Switching him to HBF won us the first game vs FCFC in 2013. Did a job on Yarran while providing us with drive moving forward.
His injuries cost us in the late Sheedy era, when we desperately needed an extra element to add to our pedestrian midfield.
There was a game where we absolutely smacked the Eagles when they were the favourite to win. One of the great passes I have ever witnessed is kicked by Ricky Dyson to leroy Jetta. The kick goes 50 meters but only 2 meters off the ground from centre wing into the forward 50.
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2012 I think? I remember that kick clearly, it was a bullet
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The real move that won us that game was Hurley to full back. Waite went from dominating to blanketed.
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Which also forced Carlisle forward, where he dominated, however more famously he took the game-saving pack mark late in the last.
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That game v Bulldogs when Buckets kicked 8 was a cracker. He was plucking everything that day.
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My memory of that one is he was playing on Nick Maxwell, who was never a good one on one defender at his best, and was so physically shot he retired without playing another game.
That game, and the game where he kicked 8 against a Bulldogs team who gave up bags to any half decent key forward led to a pretty massive overrating of Carlisle as a forward.
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That game against the Bulldogs was the following week. So in back to back weeks Carlisle played like a super star.
My wife was heavily pregnant with our 2nd at the time and I was pushing for the name Jake. Fortunately we had another daughter and I didnāt need to win that argument. What a disaster that would have been.
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Still one of the most perfect games of football Iāve ever seen, field kicking, goal kicking, marking, tackling. We were so on that day it was beautiful to watch.
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Carlisle ended Nick Maxwellās career that day, about 7 or 8 years after his career should have ended, based on his ability.
What was the one where Raz made Maynard look like EDFL div 3 standard?
Love these threads. Would like to again put my year-by-year nominations into this thread (best win in each calendar year) ā¦
QF 2000 - ESS 198 def NM 73
Someone said earlier in this thread this is the best game weāve ever played. Itās hard to disagree. Our form at the end of the 2000 H&A season had trailed off and there was a bit of an expectation amongst the footy community leading into the finals that weād see a repeat of 1999 and ā ā ā ā it up. This game shut everyone up and letās not forget it was against the reigning premiers, not some cellar dweller.
R16 2001 - ESS 171 def NM 159
We played better games against better teams in 2001, but you cannot ignore the fact that this was, and still is to this day, the greatest margin comeback in AFL history. Trailed 22-91 at one point.
R20 2002 - ESS 126 def COLL 71
We were sitting 10th coming into this game and were in some pretty horrendous form. Collingwood were sitting in the top 4 and would eventually go on and lose the GF narrowly. We turned the clock back to 2000.
EF 2003 - FREM 57 def by. ESS 101
We had lost 9 of our last 10 interstate games and despite hitting the finals in very good form, werenāt expected to really challenge Fremantle who had not lost a home game all season. Fremantle kicked the first two goalsā¦ and that was about it.
R18 2004 - ESS 119 def PA 79
Port Adelaide were a real bogey team for us during this period. The likes of Tredrea, Dew, Burgoyne brothers etc would regularly cut us to ribbonsā¦ at any venue. This would end up being Portās final loss for the year before going on to win the flag and gave our season the revival it needed at that stage.
R13 2005 - ESS 119 def STK 104
There werenāt many great options to pick from in 2005, so this one might be a little surprising. The Saints were well and truly the real deal this season (led in the final quarter of their Prelim Final vs Sydney and finished high up the ladder) and we were incredibly poor for a majority of the season. This Friday night fixture stands out to me for its surprise element.
R19 2006 - ESS 74 def COLL 61
Another season without many great choicesā¦ but this one again stands out. Collingwood had to keep winning to finish in the top 4 and we had to win to avoid an embarrassing wooden spoon. Another Friday night upset.
R10 2007 - SYD 73 def by. ESS 74
This particular season had some fine optionsā¦ the opening round upset of the āCrowbotsā in Adelaide, the 1 point win under the roof against WCE, the 2 point win in Neale Daniherās last game as coachā¦ but I think the win in Sydney trumps them. Given very little chance at the start and played very consistently and well in the conditions for the entire game.
R1 2008 - NM 67 def by. ESS 122
North had finished in the top 4 the previous year and we had failed to win a game against them in six years by this point. It was a great way to start the now infamous Matthew Knights coaching career and what proved to be a bizarre year supporting this club.
R3 2009 - CARL 112 def by. ESS 116
āWhat!? Where is the Zaharakis comeback game!?ā - nope. Iāve seen that footage and moment so much over the years that Iām a bit fatigued by it now, as good as it was at the time. It also irritates me that Collingwood have such a convincing ANZAC Day record against us that we have to always reflect on that game. This Carlton result (116-112) was satisfying for me as they entered this game with enormous hype, on top of the ladder and it was also their āhomeā game where we werenāt really expected to trouble them.
R6 2010 - ESS 106 def HAW 63
This was a big era for Hawthornā¦ but their season looked very shaky already at this point in 2010 and ours wasnāt far behind. It was, in my opinion, the clubās best performance under Knights and to keep them scoreless in the final quarter was sensational. An underrated game that is too often forgotten about.
R6 2011 - ESS 197 def GCS 58
OKā¦ the Suns were very young and had just entered the competitionā¦ but 15 goals in the first quarter alone? This has to be on the list. It is also deserving of praise because this club has had zero killer instinct for two decades now (particularly the playing group when this game was played) and there were some nerves pre-match that we would stuff it up. The Suns had actually won their first ever game the previous week.
R4 2012 - CARL 79 def by. ESS 109
Read some of the description from the 2009 game vs Carlton and it applies (x10) for this game. They were undefeated, had just smashed Collingwood the previous week, were talking flags and were expected to comfortably knock us off. They never looked like it all day and this game left them wellā¦ āprivately seethingā after an incident involving Judd and Sam Lonergan.
R1 2013 - ADEL 82 def by. ESS 117
This season (2013) was the hardest one to consider with this post due to the number of contenders (Fremantle, Melbourne, Carlton, ANZAC Day, West Coast). Iāve gone with our Round One win against the Crows because it came off a summer of incredible pressure and scrutiny for off-the-field scandals. Adelaide, for the record, had finished top 2 the previous season and were expected to strongly contend for the flag.
R16 2014 - PA 60 def by. ESS 62
Maybe another surpriseā¦ but we were trying to get a position in the top 8 by the time this game arrived and Port were sitting in the top 2 and had been very strong at home all season. The conditions were really quite abysmal but the club hung on for a very strong and well deserved win.
R2 2015 - ESS 78 def HAW 76
This season was again big on ālowlightsā but the āHOOKER, HOOKER, HOOKER!ā winner at the end of the game means this is an easy choice, particularly with the Hawks in the midst of their threepeat.
R2 2016 - ESS 80 def MEL 67
A couple of other wins later in the year also worthy of mention, but we were widely tipped (understandably) to not win a game all season. To win one so early on in the season was a massive shock and against a team that had given us plenty of headaches in recent seasons. The roar when Parish kicked the sealer is still a great memory.
R8 2017 - ESS 110 def GEEL 93
Geelong had to feature on hereā¦ somewhere. 2017 had some memorable wins but think this was a pretty defining game at the time. MCG, marquee game, quality opponent ā¦ and despite a late scare, were comfotably the better team all night.
R14 2018 - WCE 52 def by. ESS 80
After entering as significant underdogs against the second placed Eagles, we led 50-1 midway through the second quarter and it was basically game over. We narrowly missed the finalsā¦ and they went on to win the flag.
R4 2019 - ESS 112 def BRIS 65
Brisbane were undefeated and we had put in two shocking performances to begin the year (GWS, St Kilda) and nobody really knew what to expect from us. We led from start to finish and Tippa kicked 7. Perfect day at the MCG.
R2 2020 - SYD 73 def by. ESS 79
I donāt like talking about or reflecting on this particular season as it was just so compromised (last minute venue changes, COVID hubs, shortened games etc) but this is our only win against the Swans at the SCG in the last 15 years so it deserves some minor reflection.
R11 2021 - WCE 71 def by. ESS 87
If you can track the demise of West Coast in recent years, I reckon it starts at this gameā¦ not that weāve been much better, mind you. The Eagles had played finals the last six seasons and looked likely to continue at this point of 2021. We trailed most of the night but were always within striking distance. Then went bang, bang, bang in the final quarter in tricky conditions.
R16 2022 - ESS 95 def SYD 86
Sydney had led by as much as 25 points in this game and a repeat of the game earlier in the season (when Luke Parker embarrassed Dylan Shiel) was a real chance. Iām not sure where we pulled this gutsy sort of performance from, as Rutten looked in trouble even at this stage, but we did and it was a memorable win.
R10 2023 - ESS 71 def RICH 70
13 straight losses against Richmond finally ended with the Durham winner in the final minute. Not much of a game in terms of quality, but memorable for the finishā¦ not just the game but Hardwickās resignation a couple of days later.
R6 2024 - WB 67 def by. ESS 96
Given recent results against the Bulldogs, it would be remiss of me not to include this game as a reminder that on a rare dayā¦ even the most unlikely of results are possible. A memorable and well deserved Friday night victory.
R6 2025 - MELB 57 def by. ESS 96
Gather Round. Adelaide. And an easy choice as there really wasnāt anything else in 2025 worthy of a mention. It wouldnāt rank as one of Essendonās best 150 victories of all time, let alone top 50 ā¦ but that sums up the trash that was 2025.
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2017 late season.
The game after the Brisbane debacle IIRC
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Excellent post and suggestions! Some of these will surely make the list so I wonāt expand too much, but I personally have the other Carlton game in 2009 ahead of the one you mentioned. Tayte Pears looked like a star and we absolutely dominated the second half on Friday night in front of a big crowd.
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The game against the Hawks late in 2009? Where Hurley went bang bang in the final quarter to sink them was good fun.
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Great post, thanks for the effort put into it.
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Good list, but Iāll disagree with a couple of the choices:
2003: our biggest Anzac Day win against a future grand finalist with Hird, Lloyd and Damian Cupido (?!) kicking about 15 between them.
2004: gotta be the Hird game against West Coast.
2006: the pies win was good but it has to be the round 1 against the reigning premier with Lloyd playing his best ever game (25 possessions and 8 goals against a Paul Roos coached team)
2008: Iād go with the second Collingwood game where our current President had 30 possessions and 4 goals while giving Scott Pendlebury the biggest bath of his career.
2009: even if youāre burned out on Anzac Day, Iād go with the win over the undefeated Saints late in the season or the de facto elimination final over the Hawks. Thereād actually be 5 or 6 wins from this season in the top 50.
2011: has to be the win over the undefeated Cats. I seem to remember we kicked āthe sealerā about 3 times but Geelong just kept coming.
2013: definitely the āā ā ā ā off Asadaā win over Freo with a couple of genuine heart attack moments in the last minute.
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2009 was absolutely loaded with great wins, youāre right. Two wins each against Carlton and Hawthorn, one against the unbeaten Saints and, of course, ANZAC Day.
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Yes, 2009 season was a golden age.
The game against Collingwood at the MCG, where Hird goes into the centre in the last quarter and just wins the game almost off his own boot. 2004 I think.
The game against Carlton where Heath Hocking gathers the ball on the half forward line and barges through some hapless Carlton schmuck to kick a goal. Did real damage to the Carlton player.
The game against Carlton where Andrew Lovett goes nuts, even taking speckies over the Carlton ruckman. Inducing the many āLovett like the Starsā user names on this forum.
The game against the Swans at Colonial Stadium where Hurley absolutely beats Franklin. For some reason the cameras keep flashing to some Essendon supporter in the crowd who keeps flashing a wad of cash.
The game against the Eagles in Perth where we kept them goalless for the first quarter. Great game by Tippa.
Talking of Tippa, the game against Port at Docklands. We give them an absolute birthday. The forward line is on fire with our half backs giving them the ball on a platter . The famous goal by Tippa where he taps the loose ball over his head to run on and kick a goal.
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