Watson 2 Bailey, Ezard, Madden 1		Goals	3 Ablett, Hamilton 1 Bews, Brownless, Bruns, Exell, G Hocking
Long, Bewick, Madden, Anderson, O'Donnell, T Daniher, Antrobus		Best	Lindner, Bews, Ablett, Bos

Week two (semi-finals)

First Semi-Final (Geelong vs Melbourne)

The First Semi-Final saw Geelong host Melbourne at the MCG. It was the third time the two sides had met in a VFL final, the previous occasion being over 30 years ago in the 1954 Preliminary final, which was won by Melbourne. The Cats made a number of changes to the side following their disappointing performance in the Qualifying final.^{[ clarification needed ]} The Demons fielded an unchanged team from their Elimination Final victory.

Teams

Geelong

Melbourne

B: 1 Steve Hocking 23 Michael Schulze 28 Tim Darcy HB: 24 Mark Bos 16 Bill Brownless 21 Mark Yeates C: 12 Spiro Malakellis 7 Paul Couch 36 David Cameron HF: 2 Bruce Lindner 26 Barry Stoneham 32 Garry Hocking F: 19 Neville Bruns 5 Gary Ablett 25 Shane Hamilton Foll: 30 Damian Bourke (c) 3 Mark Bairstow (vc) 27 Andrew Bews (dvc) Int: 14 Darren Flanigan 29 Damian Drum Coach: Malcolm Blight

B: 9 Alan Johnson 28 Jamie Duursma 27 Sean Wight HB: 14 Rod Grinter 5 Earl Spalding 17 Brett Lovett C: 41 Peter Rohde 7 Brian Wilson 18 Steven Stretch HF: 21 Steven Febey 4 Tony Campbell 12 Todd Viney F: 11 Jim Stynes 19 Darren Bennett 48 Luke Beveridge Foll: 1 Steven O'Dwyer 34 Stephen Newport 33 Greg Healy (c) Int: 45 Ricky Jackson 8 Graeme Yeats Coach: John Northey

Match Summary

After a week of criticism for their poor showing in the Qualifying final, Malcolm Blight demonstrated his ability to take calculated tactical risks to confuse the opposition and show his intent. Although Paul Couch and Mark Bairstow had been named in the starting line-up on the Thursday night, Blight anticipated that Melbourne would assign players to negate their influence. When the teams took their places on the field, the Demons were caught by surprise when Couch and Bairstow went to the bench and their places were taken in the middle by Mark Yeates and Damian Drum. ^[5] After being physically dominated by Essendon, the Cats were keen to assert themselves from the beginning.
The opening quarter was a fiery affair, with Geelong's excessive aggression threatening to backfire at times. While both sides had even scoring chances in the first half, Melbourne's wasted opportunities, especially in the second quarter when it kicked two goals and six behinds, were to prove costly. At the other end, Gary Ablett and Barry Stoneham were proving a handful for the Melbourne defence, having kicked seven of Geelong's eight goals for the half.
After starting on the bench, Couch and Bairstow were brought on for the second half as Geelong looked to capitalize on their half-time lead. ^[6] Ablett finished the game with seven goals and provided some unforgettable highlights, the first being a spectacular high mark, jumping into a pack and splitting it as he juggled the mark while falling to the ground. Almost as brilliant as his spectacular high mark over the pack was his one-handed mark in a one-on-one contest with Rod Grinter a few minutes later, which was finished with an excellent set shot goal.

Scorecard

	First semi-final
Sunday, 17 September (2:30pm)	Geelong	def.	Melbourne	MCG (crowd: 69,082)	Report
	3.3 (21) 8.8 (56) 12.11 (83)  22.21 (153)	Q1 Q2 Q3  Final	1.5 (11) 3.11 (29) 8.16 (64)  12.18 (90)	Umpires: Sheehan, Russo Television broadcast: Seven Network
Ablett 7 Stoneham 4 Brownless, Cameron 3 Hamilton 2 Bews, Couch, Darcy 1		Goals	3 Stretch 2 Bennett 1 Newport, Grinter, Yeats, Stynes, O'Dwyer, Healy, Beveridge
Hamilton, Bews, Stoneham, Ablett, S Hocking, Malakellis, Bairstow		Best	Lovett, Hurn, Stynes, Viney
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Yeates (striking), G Hocking (tripping)		Reports	Nil

Second Semi-Final (Hawthorn vs Essendon)

The Second Semi-Final saw Hawthorn play Essendon at VFL Park. The two clubs last met in the 1985 VFL Grand Final which was won by Essendon.

Teams

Hawthorn

Essendon

Hawthorn B: 4 Andrew Collins 24 Chris Langford 7 Gary Ayres HB: 20 Scott Maginness 2 Chris Mew 34 John Kennedy C: 18 Darrin Pritchard 3 Anthony Condon 9 Robert DiPierdomenico HF: 11 Gary Buckenara 23 Dermott Brereton 25 Peter Curran F: 10 Chris Wittman 19 Jason Dunstall 8 Dean Anderson Foll: 14 Greg Dear 17 Michael Tuck (c) 44 John Platten Int: 35 James Morrissey 31 Greg Madigan Coach: Allan Jeans

Essendon B: 49 Spiro Malakellis 28 Tim Darcy 24 Mark Bos HB: 2 Bruce Lindner 23 Michael Schulze 1 Steve Hocking C: 32 Garry Hocking 7 Paul Couch 19 Neville Bruns HF: 5 Gary Ablett 26 Barry Stoneham 21 Mark Yeates F: 8 Robert Scott 16 Billy Brownless 36 David Cameron Foll: 30 Damian Bourke (c) 3 Mark Bairstow 27 Andrew Bews Int: 14 Darren Flanigan 25 Shane Hamilton Coach: Kevin Sheedy

Match Summary

The highlight of the game was Brereton's perfectly executed hip-and-shoulder on Paul Vander Haar.

Scorecard

	Second semi-final
Saturday, 16 September (2:30pm)	Hawthorn	def.	Essendon	VFL Park (crowd: 66,003)	Report
	3.2 (20) 8.4 (52) 13.10 (88)  16.16 (112)	Q1 Q2 Q3  Final	5.4 (34) 7.6 (48) 9.6 (60)  11.10 (76)	Umpires: Clayton, Cameron Television broadcast: Seven Network
Dunstall 6 Buckenara 3 Curran, Pritchard 2 Dear, DiPierdomenico, Anderson 1		Goals	3 Bewick, Salmon 1 Antrobus, Long, Ezard, T Daniher, Manning
Platten, Anderson, Ayres, Buckenara, Dear, Pritchard		Best	Walsh, Anderson, Williams, Thompson, T Daniher, Hamilton
Nil		Reports	Nil

Week three (Preliminary Final)

Preliminary final (Essendon vs Geelong)

The Preliminary Final saw Essendon play Geelong at VFL Park on Saturday 23 September for the right to contest the grand final against Hawthorn. This marked the 400th VFL finals match since 1897, ^[7] and it was somewhat appropriate that it should be contested by Essendon and Geelong, since both those teams had finished the inaugural League season first and second, respectively. Essendon were forced to make a number of changes to the starting team, with Salmon, Harvey, Duckworth and Vander Haar all unavailable. For Geelong, there was only one change to the team which had beaten Melbourne the previous week; Robert Scott was selected to replace the suspended Mark Yeates.

Teams

Essendon

Geelong

Essendon B: 16 Paul Hamilton 6 Anthony Daniher 26 Mark Thompson HB: 15 Alan Ezard 30 Kevin Walsh 44 Gary O'Donnell C: 4 Michael Long 41 Andrew Manning 11 Greg Anderson HF: 32 Tim Watson (c) 5 Terry Daniher 14 Bradley Plain F: 21 Dean Wallis 24 Michael Werner 2 Tony Antrobus Foll: 27 Simon Madden (vc) 13 Darren Williams 8 Darren Bewick Int: 17 Kieran Sporn 31 Dean Bailey Coach: Kevin Sheedy

Geelong B: 12 Spiro Malakellis 23 Michael Schulze 1 Steve Hocking HB: 24 Mark Bos 28 Tim Darcy 29 Damian Drum C: 19 Neville Bruns 7 Paul Couch 5 Gary Ablett HF: 25 Shane Hamilton 26 Barry Stoneham 32 Garry Hocking F: 36 David Cameron 16 Bill Brownless 2 Bruce Lindner Foll: 30 Damian Bourke (c) 3 Mark Bairstow 27 Andrew Bews Int: 14 Darren Flanigan 8 Robert Scott Coach: Malcolm Blight

Match summary

In a dramatic 170-point turnaround, Geelong thrashed Essendon by 94 points. Essendon started well, leading by 11 points midway through the first quarter before Geelong took complete control. Blight again showed his willingness to experiment with positioning by playing his two half-forward flankers in defence, allowing his forwards more space. ^[8] Gary Ablett led the way with eight goals.

Scorecard

	Preliminary Final
Saturday, 23 September (2:30pm)	Essendon	def. by	Geelong	VFL Park (crowd: 67892)	Report
	4.3 (27) 6.4 (40) 6.9 (45)  10.10 (70)	Q1 Q2 Q3  Final	6.4 (40) 13.12 (90) 19.15 (129)  24.20 (164)	Umpires: Rich, Carey Television broadcast: Seven Network
Bewick, Sporn, Watson 2 Antrobus, Long, Anderson, Manning 1		Goals	8 Ablett 4 Brownless 3 Stoneham 2 Couch, Scott, G Hocking 1 Cameron, Bairstow, Bews
T Daniher, Buckenara, Tuck, Russo, Langford, Ayres		Best	Ablett, G Hocking, Stoneham, Bairstow, Bews, Bruns, Lindner, Couch
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Nil		Reports	Nil

Week four (Grand Final)

Main article: 1989 VFL Grand Final

This was Hawthorn's seventh successive Grand Final appearance, while Geelong were appearing in the big decider for the first time since 1967. The Hawks were chasing their 8th premiership and aiming to win back-to-back flags for the first time in the club's history, which they achieved in a high-scoring shootout. Gary Ablett Sr. tied Gordon Coventry's 1928 record for most goals in a grand final, kicking 9 for the game and 27 for the 1989 finals campaign; both remain as league records to this day. ^[9] Despite Ablett's dominance, Geelong lost by 6 points. The game was famous for Brereton's inspirational comeback after having his ribs broken and his kidney bruised.

By the end of the match, Hawthorn had only 13 fit players on the field. Scottish soccer player Ray Stewart observed the game and was recorded to have said: "I would not play this game for a million dollars." ^[10] The game is considered to be one of the best grand finals of all time. Rohan Connolly, writing for The Age , claimed it was the best grand final of all time. ^[11]

	Grand Final
30 September (2:50 pm)	Hawthorn	def.	Geelong	MCG (crowd: 94,796)	Report
	8.4 (52) 12.9 (81) 18.13 (121)  21.18 (144)	Q1 Q2 Q3  Final	2.0 (12) 7.2 (44) 13.7 (85)  21.12 (138)	Umpires: Carey, Sheehan Norm Smith Medal: Gary Ablett Television broadcast: Seven Network National anthem: John Farnham
Dunstall, Anderson, Buckenara 4 Brereton, Curran 3 DiPierdomenico, Wittman, Morrissey 1		Goals	9 Ablett 2 Brownless, Stoneham, Hamilton, Cameron 1 Bews, Bairstow, Bruns, Flanigan
Pritchard, Anderson, DiPierdomenico, Buckenara, Dunstall, Curran, Mew		Best	Ablett, Flanigan, Lindner, Hamilton, Bews, Couch
Brereton (ribs / kidney), Platten (concussion), DiPierdomenico (lung), Ayres (hamstring)		Injuries	Bourke (ankle)
DiPierdomenico (striking)		Reports	Nil

References

1. "TEAMS AS SELECTED ON THURSDAY NIGHT". The Football Record . Australian Football League. 9–10 September 1989. p. 33 – via State Library of Victoria.
2. Sheahan, Mike (10 September 1989). "Demons do it again". The Age . p. Sport - 2.
3. Wilson, Caroline (10 September 1989). "Matthews accuses his players". The Age . p. Sport - 3.
4. "Demons clip Magpies' wings". The Canberra Times . Vol. 64, no. 19, 695. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 10 September 1989. p. 11. Retrieved 5 July 2021– via National Library of Australia.
5. Atkinson & Atkinson (2009), p.416
6. "Cats hand in their handbags". The Canberra Times . Vol. 64, no. 19, 673. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 18 September 1989. p. 23. Retrieved 20 May 2021– via National Library of Australia.
7. Atkinson & Atkinson (2009), p. 417
8. "TIMES Sport Ablett steers Cats into grand final". The Canberra Times . Vol. 64, no. 19, 709. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 24 September 1989. p. 11. Retrieved 4 June 2021– via National Library of Australia.
9. "The Ablett effect". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 April 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
10. Jim Main, Aussie rules for dummies (2nd edition, 2008), p 10.
11. Connolly, Rohan (1 October 2015). "Best grand finals, No.1: Tough, tight, terrific, the 1989 grand final had it all". The Age. Retrieved 8 December 2022.

Bibliography

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

External links

• Sports portal
• Australia portal

• AFL finals series official website