Back to Essendon Part 1
John Coleman (left), a bona fide great of the game, pictured during the 1966 season when he was coach of the Bombers.
The 1949 season heralded the arrival on the VFL scene of John Coleman, arguably the greatest player in Essendon's history, and, in the view of some, the finest player the game has known. In his first ever appearance for the Dons, against Hawthorn in round 1 1949, he booted 12 of his side's 18 goals to create an opening round record which was to endure for forty-five years. More importantly, however, he went on to maintain the same high level of performance throughout the season, kicking precisely 100 goals for the year to become the first player to 'top the ton' since Richmond's Jack Titus in 1940.
The Coleman factor was just what Essendon needed to enable them to take that vital final step to premiership glory, but even so it was not until the business end of the season that this became clear. The Bombers (as they were popularly known by this time) struggled to qualify for the finals in 4th place, but once there they suddenly ignited to put in one of the most consistently devastating September performances in VFL history.
Collingwood succumbed first as the Dons powered their way to an 82 point first semi final victory, and a fortnight later it was the turn of North Melbourne as Essendon won the preliminary final a good deal more comfortably than the ultimate margin of 17 points suggested. In the grand final the Same Old were pitted against Carlton and in a match that was a total travesty as a contest they overwhelmed the Blues to the tune of 73 points, 18.17 (125) to 6.16 (52). Best for the Dons included pacy half back flanker Norm McDonald, ruckman Bob McLure, and rovers Bill Hutchison and Ron McEwin. John Coleman also did well, registering 6 majors.
A year later Essendon was if anything even more dominant, defeating North Melbourne in both the second semi final and the grand final to secure consecutive VFL premierships for the third time. Best afield in the grand final in what was officially his swansong as a player was captain-coach Dick Reynolds, who received sterling support from the likes of Norm McDonald, ruckman/back pocket Wally May, back pocket Les Gardiner, and big Bob McLure.
With 'King Dick' still holding court as coach in 1951, albeit now in a non-playing capacity, Essendon seemed on course for a third consecutive flag but a controversial four week suspension dished out to John Coleman on the eve of the finals effectively put paid to their chances. Coleman was reported for retaliation after twice being struck by his Carlton opponent, Harry Caspar, and without him the Dons were rated a 4 goals poorer team. Nevertheless, they still managed to battle their way to a 6th successive grand final with wins over Footscray by 8 points in the second semi final and Collingwood by 2 points in the preliminary final.
The Dons sustained numerous injuries in the preliminary final and the selectors sprang a surprise on grand final day by naming the officially retired Dick Reynolds as 20th man. 'King Dick' was powerless to prevent the inevitable, however, as Geelong kept their noses in front all day to notch victory by 11 points.
Essendon slumped to 8th in 1952 but John Coleman was in irrepressible form managing 103 goals for the year. Hugh Buggy noted in 'The Argus':
It was the wettest season for twenty two years and Coleman showed that since the war he was without peer in the art of goalkicking. [see footnote 7]
Two seasons later Coleman's career was tragically ended after he dislocated a knee during the round 8 clash with North Melbourne at Essendon. Aged just twenty-five, he had kicked 537 goals in only 98 VFL games in what was generally a fairly low scoring period for the game. His meteoric rise and fall were clearly the stuff of legend, and few if any players, either before or since, have had such an immense impact over so brief a period.
|
Essendon's 1958 and 1962 club champion, and triple All Australian, Jack Clarke, pictured during a state training session on the Adelaide Oval. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) |
According to Alf Brown, football writer for 'The Herald': (Coleman) had all football's gifts. He was courageous, a long, straight kick, he had a shrewd football brain and, above all, he was a spectacular, thrilling mark. [see footnote 8] Somewhat more colourfully, R.S. Whittington suggested, "Had he been a trapeze artist in a strolling circus, Coleman could have dispensed with the trapeze." [see footnote 9] Without Coleman, Essendon's fortunes plummeted, and there were to be no further premierships in the 1950s. The nearest miss came in 1957 when the Bombers earned premiership favouritism after a superb 16 point second semi final defeat of Melbourne, only to succumb by over 10 goals against the same side a fortnight later. 1959 saw another grand final loss to Melbourne, this time by 37 points, but the fact that the average age of the Essendon side was only twenty-two was seen as providing considerable cause for optimism. However, it was to take another three years, and a change of coach, before the team's obvious potential was translated into tangible success. John Coleman returned to the club as senior coach in 1961 but a severe bout of hepatitis during the season prevented his exerting as great an impact as he would have liked. The Bombers finished a disappointing 7th in 1961, with 9 wins and a draw from 18 matches, but in 1962 they were well nigh invincible. After sustaining only 2 defeats all year in the roster matches, they comprehensively overran Geelong in the second semi final by 46 points to enter the grand final as virtually unbackable favourites. Once there, they never looked in danger, and Carlton went the same way as the Cats, the margin this time being 32 points. Best for Essendon in a 13.12 (90) to 8.10 (58) triumph watched by a crowd of 98,385 were rovers Jack Clarke and John Birt, ruck rover Hugh Mitchell, ruckman Geoff Leek and half back flanker Alec Epis. |
Journalist Alf Brown had no doubt as to who deserved the lion's share of the credit:
When Essendon play their first League match at home next season they will unfurl a pennant which will read 'VFL Premiers 1962'. Underneath it should be 'By courtesy of John Coleman'. [see footnote 10]
| In 1963 the Bomber missed the finals on percentage while
in 1964 they went down by 19 points to Geelong
in the first semi final. Essendon
fans with long memories could have been excused for experiencing a sense of
déjà vu a year later when, just as in 1949, the team qualified for the finals
in 4th place and then proceeded to sweep all before them in a triumphant march
to the premiership. Geelong in the first semi final were the first to go by the
wayside, the Bombers getting home by 52 points, 14.19 (103) to 7.9 (51). Next it
was Collingwood
to the tune of 55 points, 14.13 (97) to 6.6 (42), and in the
grand final there was only one side in it all day as Essendon overwhelmed St
Kilda by 35 points, 14.21 (105) to 9.16 (70). Ruckman Brian Sampson and 7 goal
full forward Ted Fordham vied for best afield honours, with centre half forward
Ken Fraser, half forward flanker Geoff Gosper and half back flanker Barry Davis
also performing impressively.
St Kilda gained revenge over the Bombers in 1966 with a 42 point preliminary final victory, and at the end of the following season, which saw Essendon finish in 6th position, John Coleman was forced by continuing health problems to resign as coach. His replacement was another Bomber legend, Jack Clarke, who had retired as a player early the previous season after a career total of 263 VFL games. On taking up the appointment Clarke announced: "I don't propose to make any radical changes in training routine, but I want to try to put more fun and enjoyment back into football. I would like to prove that football is not the deadly thing that people like to make out it is." [see footnote 11] |
Ken Fraser marks over team mate Charlie Payne in a clash with Geelong during the 1960s. (Click on the image to view an enlarged version.) |
There was plenty of enjoyment for Essendon supporters for most of the 1968 season as the side finished the home and away games in pole position, but things turned sour very quickly come September as Carlton proved their superiority in both the second semi final (by 36 points) and grand final (by 3 points). Interspersed between these two matches there was a comfortable 24 point triumph over Geelong in the preliminary final, but on grand final day, despite the narrow margin, 116,828 spectators were seldom in any real doubt as to where the 1968 VFL premiership pennant was heading.
|
Essendon's Western Australian ruckman Graham Moss, winner of the 1976 Brownlow Medal as well as two Essendon and four Claremont best and fairest awards. (Click on the image to see an enlarged version.) |
There was plenty of enjoyment for Essendon supporters for most of the 1968 season as the side finished the roster games in pole position, but things turned sour very quickly come September as Carlton proved their superiority in both the second semi final (by 36 points) and grand final (by 3 points). Interspersed between these two matches there was a comfortable 24 point triumph over Geelong in the preliminary final, but on grand final day, despite the narrow margin, 116,828 spectators were seldom in any real doubt as to where the 1968 VFL premiership pennant was heading. The 1968 grand final defeat signalled the start of a prolonged barren spell for the Bombers under a succession of coaches. After Jack Clarke's departure at the end of the 1970 season John Birt took the helm for a single unsuccessful twelve month stint, following which Des Tuddenham (1972-75), Bill Stephen (1976-77), and Barry Davis (1978-80) all experienced similar levels of frustration. The arrival of former Prahran and Richmond champion Kevin Sheedy in 1981, however, heralded a change of fortune. Sheedy, a veteran of 251 games with the Tigers, had actually barracked for Essendon as a boy, and indeed the Bombers had previously sought to appoint him as coach as early as 1976. Under Sheedy the Bombers won an unprecedented 15 home and away matches in a row between rounds 7 and 21. They also won 3 consecutive night series games during the same period, including a 24 point victory over eventual day premiers Carlton in the night grand final. The finals proved a major disappointment, however, with Essendon bowing out to Fitzroy, a team which often seemed to have Essendon's measure during this period, in the elimination final. |
The 1982 season ended in similar fashion with North Melbourne ousting the Bombers from premiership contention in the elimination final, 19.14 (128) to 16.19 (115). In 1983, however, the Sheedy formula finally appeared to be working, and finals defeats of Carlton (by 33 points), Fitzroy (by 23 points) and North Melbourne (by 86 points) gave the club its first grand final appearance for 15 years. Once there, however, the Bombers lost the plot completely, succumbing to Hawthorn by a humiliating 83 points in one of the most embarrassingly one sided premiership deciders of all time. "I hope you're hurt," said Sheedy at the club's post match function. Sheedy himself most certainly was, and in 1984 he ensured that everyone connected with the club embarked together on a single-minded crusade to erase the memories of the 1983 debacle.
The only way to do this, needless to say, was to win a premiership, something which Essendon had now been unable to accomplish for the longest ever period in the club's senior history. A comprehensive victory over the Swans in the night grand final bolstered confidence, and this was further reinforced when, after winning 18 out of 22 home and away matches, the club secured pole position going into the finals. Confidence was damaged somewhat after an 8 point loss to Hawthorn in the second semi final, but the Dons had the minor consolation of having participated in a match which was widely regarded as a classic. As one football writer put it:
If the VFL wanted a game to get the adrenalin flowing and the crowds back then it was yesterday's memorable affair. [see footnote 12]
| The adrenalin was certainly flowing in full measure a week
later as Essendon proceeded to annihilate Collingwood
by a VFL preliminary final
record 133 points. Essendon's total of 28.6 (174) represented one of the most
astonishing displays of accuracy in front of goal in senior Australian football
history.
For three quarters the 1984 VFL grand final was a tight, torrid affair, with Essendon battling desperately to break the shackles of Hawthorn's vigorous, hard tackling, no nonsense approach to the game. After Kevin Sheedy made a series of inspired positional changes at three quarter time, however, the floodgates opened, and the Bombers piled on 8.6 to 2.1 to win running away, 14.21 (105) to 12.9 (81). Bill Duckworth, who had been moved by Sheedy from full back to the forward lines during the last term, won the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground, while centreman Leon Baker, half forward Glenn Hawker, half back flanker Shane Heard, and back pocket and later centre half forward Paul Weston also shone. (A more detailed, goal by goal account of the 1984 VFL grand final can be found here.) Twelve months later Essendon had developed into arguably the most awesome combination in VFL history. The 1985 Bombers had everything: pace, skill, aggression, power and height, all reinforced by cohesive teamwork of the highest order. After suffering only 3 defeats during the home and away matches, Essendon proved comfortably superior to Hawthorn in the second semi final (by 40 points), and then thoroughly annihilated the Hawks a fortnight later in the 'big one'. Final scores were Essendon 26.14 (170) to Hawthorn 14.8 (92), with the Bombers' winning margin of 78 points being the third biggest in VFL grand final history up to that point. Ruckman Simon Madden was named Norm Smith Medallist after a typically commanding all round performance, with others to shine including ruck rover Tim Watson, rover Darren Williams, centreman Leon Baker, and 6 goal full forward Paul Salmon, who some had expected to be left out of the side after a mediocre showing in the second semi final. |
Paul Salmon wins a ruck contest at Windy Hill against West Coast's Phil Scott. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) |
As almost always seems to happen after a team has recorded a spectacular grand final triumph, people were quick to leap onto the bandwagon proclaiming the onset of a 'dynasty', but, as is equally often the case, reality proved a great deal different from expectations. The remainder of the 1980s developed into something of a depressing time for Essendon, with the side going out in the first week of the finals against regular nemesis Fitzroy in 1986, before nose-diving to consecutive 9th places in '87 and '88. 1989 was, in some ways, even more disappointing, the side flattering to deceive with a 76 point annihilation of Geelong in the qualifying final before successive crushing defeats at the hands of Hawthorn and a revitalised Geelong decisively put paid to their premiership aspirations.
Where now?
or
or
7. Flying Higher, Michael Maplestone, page 169. Return to Main Text
8. Ibid., page 175. Return to Main Text
9. In Great Australian Football Stories by Graeme Hutchinson, page 223. Return to Main Text
10. Flying Higher, Michael Maplestone, page 194. Return to Main Text
11. Ibid., page 208. Return to Main Text
12. Ibid., page 249. Return to Main Text
