Back to Essendon Part 2
The 1990 season commenced in promising vein with the Bombers comfortably defeating North Melbourne by 36 points in the night series grand final, and for a while the season looked to be developing into a carbon copy of 1984 as the side went on to clinch the minor premiership as well. The finals soon put paid to any illusions, however, as Collingwood proved to have the Dons' measure in both the second semi final (by 63 points) and grand final (by 48 points). A year later there was further disappointment as the side failed to progress beyond the first week of the finals (which this season, for the first time, involved the leading six sides at the end of the home and away season), and in 1992 there was a further drop to 8th.
The 1992 season also saw Essendon's members vote 2,085-413 in favour of a move to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for home games. The club continued to use Essendon Recreation Ground (or 'Windy Hill' as it was popularly known from the 1950s) as training and administrative headquarters, however.
The 1993 season had a memorable opening as Essendon overcame rank outsiders Richmond 14.18 (102) to 11.13 (79) in the night series grand final at Waverley. The match was watched by a record crowd for the competition of 75,533.
The Bombers continued their fine form into what developed into a very evenly contested home and away season, finishing the minor round on top of the ladder with 13 wins and a draw from 20 matches. Injuries sustained by five key players in the last home and away game of the year against Geelong meant that Essendon entered the qualifying final against Carlton with a seriously under strength side, a fact which made their eventual 2 point loss almost commendable. With their injured stars back in action a week later the Bombers easily accounted for West Coast by 32 points in the first semi final, and then, in one of the most absorbing preliminary finals of all time, overcame a 42 point half time deficit against Adelaide to record an emotion-charged victory by 11 points.
After that, the grand final was almost an anti-climax, with Carlton succumbing meekly by 44 points, a margin which frankly flattered them. Aboriginal wingman Michael Long reminded everyone that this was the Year of the Indigenous People by winning the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground, but such was the all round brilliance of Essendon's display that players like ruck-rover Gary O'Donnell (who earned 24 kicks, 9 marks and 9 handballs), centre half back Mark Harvey, 5 goal full forward and ruckman Paul Salmon, and half back flanker and skipper Mark 'Bomber' Thompson could all have laid almost equal claim to the honour. Final scores were Essendon 20.13 (133) to Carlton 13.11 (89); it was the Bombers 15th AFL/VFL flag, a record they now shared with their vanquished foes. (However, Essendon also have 4 VFA premierships compared to Carlton's 2, not to mention 6 night flags compared to 2 for the Blues.)
| Essendon's 1993 premiership team was one of the youngest for many years, and continued success was almost universally predicted. However, in 1994, partly it is true because of a rash of injuries to key players, the side performed dismally to record only 11 wins from 22 matches and finish 10th. With coach Sheedy still at the helm, however, and most of the 1993 premiership combination still at the club, the Bombers were most people's tip to be the big improvers in 1995, and to some extent this proved to be the case. The side ended the home and away rounds in 4th spot and then scored an encouraging 19 point victory over reigning premiers West Coast in a qualifying final. However, after establishing a commanding 5 goal half time lead against Richmond in a semi final the Bombers suffered an uncharacteristic fade out to go down by 13 points and earn an end of year report card which read 'Could have done better'. |
Bomber champion Tim Watson who retired - for the second and final time - after the 1993 grand final. (Click on the image to view an enlarged version.) |
With coach Sheedy reportedly pondering his future involvement at Windy Hill the club's immediate prospects seemed shrouded in uncertainty. However, 1996 saw Sheedy still very much at the helm as the Bombers went within a single point, kicked by Sydney's Tony Lockett after the final siren in the preliminary final, of making another grand final. James Hird's popular Brownlow win afforded some consolation.
After a spectacular start to the 1997 season which saw the Bombers installed as early premiership favourites things took an equally spectacular turn for the worse and the club failed even to qualify for the finals. Injuries to key players, notably the irrepressible Hird, quite obviously did not help, but it has never been the Essendon way to proffer excuses for failure.
Season 1998 brought slight improvement with the Bombers qualifying for the finals in 8th spot, but 8th spot was where they ultimately remained following a 22 point qualifying final defeat at the hands of North Melbourne. Defeat may have been difficult to bear, but at least it was predictable; the same could not be said a year later after Essendon's shock preliminary final defeat at the hands of Carlton. The Bombers had finished the home and away season at the top of the ladder and a 69 point qualifying final demolition of Sydney only served to emphasise their flag favouritism. The Blues meanwhile had qualified for the September action in 6th spot and then endured the mother and father of a hiding at the Gabba in the opening week of the finals. Their 'reward' for this capitulation, however, owing to a scandalous agreement between the AFL and the MCG authorities, was a home final the following weekend against West Coast, which had finished one place higher on the ladder than Carlton before downing the Western Bulldogs in Melbourne in their qualifying final. The Blues duly won this farcical semi final and made the most of their good fortune the following week with a nerve-wrenching solitary point triumph over the depressingly inaccurate Bombers. The absurd frailties of the AFL's final eight system had seldom been more starkly revealed, and it would not be long before the league took notice and addressed the matter. [see footnote 13]
Essendon's performances in season 2000 were among the most noteworthy in football history. After waltzing unbeaten to the Ansett Cup the Bombers won all bar 1 of 25 home and away and finals matches culminating in an apparently effortless 10 goal grand final demolition of Melbourne. Such bare statistics cannot convey the full extent of Essendon's supremacy, however. At times the Bombers seemed to be performing on a different plane than every other team. For instance, in the qualifying final against reigning premiers the Kangaroos Essendon shattered virtually every finals record in the book in amassing a score of 31.12 (198) and a winning margin of 125 points. [see footnote 14]
For much of the 2001 season it seemed that Essendon was on course to repeat its previous year's triumph. However, late in the season a few cracks began to appear in the hitherto impregnable Bomber facade, and although the side once again contested the grand final it was significantly outplayed after half time by an effervescently determined Brisbane Lions outfit.
Season 2002 brought a further decline in fortunes as the Bombers succumbed to Port Adelaide in a torrid semi final to finish a disappointing 5th, while an identical end to the following year yielded an even less auspicious 6th position on the premiership ladder. In 2004, Essendon managed to oust Fremantle from the last spot in the 'eight' on the final weekend of the home and away season before raising expectations with an exhilarating closely fought win over Melbourne in an elimination final. The following week, however, despite going into their semi final clash with Geelong as favourites, the Bombers faced an uphill climb after a torpid 1st half and ultimately fell short by 10 points. Near disaster followed in 2005, as the team played inconsistently all year to record just 8 wins from 22 home and away matches, and slump to 13th place on the ladder, its worst finish since 1997. If Dons fans thought that was bad, however, many of them would have been unprepared for what happened in 2006 as the side endured one of the very worst seasons in its history, managing just 3 wins and a draw to miss the wooden spoon only on percentage. The 2007 season brought considerable improvement in what was to be the last of Kevin Sheedy's twenty-seven year stint as coach, but 10 wins from 22 matches was still not quite good enough to secure finals participation, while an 8-14 record the following year in Matthew Knights' first season at the helm was even further off the mark..
To end on a bright note, however, Essendon is one of only a handful of Melbourne-based clubs about which merger speculation has not focused in recent years. Indeed, by 1996 the Bombers had overtaken Collingwood as Victoria's best supported club, and while nothing is certain, either in life or in football, it is hard not to see the club returning to the forefront of the game sooner rather than later.
Where now?
or
13. The AFL finally introduced a fairer and more sensible final 8 system in 2000, whereby the top 4 clubs were all assured of the 'double chance' in week one. Return to Main Text
14. This winning margin had only been bettered once previously when Essendon 28.6 (174) defeated Collingwood 5.11 (41) - a margin of 133 points - in the preliminary final of 1984. Return to Main Text
