Skip to main content

By Kim Densham reporting for AFANA from the Grand Final in Melbourne

'History is coming'…the catch cry of the AFL’s 150th year finals celebration. The last time Geelong and Hawthorn met in a Grand Final was in 1989 and back then against the run of play the Hawks  took home the ‘chocolates’,  would this year see another finals upset?  Geelong was out for big time revenge.  On ‘Home and Away’ form the Hawks had the wood on the Cats, despite the Cats win in round 17. Hawthorn was ominous then and although the Cats were without their key midfielders of Ablett, Ling and Milburn, they prevailed.  Hawks have won 3 of the last 5 encounters and Geelong, 40 of their last 42 matches. The key to this match were the injury concerns - Trent Croad, still had a suspected broken foot and Luke Hodge’s fractured ribs were the key for the Hawks. Geelong had selection dilemmas as well, Chapman was now fit, someone would be dropped, all fingers pointed to Wojinski, a tough call for Bomber Thompson and hard on the ‘Wojo’.  The other story was about Champion Shane Crawford – who joined the Hawks in 2001 soon after their magnificent run of premierships had ended in 1989 and as one of the games brightest talents, all Australian selection, Brownlow Medalist  – would his efforts be rewarded – banners around the ground read ‘Do It For Crawf’. It would be a fairytale ending for the enigmatic former Hawk Captain.  It has been 17 long years since their ninth Premiership – winning today would be their tenth.

The stadium hushed as the teams lined up for the national anthem – Hawthorn players linking arms, Geelong standing  at arm’s length  and then bedlam broke loose as the crowd of 100,012 raised the roof. This game was there to be lost as much as it was to be won. Geelong would rue their inaccuracy in front of goal during the pressure periods in the second and third quarters when the game was there to be won. Geelong’s intense run, possessions and midfield dominance that strangled Sam Mitchell and starved Roughhead and Franklin of the ball, were unable to convert game pressure into scoreboard pressure, kicking 14 behinds in a row.. No surprises in the match ups – Ling on Mitchell and Bateman on Ablett, Hodge at half back. Today was a big stage for Roughhead and Franklin, would it be a blowout?  The crowd was noticeably in support of Hawthorn, the Brown and Gold stood out in the stands and the Hawks linking arms during the National Anthem – all signs somehow seemed to be pointing to a Hawk victory – time would tell. Tom Harley won the toss and elected to kick to the City end.

The heavy beat of Led Zeppelin's ‘Immigrant Song’ blasted through the stadium’s sound system pumping up the crowd, as umpire McLaren prepared for the opening bounce. The siren sounded and the ball was bounced, a Geelong tap out to Bartell, wrapped up, ball spilled to Mitchell and quickly out to Franklin. Hawthorn seemed conscious that last year Geelong started strongly against Port and wanted to prevent a first quarter blow out. Geelong forced a turnover, Ling active – moved the ball forward to Lonergan, who scored – kicking the opening goal, two minutes into the 2008 Grand Final. Amazing story – a year ago he was near death after having lost a kidney and was recovering. Mooney looked after Hodge, testing his ribs with some early physical attention and the tough nut, Hodge, soaked it up. A ball up on center half forward, out to Ablett who handballed to Bartell who was wrapped up – free kick to Cats. Ling crunch tackled, limped off with a knee injury. Ball up, again tap out by Ottens to Kelly, the ball moved quickly on to Bartell then to Stevie J, and to Corey, who was gang tackled by three Hawks and coughed the ball up. Hodge was infringed quick free kick, across to Buddy who was deep in defense. He passed to Guerra out on the boundary; Buddy had run upfield and received the ball back, only to be flattened by Scarlett. Bateman intercepted the kick out and the Hawks opened their account in the 7th minute. 

The next three minutes were desperate, the Hawks applying half forward pressure with their small forwards doing the work, Rioli outstanding, intercepted a ball being passed sideways from Ablett to Hunt whose kick is cut off. Rioli to Xavier Ellis kicked the Hawks second inside 11 minutes. Enright moved off Rioli pressing forward and got caught out leaving Rioli the space cause damage. The next four minutes saw the Hawk engine room kick-started by Hodge’s resolute defense, his courage unwavering, unflinching in the tackles, presenting his injured ribs to on coming tacklers. The Cats played the ball inside to Chapman who was harassed by Brown who forced the turnover, ball to Ellis and passed to Buddy. Hawk fans delirious...but Buddy missed. The Cats played the Hawks at their own game, setting up an 18 man zone, but Mooney infringed, the ball quickly kicked  up the wing, Scarlo’s tackle on Buddy earned the Hawks a contentious free and Roughhead converted.  Two successive 50m free kicks followed, Ablett marked but was dragged to the ground by Bateman, the free put Ablett in range. The Hawk faithful were furious at the McLaren decision, boos resounded around the ground but Ablett scores. In the ensuing push and shove Ablett again got an easy shot from the goal square. Hawks were furious at their lack of discipline. Bartell played up the member’s wing to Selwood, the driving ball is played to Chapman who threaded it to ‘big’ Cam Mooney. Mooney turned and twisted, looked for options, and instead threaded a ‘Daicos like’ goal to put the Cats back in front. Soon after, the Cats conceded a 50m penalty against Mark Williams. Goal Hawks! The First Quarter ended a session characterized by its blistering pace, a goal scoring frenzy and the saw Cats in front by a point. They dominated the opening ten minutes, went walkabout for the next 10 and came back strong in the final 10 minutes.

Both teams headed into the shade for the quarter time huddle. Bomber delivering an old fashioned coach’s bake – directly aimed it seemed at Stokes. The 2nd quarter started with Ottens again outplaying Renouf in the ruck, he tapped out to Ling who played onto Lonergan. Lonergan passed back to Chapman who was crash tackled to earn a free kick. Chappie opened the scoring for the second term. Hodge has had two kicked on him – were those ribs hurting. Minutes later Rioli’s run earned him a free and he kicked the Hawks first goal of the term, scores still neck and neck.  Sewell had gone negative playing the man and Mitchell was being held by Ling with just 2 touches for the match so far, he needed to step up. Then disaster struck the Hawks; Croad landed awkwardly on his injured foot after colliding with Selwood and was aided from the ground limping badly. The Hawks were now down a player with their best tall defender gone. The human bowling ball, Chance Bateman fearlessly threw himself into a tackle emerging with a stinger in his shoulder, off the ground and down the race to the rooms. It was now up to Hodge to rally the troops; he stepped up his activity and hyper extended his knee, leaving the ground for some attention. Hodge and Bateman return but Croad’s day was done, he later appeared on crutches.

The Cats applied immense pressure, resolute in defense, their midfield fueled by Ablett’s energy, run and determination to win the footy, the Hawks feeling the pressure, their defense was now under siege, and Buddy played short stints in defense as Hawthorn rotated players to give them much needed breaks up forward. Half back’s Hodge, Brown and Ladson realizing there was no cavalry coming -  they were it - combined with centers Bateman, Lewis and Mitchell to try and stem the onslaught, desperate in holding Geelong’s gun forward line scoreless. The Cats moved the ball between them, running on at every opportunity started to feel the intensity of the Hawthorn tackling. It seemed that they were four goals up; when in reality it was just four points. The lack of scoreboard pressure made them desperate to move the ball. This caused uncharacteristic handling errors and the turnovers mounted.  It took twenty minutes into the second quarter for the Hawks to be rewarded for their ‘do or die’ defensive pressure. The Sherrin moved out to Buddy, he wheeled and deftly chipped it to Williams who kicked the Hawks second in a row. Geelong had only registered several behinds.  In the center Renouf had been exposed in the ruck by Ottens who combined with Ablett, he evaded the close attention of Bateman and hand balled to Varcoe - who missed another.   Lewis collected the kick out, passed to Young who looked up and went the mongrel punt to the square, hoping for Franklin or Roughead to mark. The punt kept on sailing, over the heads of the forwards, out out of reach of the Cat defenders, over the square and between the posts for a goal. The Hawks taking their chances and making the Cats pay on the scoreboard.  At the other end Stokes missed another and despite 32 inside 50’s Hawks now in front by four points.  In a physical committed passage of play Harley was slightly concussed after banging his head and was helped off the field. An opportunity presented itself to Mooney after Corey weaved, twisting and turning through the flying tackles was able to kick high for the mark. Mooney grabbed, walked back to kick, lined up and hit the post, shortly after the siren sounded half time relief and a chance for both teams to reassess their game plan for the second term.  Harley walked groggily back on the field to walk off the field with his team.  Hawk lead by 3 points. The Cats scored 12 behinds, their chance to bury the Hawks in the first half now gone.

The second term started with each team down a man, Croad for the Hawks and Harley for the Cats. Moony had the chance to score the opening goal for the term but missed from 30m out.  Young twisted his ankle and Hawks were now down 2 on the bench.  Chapman spoiled a Hawk run, passed to Enright who handballed to Ablett, a trade mark run ran into the goal, booting the Cats first major after they had kicked 12 behinds. A minute later Bateman ploughed through the Cats midfield, honoring a rare forward lead from Franklin. Buddy moved left in his natural kicking movement and scored an inspirational goal from just on 50m. Still the Cats zone constricting the Hawks movement out of defensive, yet the Cats still miss as Mooney kicks his third straight behind, the point leveled the scores.  The Scarlo and Buddy show, one of defensive desperation versus enigmatic forward magic, today though the honors were in favor of Scarlo. At the other end Hodge was systematic in marshalling the Hawthorn defense. He led by example with a ‘do or die’ attitude.  This match, a chance in a lifetime and he would not leave anything in the tank. Rioli contributed in defense, as Stevie J handballed with quick hands to Varcoe, Ling and Selwood, Cats moved too quickly, desperate to score  but failed in the skills department , their hurried hand work ending in error, despite Brown conceding under pressure. Guerra kicked out to Crawford, the old master, looked up; saw Buddy on a darting, circling run, Scarlo wearing him like a glove. The ball skimmed off his finger tips, flipped over the head of Scarlo and into the run of Rioli who crumbed the ball, darted through the line on a 25m run straight for the goals and from one meter out booted the ball into the top tier of the Great Southern stand, to the absolute delirium of the screaming Hawthorn fans. The lid had been blown off! Hawks by 11 points and delivered a psychological blow. Minutes later Bateman pounced on another defensive error, this time from Harry Taylor, who tripped and coughed up the ball. The lead now out to 17.

In an exciting period of pressure play the Hawthorn midfield finally broke the shackles of the Geelong stranglehold, then Roughead kicked to Williams, he scored and the lead quickly 24 points. Momentum and scoreboard pressure with the Hawks. When Milburn fumbled and Buddy finally put one over Scarlo and fed the ball out to Dew, amazingly appeared from defense in the forward line for a spell, dropped it onto his ‘left boot’ and scored an inspirational goal to cap off an intense period of play where the Hawks piled on three more goals and broke the back of the Geelong’s midfield dominance. In the dying minutes of the 3rd quarter, Stevie J was awarded a free kick about 75m from goal, He looked up to see Milburn had run towards the square,  he lined up and booted a massive torp, Milburn in the pack secured a neat chest mark on the line went back and kicked a much needed goal. Bateman, despite his cavalier tackling and effort at the ball, was being done by Ablett; Mitchell stepped in to aid his midfield teammate and flattened the Geelong midfield dynamo with reckless hip and shoulder. Stevie J took the kick downfield, as a groggy Ablett caught his breath. Johnson cut the lead to 17, kicking goal number 9 for the Cats.

The undermanned Hawks had their tired legs worked on furiously during the 3rd quarter break. Bomber Thompson’s message urgent, directing his charges, redefining their strategy, urging belief in their game plan. Once again Renouf failed against Otten in the opening bounce, Ablett skinned Bateman, but the ball ended up in the hands of Guerra, he conceded another behind. The kick out long to the center, moved onto Dew, who gathered, wound up for a long torp, missed. A barren period of play, a defensive deadlock, while Geelong’s run was fine in short burst their handball skills let them down and allowed the Hawks back into the game. The Hawks rotating defenders up front and Lewis, under pressure missed. It seemed as if the Cats had changed their game plan to neutralize the Hawks zoning tactics, this ploy worked well; however they somehow appeared unable to link up and play on smoothly- this was not working well. The lack of accuracy added pressure each time they missed.  Harley returned at the ten minute mark, his presence an inspiration, his impact immediate in the defense.  Still no goals had been kicked in the final term. The pace had slowed, legs were tired and the contests were now hard, decisive, committed and crunching. However game inspiration was to come from a more ominous and lethal source, Buddy!  Up the ground he broke free from the shackles of Scarlo, Bateman honored the lead and Buddy marked, the crowed bayed urging, willing him to score, as he played on he wheeled to his …left and scored – cometh the hour, cometh the man! The Hawthorn faithful were now in full cry, the stands vibrated to the loud, long drawn out chant of H-A-W-T-H-O-R-N! The Cats needed to pull back at least four unanswered goals – very unlikely now that Mitchell had negated Ling, and his impact since the 3rd quarter was solid and inspirational. A still stunned Harley was late on Ladson, the 50m penalty crucial, Ladson took his time with the kick; he stretched his legs, loosened his back, and rotated his shoulders, the clock winding down. He eventually got the move on from the umpire, lined up from 40m out and despite the angle, he never missed. The nail in the coffin! Hawthorn now surely Premiers, with around 12 minutes play remaining. Osborne slipped past Corey; handballed to Lewis, who kicked straight to Roughead, who marked, bumped his defender Milburn, turned and scored goal number 18 for the mighty Hawks. The fans, in one voice, sang out loud ‘We’re a happy team at Hawthorn, we’re the mighty, mighty Hawks! The Cats had one last hurrah when Selwood chipped to Lonergan, who bookended the Cats effort with his second.  Gary Ablett, dynamic, and a contender for the Norm Smith medal. For the Hawks the foundation of this victory was Luke Hodge, who played fearlessly with 91% effectiveness, his brand of footy tough, sometimes ugly, but always uncompromising. Dew had a brilliant passage of play that turned the tide and stemmed the Geelong midfield run with 10 touches and a fantastic long range goal. Shane Crawford had waited 305 games and 17 years to win a premiership – and celebrated his win with the now famous line ‘That’s what I’m talking about!’


Geelong 11.23 (89)
Hawthorn 18.7 (115)

GOALS
Geelong: Mooney 2, Ablett 2, Rooke 2, Lonergan 2, Chapman, Milburn, Johnson
Hawthorn: Williams 3, Dew 2, Rioli 2, Franklin 2, Roughead 2, Bateman, Ellis, Brown, Young, Hodge, Mitchell, Ladson


Official crowd: 100,012 at the MCG

Article last changed on Sunday, September 28, 2008 - 9:04 PM EDT


Recent content

Partners

Worldfootynews.com

Our Favorite Footy Podcasts

A Yank on the Footy

 

Donnie's Disposal

 

Americans Watching the Footy

Shorten URLs

*

 

We Recommend:

ENJOY 40% OFF SITEWIDE!

  • The future of vitamins is here! Say goodbye to generic multivitamins cluttering your table top. 
  • With Vitable, you get personalized daily vitamin packs tailored to your unique diet, lifestyle and health needs.
  • All you need to do is complete a simple online quiz and unlock your expert recommendation. 
  • Join the 400,000+ people embracing the Vitable way with 40% OFF your first order
  • Use the promo code AFANA40 at checkout.