50 Best Essendon Wins since 2000 (countdown)

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Wonderful descriptions @Ta0Ta

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Best Win Since 2000 No. 11

Round 2 2015 vs Hawthorn

Essendon 2.2.14 7.3.45 9.4.58 12.6.78
Hawthorn 1.3.9 3.5.23 7.8.50 11.10.76

Context

  • Essendon had started the season with a loss at the SCG to 2014 Grand Finalist, Sydney. The Bombers looked excellent until Sydney went on a 53-0 run to finish the game.

  • Hawthorn had won back-to-back premierships and opened their season with a 10-goal thumping of Geelong.

Why it’s on the list / key moments

  • For the second week running, the Bombers looked pretty comfortable in the 1st half as they kicked 7 of the first 8 goals.

  • Off-season recruit, Adam Cooney, was receiving the loving “Coooooh” cheers from the crowd in his first home game in red-and-black. In the 2nd quarter, Cooney kicked a beautifully weighted pass inside 50 which Travis Colyer didn’t have to break stride for. Colyer fed off to Paul Chapman who ran into an open goal. Two minutes later, Zach Merrett snapped a goal of his own to make the scores 45-10.

  • Early in the 3rd quarter, Travis Colyer kicked a fantastic drop punt set shot from outside the boundary line to slow the Hawks’ comeback.

  • The Hawks had cut the margin to 3 points late in the 3rd quarter before the Bombers finally strung together some end-to-end football. Joe Daniher marked thanks to a good kick to advantage from Tom Bellchambers, before kicking his 3rd goal of the afternoon.

  • Another goal drought left Essendon trailing 60-76 and facing a second consecutive 2nd half fade out. Jake Carlisle marked a long kick from David Zaharakis before kicking truly.

  • With less than 2 minutes remaining, Cale Hooker marked on the last line of defense. He kicked quickly to Zaharakis at centre half back, who found Watson by hand, who himself found Carlisle. Carlisle chipped short to Chapman, who slipped at the 50m arc, but it worked out perfectly as Colyer zoomed past to receive the handball and kicked a low chip through the big sticks for a ripping goal.

  • The Essendon home crowd could smell a win as the umpire waited to restart play. Jake Melksham cleared high and long to a huge pack inside the Bombers’ forward 50. The ball fell to Colyer, who handballed into space for Hooker to run onto. Hooker, with 7 career goals to his name at the time, caught up to the ball and snapped quickly. The ball wobbled through the air but right through the middle all the same. Scenes.

  • Somehow there was still so much to unfold. Hawthorn went inside 50 soon after the restart. Hawk Jonathan Orourke had his snap at goal desperately smothered by Brent Stanton. The ball hung in the air, eventually landing in the lap of Hawthorn’s Brad Hill. Hill was immediately buried into the ground by Bomber Paddy Ambrose in what is surely one of the most iconic Essendon tackles of all time. Hill dropped the ball before he’d even hit the ground, but the umpire didn’t pay the free kick. Essendon cleared for a boundary throw-in. Hawthorn again were lucky not to give away a free kick, as the ball was dropped on the ground by a Hawthorn player while being tackled, before the ball was kicked along the ground out into space. Cyril Rioli kicked long to give Hawthorn one last roll of the dice. Luke Breust roved the marking contest perfectly, but the siren rang before he could win the game for the Hawks. Chef’s kiss.

  • Click here for the Essendon goals/highlights.

Extra notes

  • James Gwilt’s debut for Essendon.

  • Essendon won the disposal count 435-376.

  • Hawthorn won the clearances 49-29.

What happened next?

  • Essendon’s season had already peaked. They floated around midtable until a horrific loss against Geelong in Round 10 seemed to be the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. The Bombers only won 2 games after the mid-season bye, and the losses were often very ugly. James Hird resigned as coach before the end of the season.

  • Hawthorn won their 3rd consecutive flag.

Click here to go to best win #10.

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That was the game where Evans and Robson were downcast because winning games while Hird was coach wasn’t part of the deal they had with Demetriou

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Watched this game from behind the goals at the Punt Rd end. Perhaps the most jubilant I’ve seen the Essendon fans after a game. Saw Heppell caught in traffic on Punt Rd after the game, the fans noticed and he shot us all the biggest grin and trademark shakas, seemed to genuinely enjoy that moment.

A magical win, once again it felt like we were shrugging off the Saga and ascending, similar to Anzac Day 2013. However it was not to be.

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This was biased, corrupt, and well played by the umps.

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I’m picturing you as the lumberjack looking bloke in the red and black flanny.

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I could not look less like that guy without surgery.

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Best Win Since 2000 No. 10

Qualifying Final 2001 vs Richmond

Essendon 4.5.29 8.5.53 12.8.80 17.11.113
Richmond 1.4.10 2.7.19 4.10.34 5.13.43

Context

  • Essendon’s form in the lead-up to the finals was shaky compared to the domination it had made the norm since mid-1999. The Bombers had lost 3 of its last 6 matches, and the only convincing win had come against lowly West Coast whose season was long over. Some speculated that the Bombers had gone easy on Richmond in Round 22 to ensure that they wouldn’t have to play Carlton, who they’d lost twice to already in the Home & Away season. Meanwhile, Matthew Lloyd was on 96 goals for the season, 4 away from a second ton in consecutive seasons.

  • Richmond were buzzing after knocking off the Bombers the previous week to claim an unlikely top 4 spot. The Tigers (4th) finished with 107.8%, while the Blues (5th) 128.6%. I know who this Bombers fan would rather be playing in the Qualifying Final.

Why it’s on the list / key moments

  • A dominant Qualifying Final victory. The Bombers never looked in doubt, except maybe for the 55 seconds of the 1st quarter during which Richmond briefly led after Matthew Richardson kicked the opening goal.

  • The Bombers’ first goal was a brilliantly improvised volley hooked through from close range by Matthew Lloyd.

  • Later in the quarter, the Bombers’ superior disposal was on full display as they worked their way up the wing from defense to attack. Mark Mercuri delivered a perfect angled pass to James Hird, who marked and wobbled through the set shot for a goal.

  • Midway through the 2nd quarter, Justin Blumfield kicked inside 50 towards Hird. 2 Tigers went to ground in the resulting contest, which allowed Blake Caracella to feint, leave his opponent on hands and knees, and straighten himself up for a classy finish.

  • Michael Long provided his last ever goal assist when his kick found Dean Rioli 40m out just after HT. Rioli kicked the goal, and soon teed up Lloyd for an open goal to bring Lloyd’s season tally to 98. Richmond’s Darren Gaspar misadventure up centre-wing gave the Bombers an easy path to goal via Lucas and Hird, who found Lloyd in acres of space. Lloyd converted for goal 99.

  • Much like the Qualifying Final of the previous year, the Dons wanted to make sure Lloyd reached the tally with the game in the bag. Adam Ramanauskas was the man to deliver the ball to Lloyd this time around, with a neat chip to Lloyd 35m out. Lloyd kicked the goal with an outswinging set shot, and soon thousands were storming the field.

  • With Lloyd likely missing the following week due to a headbutt on Darren Gaspar, Scott Lucas tuned himself up for the Preliminary Final in the last quarter with 3 superb goals. Lucas had spent much of the match on the bench and was the recipient of much criticism throughout the season.

  • John Barnes’s dribble kick from the pocket late in the 4th quarter exemplified just how easy of a night it had been for Essendon in a match that gave them a home Preliminary Final.

  • Click here for the Essendon goals/highlights.

Extra notes

  • There were milestones galore for the Bombers, with Barnes (200), Hird (150) and Caracella (100) all reaching their respective totals.

  • Essendon lost the clearances 25-35 but were superior around the ground in contested ball, winning the tackles 52-33 and contested possessions 121-104.

What happened next?

  • Essendon lost Lloyd for their Preliminary Final against Hawthorn, which the Bombers were fortunate to win, as injuries to key Hird and Mercuri almost became too much to withstand. Luck was on the Bombers side that day, but it ran out the following week against the eventual destiny that was the Brisbane Lions.

  • Richmond somewhat surprisingly defeated Carlton in the resulting Semi-Final, making the most of their fewer scoring shots to book themselves a Preliminary Final at the Gabba against Brisbane. The game was virtually over by HT. It would be 16 years until the Tigers made another Prelim. Some would say that 16 years isn’t so long at all.

Click here to go to best win #9.

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Lucas had a good finals series in 2001 - played well against Hawthorn in the prelim and again in the GF. Made up for his 2000 GF

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I’ve caught up now.

I enjoyed this game at the time, but I cannot watch it and capture the same with it (even though I enjoy beating Carlton as much as other teams).
I could watch the last quarter, but the rest of the game was rough.
A part of it was maybe that the commentators went on and on about the saga. They did it in other games that year, but this game, it turned me off from it.
I’d still put it somewhere in the 50, just not this high.

I had no memory of this game at all, but had the round 22 game. I remember the 2014 night game more than this one.
But this one was a good watch. I wouldn’t have had it in the top 50, but now looking back, it’s definitely worth it.

I didn’t have this game. Not even highlights. I think I’ve misplaced it, so need to look for a copy of it. Maybe I have it from the old Name a Game DVD series.
Sits well around here.

I completely forgot about this game, so it wouldn’t have made my top 50. But it should be somewhere there. And with your standards for measuring, this could have been closer to the top 10.

I didn’t have this game, but it would be in my top 50. The best build up to a game that year. Our biggest challenge. And watching Hird swear at Beamont (for memory) in slow motion was my lasting memory of this game.
It was also one of Blumfield’s best games of his career.

The 2013 game wasn’t so high on my list, but on the re-watch, I’d probably push it up higher. The comeback at the end was awesome to re-watch.

The 2004 game to me should be higher. It has a bit of Essington about it (up by 48 and only win by 1 goal), but it’s one of the most iconic games since 2000 and is a regular re-watch during the pre-season. It would probably be in my top 5.

Finally a St Kilda win made its way onto the list. And this one’s probably the best one. Again, it’s easy to point to this as another ‘Essington’ moment by going goalless in the last quarter and sneaking a win, but I don’t think this was from a lack of trying. The Saints were seriously good that year and beating them under any circumstance was worthy of credit. Still love watching Riewoldt cringe as soon as the siren went and he realised he had the last shot at goal.

Another 2013 game that I probably wouldn’t have ranked as highly before the re-watch. The way Freo dominated us for a half and we got that back in one quarter was great to watch. It seems about right on the list.

This was a good re-watch. I didn’t go to the game, but I recall being behind very late and kicking the last three goals for a win. I do not recall being up during the first half though. Most of the games against the Hawks during the 2010s sort of blends into each other. I seem to have Breust chance in the last minute confused with another game where we won a close night game. Maybe it was 2014.

I haven’t watched this one (it’s next) and it never even crossed my mind to include in a top 50, let alone top 10. But we were great on that night. It was amazing how many Richmond supporters were ‘up and about’ thinking they were a chance and that chance ended early on. The only thing I remember from this game is Lloyd getting reported and either Ottens or Richo kicking for goal 50m out to the Punt Rd end on a tight angle. A week earlier, a goal was kicked on the siren from there, a week later when there was more at stake, he missed horribly.

Watching most of these began highlighting how important Carlisle was for us. He was important in a lot of those games and it’s a shame the saga hit him as much as anyone else even though he wasn’t one of the 33 and he was never the same after the ban year. He obviously didn’t like being coached by different coaches all of which had varying ideas of where his best position was.

We’re getting to the top 10 and there’s 2 that have already been listed that I’d have in there. I can think of two Hawthorn games that haven’t been listed yet, a few Collingwood wins, the Melbourne finals (GF and EF), the North final, the North comeback, Neal Daniher’s last coaching game, there was a Brisbane game that could make top 50 but top 10 is probably high and there’s a few other games I have a good memory of that would be in the 50, but not in the top 10.
Will be interesting which ones miss out completely.

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I loved how their 3 key forwards had about 5 kicks between them all night. Absolutely creamed them

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Thanks for the insights and reflections, once again. Prepare to be disappointed because I don’t think I have any other Hawthorn games. Pretty sure I know which ones are missing and can see why you’d expect them to be there though.

You’re right in picking up on my marking down for “Essington” moments. There’s a very well known win against the Hawks that meets a lot of criteria for being on the list but I can’t stand the manner in which we won it.

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I assume you’re talking about the 2001 preliminary final, in which case, yep, I agree. It’s not at all hindsight to say that watching that game all I could think was “there’s no way we’ll win next week”.

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The 2001 prelim is one I re-watch more often than others.
I get why people can’t watch it though. I had the same thoughts after it that our run was over. But I still love beating Hawthorn. Add that into a final and it’s great on the re-watch.
I can also watch the 89 final against Geelong without thinking of the following few weeks of games. It’s actually my favourite game to re-watch and has been for ages. It was the first Name A Game video I bought.
I can also watch a few games from 1990 without thinking about the GF that year. There’s a Hawthorn win at the MCG that year that gets a re-watch here and there.
Weirdly, I probably don’t watch the Melbourne final in 2004 because that was the next ‘end of the run’ that was evident during the game.
Everyone has their own measures, but we’ve reached a point where it’s tough to see the positives through all the negatives. And a positive now is ultimate success and everything else is a negative. I’m sure even St Kilda supporters weren’t this way through the 80s and 90s whilst they had Lockett. But throw those circumstances into modern day sports discourse and it’s tough to see it the same way. And think it shows in the lack of 2020s games to this point. There was a win against Collingwood before lockdown that is good, but a tough re-watch because of the lack of crowds. I still want to re-watch the Hawthorn game from that year even though it wouldn’t be in my top 50. The Anzac win from 2021 deserves a re-watch. The Hawthorn round 1 win that year could be tainted by the Essington brush. The Sydney win in 2022 was a good re-watch. The 2023 Queens Birthday game is a good re-watch. I know people don’t rate it, but the 2024 win against GWS was a modern day grind of a win that I can re-watch. 2025 is just unwatchable. These would be somewhere in the 40s and 50s range though. I doubt any would be a consistent re-watch in ten years time (regardless of how we go).

Another Hawthorn game that is memorable and I used to re-watch was at Docklands when Pears and Hooker took on Buddy and Roughy and we won. It was the game where Brereton was commentating, Riol danced around three Essendon players and kicked a goal leading to Brereton giggling like a child. That may have been 2009.

I remember the 2005 game where we crept over the line in Buddy’s first year. But couldn’t re-watch that at all. I think I deleted even the highlights of it. That was another ‘this is the end’ moment that just became the ‘next end until the next one’ moment for me.
I do re-watch the line in the sand game too.

On the Richmond final, I watched it last night and I was misremembering things. Richo took a mark from the same spot as the week before and actually kicked the goal.
The game itself was good. I could hold on to and re-watch the first half, but after that, it was just the inevitable wait for Lloyd to reach 100 goals game. I actually forgot about this achievement. I remember the 2000 achievement, but this one is forgotten.
It probably wouldn’t make my top 50. I’d probably consider having another one or two Richmond games instead of it. The 2001 game earlier in the season was memorable (but I don’t have the game). There was a Dreamtime game where we benefitted from the hands in the back rule that is memorable. But those games can easily be tainted by the Essington brush.

Regardless, it’s been a good exercise in re-remembering some of the forgotten moments of the last 25 years.
I’ve only really removed one or two full games from the list and replaced them with highlights, so they aren’t totally unwatchable. And I probably won’t replace it until next pre-season anyway so I may just hold on to the full match by the time I re-watch it.
I’ll probably just go through what’s left over after the 50 and skim watch through them to see if I remember them. I can probably start with Hawthorn games at least.

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We did that game during the covid watchalongs. 1st time id seen it.

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Before me watching time, so I have to ask. We a shot in the 89 GF?

Stats so say no…

They beat us comfortably 3 times.

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For me, it was the most damaging Long game of his career. Some would have the 93 prelim ahead of it, but I personally prefer this one.
I still love watching TIm Watson too. He had an injured foot and solely kicked with his left all day.
Vander Haar was great throughout.
There was an Antrobus running mullet goal from a tight angle late in the game.
The last quarter is tough to sit through, but the first three are a great re-watch.
Unfortunately, we got smashed by the Hawks the next week and again by the Cats the week after. We were comfortably the third best team that year.

There was another game that year that I used to re-watch when I had it on video. It was the Princes Park game against Carlton.

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Now im looking at 1990.

We lost to FC twice?

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I remember Rohan Connolly called this one of Essendon’s best wins in years at the time. Shiel played one of his best games for us, from memory. It’s just a shame that the match was so sterile (and that the season turned into a disaster).

That game just makes me think of Anthony Hudson saying, “Don’t go, Joe!” That and the lack of atmosphere make me avoid it, but agree that it was fun at the time.

If we’re talking 2021, we actually lost that one - hehe. Walking out of Marvel that night was sickening.

Great win but soured in my mind by the weeks that followed. That’s a me problem.

I briefly thought we might have turned a corner that day. It was on my shortlist but I didn’t feel that the game had enough memorable moments compared to others. It was the kind of good solid grind if a win that we should see more of but don’t.

Good shout. As crazy as it sounds, I think of that game as being almost too routine, even though all wins against Hawthorn (especially after a flag) should be cherished.

I considered this one but decided against it because, well, the Hawks were rubbish and the fights are all most people think of about that game.

This one has a fair bit of sentimentality for me personally that bumped it up. I’d been too young for 2000, so to win big in a Qualifying Final and experience my first 100-goal pitch invasion was pretty special. I wasn’t paying much attention to Brisbane aside from the ladder, which young me assumed was all that mattered, so I was pretty confident that we’d win the flag. Then the Prelim happened and my confidence wasn’t so strong anymore.

I still stand by it given that we won so comfortably in a big final and haven’t even played in a Qualifying Final since.

2007 - a hilarious ending with Richo losing his mind but, yeah, way too close to an Essington loss for my liking. Lloyd’s goal after the siren is still the strangest set shot I think I’ve ever seen. It almost looks like divine intervention with the way the ball swings late.

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I don’t remember those loses.

The main games I recall are the MCG game against Hawthorn, the following Princess Park game against them, the Collingwood win at Waverly (top of the ladder clash and a great game), the Geelong win where Tim Watson marks in the goal square late and kicks the winning goal (there’s also the annoying train that passes by being confused for the siren) and the Eagles final. I don’t think I’ve re-watched that final for a while now though. The other’s I’ve re-watched.

Personally, I think I may have gone to the North game at Windy Hill that year. I cannot recall if it was that one or 1991.

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