His 2008 was pretty damn good. He was taking a big scalp almost every week. We haven’t had a tagger that good since. The irish boy falling in his leg at training over the next preseason really put a halt to his later career.
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Yeah, I remember this game being part of a purple patch for him.
Best Win Since 2000 No. 40
Round 17 2014 vs Collingwood
| Essendon | 4.0.24 | 8.1.49 | 14.1.85 | 16.7.103 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collingwood | 2.4.16 | 2.6.18 | 4.9.33 | 5.9.39 |
Context
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Essendon were 10th but had just knocked off 2nd-placed Port Adelaide by 2 points at Football Park the round prior.
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Collingwood sat in 6th and had lost to 8th-placed Gold Coast by 5 points at Carrara.
Why it’s on the list / key moments
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What felt like a game where the Bombers were slight underdogs turned into a glorious afternoon where almost everything went right.
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Jake Carlisle played one of the best games by an Essendon key forward for the decade. Carlisle took 19 marks (including 8 contested), had 26 disposals and kicked 4.2.
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The Bombers were clinical in front of goal, kicking 15.1 before a string of behinds in the 4th quarter once the game was in the bag.
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In the 3rd quarter, first-year player Zach Merrett kicked a classic goal on the run after some brilliant play by Dyson Heppell in the build-up.
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Paul Chapman wound back the clock with 3 goals, including a couple of beauties, while Paddy Ambrose kicked 3 in a career-high haul.
Extra notes
- Collingwood’s key defender Nick Maxwell retired with immediate effect 3 days after the match.
What happened next?
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Essendon made the finals in unconvincing form and threw away a 33 point lead to lose their Elimination Final against North Melbourne.
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Carlisle continued his excellent form with a bag of 8 against the Western Bulldogs the following week. Unfortunately his purple patch didn’t last and he eventually missed the final against North Melbourne with injury.
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Collingwood’s form yo-yoed drastically which cost them a finals spot, finishing 11th.
Click here to go to best win #39.
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Another game of “where the ■■■■ did this come from”
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14.1 at Three Quarter Time…
More reminiscent of what our opponents would do against us in more recent times.
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- Collingwood’s key defender Nick Maxwell retired with immediate effect 3 days after the match.
These two things are pretty clearly related. Maxwell was done.
I’d definitely have the 2008 game over this one.
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That’s fair. I had the 2014 game barely ahead because of the feeling I had at the time, which was “hey, we could do some damage in finals.” Obviously, I was very wrong.
Watched this game from a corporate box. The most common question on the day was “ is Dane Swan playing?”. He was. Was hardly sighted.
We were missing Watson and Goddard. I thought we were gonna be belted with those two missing. The players who replaced them brought pace that Collingwood couldn’t keep up with.
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Not enough love for the 2013 game v fremantle at subiaco
That was incredible
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Guessing it’s somewhere in the top 40?
VIC BIAS will have it at 51 because it was in WA
Was that the year we won there twice?
Both of those are top 20
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The Freo finals win was amazing. Ridiculously, three years after a premiership, I was feeling like we were ‘starved of success’ and I thought we were BACK! Hirdy on fire, McPhee emerging as the next EFC star, Lloydy was returning to his best.
Bought tickets to Football Park semi v Port that same night whilst a quite a few beers deep.
Road trip over to Adelaide the next week wasn’t much fun and a speeding fine to boot.
Edit: just realised that Port loss is the last final I went to live 
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That was peak 2001-2004 Port. I know they also ran into the Lions dynasty but that side should’ve got more than 1 flag.
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Best Win Since 2000 No. 39
Round 1 2006 vs Sydney
| Essendon | 9.1.55 | 11.3.69 | 13.6.84 | 17.6.108 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 2.2.14 | 8.4.52 | 10.6.66 | 12.9.81 |
Context
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Essendon were coming off their first season of no finals since 1997. Expectations were relatively low.
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The Swans were the reigning premiers who had broken a 72-year premiership drought. Leo Barry’s pack mark in the dying seconds of the Grand Final would be replayed for years to come.
Why it’s on the list / key moments
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Matthew Lloyd’s first game as club captain was one of his best. He kicked 6 goals on Leo Barry in the first quarter. He eventually finished with 8.2 and had 26 disposals total - the equal second-highest of his career.
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The Bombers blew away all expectations early, catching the Swans in a brief premiership hangover by leading 49-7 after a frantic 24 minutes of play.
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Despite the Swans hitting back with a big 2nd quarter, Essendon held their nerve to put the game to bed early in the last quarter, thanks to some characteristically long 50m bombs from Scott Lucas.
Extra notes
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Paddy Ryder and Scott Camporeale’s Essendon debuts.
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Assuming the broadcast audio was accurate, Camporeale kicked a goal on the run after the QT siren, but the umpire paid the goal anyway.
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Chris Heffernan’s first game for Essendon since 2002.
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Barry Hall kicked 7.2 for Sydney.
What happened next?
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The Bombers lost to Brisbane at the Gabba the following week. Disaster struck in Round 3 when Lloyd tore his hamstring off the bone against the Western Bulldogs, putting him out for the season. Essendon lost the game narrowly and would have to wait 16 more rounds until the next win arrived. Eventually, they’d finish 15th with 3 wins.
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Sydney made a second successive Grand Final, again against West Coast. This time they would be the ones to have their hearts broken, losing by a point.
Click here to go to best win #38.
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And didn’t this whole year fall in a massive heap not long after this game…
It was curtains by just before Half Time in Round 3 (vs WB) when Lloyd tore his hamstrIng off the bone.
It was mentioned in the losses thread that we were very Lloyd reliant at this time. This game and season proved that.
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Another one I’d definitely have higher. I assume it’s not because of how the rest of the season turned out. And, yes, Campo’s goal was well after the siren.
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I reckon one flag was about right for Port, but they probably should have lost a couple of Grand Finals
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The kept losing Qualifing Finals.
2001, they finish 3rd and get done at the GABBA week one,
I reckon they beat us in the 01 Prelim but instead they lose to Hawthorn by a goal at home in a SF.
02 and 03 is where they ■■■■ it away
2002, finish 1st but the Klan ■■■■ them in a QF at Football Park, they get over us comfortably in the semi but that sends them the Gabba to get rinsed.
2003, finish 1st again but this time the Bin Chickens do them at Football Park, they again beat us but this time go to the MCG and get fisted by the Klan