| 1990 AFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 6 October 1990, 2.30pm | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 98,944 | |||||||||||||||
| Umpires | Sawers, Rowan | |||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | ||||||||||||||||
| Pre-match entertainment | Normie Rowe | |||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Normie Rowe | |||||||||||||||
| Accolades | ||||||||||||||||
| Norm Smith Medallist | Tony Shaw (Collingwood) | |||||||||||||||
| Jock McHale Medallist | Leigh Matthews | |||||||||||||||
| Broadcast in Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Network | Seven Network | |||||||||||||||
| Commentators | Bruce McAvaney (host) Sandy Roberts (commentator) Ian Robertson (commentator) Don Scott (expert commentator) Bernie Quinlan (boundary rider) Michael Roberts (boundary rider) Peter McKenna (analyst) Ross Glendinning (analyst) | |||||||||||||||
The1990 AFL Grand Final was anAustralian rules football game contested between theCollingwood Football Club and theEssendon Football Club, held at theMelbourne Cricket Ground inMelbourne on 6 October 1990. It was the 94th annualgrand final of theAustralian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League), staged to determine thepremiers for the1990 AFL season. The match, attended by 98,944 spectators, was won by Collingwood by a margin of 48 points, marking that club's 14th premiership victory.
During the first half of the 20th century Collingwood was very successful, winning the majority of its premierships during this time. However, since winning the1958 VFL Grand Final, Collingwood had madenine unsuccessful grand final attempts in 32 years (including a draw in the1977 VFL Grand Final againstNorth Melbourne). Essendon had last played a grand final in1985, which it had won againstHawthorn; that match was the last game of Collingwood coach and then-Hawthorn forwardLeigh Matthews' playing career.
At the conclusion of thehome-and-away season, Essendon hadfinished first on the AFL ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses. Collingwood had finished second with 16 wins and 6 losses. The top five qualified for the finals, which were played under theMcIntyre final five system.
Unusually, the grand final was held in October, since Collingwood andWest Coast played a draw in the qualifying final atWaverley Park in the first week of the finals. The match was replayed the following week, with Collingwood winning convincingly by 59 points to advance to the second semi-final against Essendon. In the second semi-final, Collingwood scored ten goals to two after half time to win by 63 points and advance to the grand final. Essendon faced West Coast in the preliminary final, winning by 63 points, to earn its place in the grand final.
Collingwood's drawn qualifying final with West Coast caused the grand final and all other finals to be delayed by a week from the originally scheduled dates, which proved both controversial and commercially challenging. It was controversial because, when Essendon played the second semi-final, it had been 21 days since its last competitive match (having received the minor premier's bye, followed by a bye for the replayed final); although the club played an unofficial practice match against 12th-placed Fitzroy during the second week, the extra week off was thought to have affected Essendon's form and contributed to its losses in the second semi-final and, ultimately, the grand final.[1] It also caused an unprecedented commercial and logistical challenge, as a large number of league and corporate events related to grand final week had to be rescheduled, impacting travel, venues and hotels; drawn finals had occurred before, but the number and scale of corporate grand final week events had increased significantly since the last time a drawn finals match forced the grand final to be rescheduled in 1972.[2] As a result, starting from 1991, the rules were changed to allowextra time to be played in drawn finals (excluding the grand final) to ensure the grand final date would not change.
The match began with Essendon starting strongly, as the Bombers' beanpole full-forwardPaul Salmon kicked two early goals from strong marks. The signs looked ominous for Collingwood who were unable to penetrate before a classic goal byPeter Daicos from the boundary followed by a late goal byGavin Brown from an Essendon turnover gave the inaccurate Magpies a three-point lead, and considerable momentum, at the first change.
At the sounding of the quarter time siren, a wild brawl erupted in the Essendon forward pocket drawing all players on the ground and spreading to include team officials. During the brawl, Gavin Brown was flattened byTerry Daniher in retaliation for Brown fellingKieran Sporn. The umpires, police, stadium security and Channel Seven boundary riderBernie Quinlan were needed to restore order. In the aftermath ten players and officials were reported (see below for details). The violent brawl, beamed live across Australia and the world, shocked viewers, fans and officials alike, and would be the catalyst for the AFL to crack down on violence in the game, leading to greater penalties and severe fines for players engaging in brawls.
Following the brawl, the umpires took a hard line on any indiscretions. Collingwood, playing in front at the contests, benefitted from this, and won several free kicks and fifty metre penalties, from which they scored five goals in the first nine minutes of the quarter. Essendon never really recovered from this purple patch, and after finishing with six goals to one in the second quarter, Collingwood led by 34 points at half time.
Collingwood continued strongly after half time, whilst Kevin Sheedy had shuffled his Essendon players into different positions all across the ground in an attempt to bridge the deficit, attempting to replicate his successful three-quarter-time efforts in the1984 VFL Grand Final.Craig Starcevich was knocked out by Terry Daniher after taking a mark, withMick McGuane taking his kick and scoring from the resultant 50 metre penalty. Peter Daicos scored a spectacular goal from near the behind post to extend Collingwood's margin to 46 points. Essendon scored the next two goals midway through the third quarter with two quick goals, before Gavin Brown goaled late to give Collingwood a 40-point lead at three-quarter time.
Essendon attacked and dominated the play early in the last quarter but could only manage behinds, including hitting the post twice from set shots. After absorbing the Essendon pressure for twenty minutes, Collingwood'sDoug Barwick scored the first goal of the quarter, with a snapshot from 25 metres. The siren sounded soon afterDamian Monkhorst scored to make the margin 48 points. Essendon was held goalless in the final quarter.
TheNorm Smith Medal was awarded to Collingwood's Tony Shaw for being judged the best player afield, with 32 possessions in an inspirational display. He was the first team captain to be awarded the medal.
Ten players and officials were reported on a total of seventeen offences as a result of the quarter-time brawl. The reports and tribunal outcomes were:
The win was the first for Leigh Matthews as coach. He had previously captained Hawthorn to grand finals in the 1980s, and later went on to coach theBrisbane Lions to three premierships in the 2000s.
Many of Essendon's senior players retired or moved on in the following two seasons; however, their next grand final appearance came only three years later, when the Baby Bombers (so named because of the high number of players they had under 21) and won the1993 AFL Grand Final againstCarlton. Collingwood did not win another premiership for 20 years, until they defeated St Kilda in the2010 replay.
In a tragic postscript, Collingwood playerDarren Millane, who was in possession of the ball when the final siren sounded, died in a car accident one year and one day after the match.
Pre-match entertainment was provided byNormie Rowe, the Victorian Children's Choir and the Combined Services Band singingWaltzing Matilda andAdvance Australia Fair. US PGA champion golferWayne Grady made a lap of honour of the ground.[3]
After the match, the premiership cup was presented by Jack Hamilton Jr., son of long-time VFL administratorJack Hamilton who had died during the season. TheNorm Smith Medal was presented by six-timeMelbourne premiership playerBluey Adams[3]
     Collingwood |    Essendon |
| 1990 AFL Grand Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 6 October 2:30pm | Collingwood | def. | Essendon | MCG (crowd: 98,944) | |
| 2.5 (17) 8.9 (57) 11.10 (76) 13.11 (89) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 2.2 (14) 3.5 (23) 5.6 (36) 5.11 (41) | Umpires:Sawers, Rich Norm Smith Medal:Tony Shaw Television broadcast:Seven Network National anthem:Normie Rowe | ||
| Brown,Barwick,Crosisca,Russell,Daicos 2 Monkhorst,Starcevich,McGuane 1 | Goals | 2Salmon 1Kickett,Somerville,Grenvold | |||
| Shaw,Russell,Monkhorst,Millane,Francis,Kerrison,Starcevich,Crosisca,McGuane | Best | Watson,Sporn,T. Daniher,Kickett,Ezard,O'Donnell | |||
| Brown (concussion),Starcevich (concussion) | Injuries | Nil | |||
| SeeTribunal | Reports | SeeTribunal | |||
| Collingwood Magpies | 89–41 | Essendon Bombers |
| (13.11) | (5.11) |
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