50 Best Essendon Wins since 2000 (countdown)

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81

Sorry I asked.

2 Likes
82

Best Win Since 2000 No. 48

Round 9 2017 vs West Coast

Essendon 5.2.32 12.8.80 16.10.106 19.11.125
West Coast 2.4.16 3.7.25 5.13.43 8.16.64

Context

  • Essendon had been inconsistent in 11th on the ladder, but were confident after an impressive win against Geelong in Round 8.

  • West Coast were 3rd on the ladder and equal on points with 1st and 2nd.

Why it’s on the list / key moments

  • A fantastic first half of dominant, exciting football which saw the Bombers lead 80-25 at HT.

  • There were signs that this team’s ceiling was higher than previously thought, with the aforementioned (in this list) forward line of Daniher, Hooker, Stewart, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Fantasia and Green all looking dangerous.

  • Joe Daniher further established himself as a genuine star by kicking 5.0, his second successive bag of 5 following a best-on-ground performance against Geelong the previous week.

  • In his first season at the club, Josh Green endeared himself to Essendon fans in the 2nd quarter by catching Sam Mitchell with a rundown tackle.

  • Click here for the Essendon goals/highlights.

Extra notes

  • Essendon won the disposals 453-334.

  • Matt Dea kicked his only goal for Essendon.

What happened next?

  • Essendon lost their next 2 games in respectable fashion to top 4 sides Richmond and GWS. They’d bow out to Sydney in an embarrassing Elimination Final defeat.

  • West Coast lost confidence and dropped their following two games before stabilising their season and eventually losing to GWS in a Semi Final.

  • 14 of the 22 players on the field for the Eagles played in their premiership win the following season.

Click here to go to best win #47.

5 Likes
83

Have to say, I do not recall this game at all.
2017 is a bit of a blur.
For some reason, I’ve got 6 full games from that year and I only remember two of them due to the banned players returning (they’d be in my list of 50). I’ll re-watch those other ones as I doubt they’d end up on my list.

There was a Friday night game at Telstra Dome somewhere between 2005 and 2010 against the Eagles that I recall better. I think it was the dominant midfield era when Judd left but maybe it was his last year. I recall we were up by less than a goal late in the game and they kicked into their forward line and Fletch (or maybe someone else) punched it away whilst resting his arm on an Eagles shoulder. In the weeks before that, it was a free kick, but we didn’t get done for that. Most were one on one battles, it’s tougher to spot that in a pack of 6.

There were a few wins against them that should show up on the list, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one is missed. The Hird special, there were a few when Hille showed up Cox, and when RFS played VFL the day before and was a late call up the day after. Plus a finals win in there too.

It doesn’t meet the criterior but there were a few enjoyable Eagles games in the 1990s. There were a few finals (1990 and 1996), 1993 when Salmon had the kicking yips, there were a few smashing at Windy Hill that I remember and there’s another game in 87 at Windy Hill where they almost beat us. 1989 round 1 is memorable for me because it was Long’s first game. Plus I liked WACA games under lights early in the year back then. For some reason, the games looked better there back then. There was a distinct difference between games there and the MCG and it wasn’t the SGIO signage.

The rivalry between the two teams is still there even if it has died down somewhat in the last decade.

Also…
Fun alternative fact…
The round before this game was one of the two times Mundy kicked a goal late (may have been after the siren) to beat Richmond at the G. Rounds 6 to 13 are the rounds I point to that show that when your period of dominance comes, you won’t recognise it as such. Before those rounds, Richmond were dominant and flying. Then Ninthmond showed up in all its glory. There was the 90 seconds of the worst footy Paul Roos had ever seen and some heart breaking close losses. There was also a thrashing in there. No Richmond supporter saw what was coming at the end of that season. Especially after the 25 years of dross that preceded it.

2 Likes
84

This one will pop up on the list.

Undoubtedly one of the great wins against the Eagles will miss. Perhaps this one should have as well, but I remember thinking that we were only a sneaky chance of winning prior to the game, so to put them away and play well over 4 quarters was a big deal in my eyes. From memory, it had been a long time since we’d put a team to the sword. Sadly we only really saw this kind of performance another couple of times that season against Port and St Kilda.

1 Like
85

Would love for someone to opine about these one day.

86

This was 2007. It should make this list.

We came back from a slow start, with Lucas and Lloyd turning back the clock while Hird was BOG.

4 Likes
87

These games are more sentimental for me more than anything else.
The late 80s and early 90s were the years that I played footy myself so my interest was at it’s peak.
I also went to my first games of footy during that period. It was a Glenn Hawker and Timmy Watson special. I think it was Somerville and Dean Wallis’ first games, but I may be wrong.
I never saw Dunstall or Lockett live, but I got to experience an Ablett 10 goal special bag (unfortunately not the 93 Salmon v Ablett game). I marvelled watching Tim Watson at his best. 1989 wasn’t his best, but he played a final against Geelong where he had a foot injury and only kicked with his left foot all day. That was also the most dominant 10 possession Longy game I’d ever seen. The game is a constant re-watch every few years.

In the early 90s, the Friday Herald Sun would have a part of the newspaper where you folded it together, then cut through some lines and you had your very own record for the entire round.
I’d then watch the Friday night game, listen to the Saturday day games on the radio, watch the replay on Saturday night, watch the Saturday night game, watch the Sunday footy shows and the 2pm Sunday game (which was usually interstate).

The game (and general life issues) were covered differently back then. And it’s hard to replicate now. You solely got game content. The outside peripheral stuff like interviews with coaches, what a player said or did between games , etc just wasn’t as much a thing. You’d flick the news on at 6:20pm (it was 30 minutes back then) and you’d get the results and highlights of the game. It wasn’t a great deal, but it was handy. Then you had Sports Tonight covering the game much more after 10:30pm. The majority of the content was based on what happened during the game. There was the odd banter and fun and games that came with covering the game, but the majority of it was footy focused. It’s now flipped the other way and it’s noticeable with how the game is commentated live when watching replays.

2 Likes
88

“Is it the shoes?”

89

In the last minute or so, Rowan Jones just camped over the ball while being tackled and the umpire wouldn’t pay a free kick, which would (should) have resulted in the ball going into our forward line and avoiding the necessity for the Fletcher spoil. On the wing, docklands side. One of the worst non-HTB decisons ever not paid - emulated later by Elena.

90

I wouldn’t have the 2001 comeback game against North anywhere near a list of top anythings. I’ve always hated that game. Yes, we won it, but we let a second-rate, over-the-hill North team kick 12 goals in the first quarter in a display that epitomised the slackness and arrogance and had become part of our club. I never watch it.

91

I reckon this game was on Mother’s day,1:10.
Late2018-early 2019 was our best stetch of 12+ games since 2003. But boy did it crash quickly

92

I was on a cricket trip away and watched this in a bar in Cairns. I was extremely loud when Green ran that prick Mitchell down.

1 Like
93

Fair.

But the margin of comeback is still the greatest of all time (not just club but entire competition over 130 years) and needs to be considered strongly when compiling these sort of lists.

The other major 2001 contender would be the Hawthorn win in around Round 8 or 9 when they were undefeated and we pulverised them.

94

I’d include the comeback win against Sydney late in the season at Docklands as well. An incredible game of footy.

2 Likes
95

I would say that the first three quarters of that game (from Essendon) was the worst the club had played in at least 3-4 seasons.

To comeback and win, against a side in great form at the time, was special.

5 Likes
96

Was that the game that Big Cess kicked the last goal that put us in front for the first time in the game?

I also remember the Docklands turf was in really bad shape

2 Likes
97

Best Win Since 2000 No. 47

Round 19 2006 vs Collingwood

Essendon 5.2.32 7.6.48 7.10.52 10.14.74
Collingwood 2.0.12 4.2.26 6.4.40 9.7.61

Context

  • Essendon came into the game dead last, but their form did not resemble an uncompetitive team in recent weeks.

  • Collingwood were 6th on the ladder in a 5-team log-jam for 4th spot. The Pies had just lost by 4 points to league leaders Adelaide at Football Park.

Why it’s on the list / key moments

  • Mark Johnson took a speccy on Nathan Buckley and goaled from the resulting set shot to cap off a great 1st quarter for Essendon.

  • Courtney Johns kicked his 3rd goal to put Essendon up 48-25 during the 2nd quarter. Could Johns be the answer if his body starts to hold up?

  • It looked like the Pies had survived the early scare after kicking the opening 2 goals of the 4th quarter to tie the scores. Scott Lucas then kicked a trademark goal by wheeling around onto his left foot from outside 50. This kicked off a mini burst for the Bombers, with Nathan Lovett-Murray and Brent Stanton both bringing the house down from almost the same spot with goals of their own to give Essendon a winning score.

  • Click here for the Essendon goals/highlights.

Extra notes

  • Ben Jolley’s 3rd game and only win in his Essendon career.

What happened next?

  • Essendon lost their remaining 3 games but showed enough to suggest that the following season would bring better fortunes.

  • Collingwood finished 5th, missing out on 4th by percentage. A win against the Bombers would have had them finishing in 3rd. They lost their Elimination Final comprehensively to the Western Bulldogs.

Click here to go to best win #46.

7 Likes
98

Yep, Courtney Johns. Was telling my mates about what a star he would be.

Was it just his body letting him down or was he not dedicated enough to AFL

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99

From memory his hip issues meant he lost a lot of mobility. It was ok though, the lowly ladder finish meant we had access to Scott Gumbleton who was an amazing key forward proposition.

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100

He had badly broken his leg/hip prior to being drafted. He was a draft favourite prior to that but the injury affected his position in the draft.

Given what happened, the affects of the injury were too great.