Saturday 27 September, MCG
Hawthorn Hedonism
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| "The sweetest victory of all" left to right: Oscar, Tom and Grant celebrate |
“This
is the sweetest victory of all,” said Paul Keating at the Bankstown Sports Club
on 13 March 1993. “This is a victory for the true believers.” The occasion was
the ALP’s victory in the federal election, but he might just as easily have
been referring to Hawthorn’s victory over Sydney in the 2014 AFL Grand Final.
Hawthorn
overcame adversity on an almost Kurdish scale to triumph in this year’s
premiership: Buddy Franklin defecting to the opponent at the end of last
season, coach Alastair Clarkson being hospitalised and out of the game for five
weeks with Guillain-Barre syndome, long-term injuries during the season to key
players Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Josh Gibson, Cyril Rioli, Ben Stratton and
Brad Sewell, suspensions to Brian Lake and Jarryd Roughead, the toughest draw
of any club, an avaricious Grand Final opponent with a higher salary cap than
any other team, and Ryan Schoenmakers’ hair bun.
If
Buddy’s defection to Sydney soured to a degree 2013’s Grand Final win, then
this is one we can savour; not just because of the obstacles we overcame, or
that we won so emphatically, but because Buddy was on the other team and in his
own way, got to share in it.
However,
if this was a victory for the true believers, there weren’t many of them in the
lead up to the match. In the betting markets, the Swans were short-priced
favourites, starting the match at $1.35 to Hawthorn’s $2.65 – a massive
differential for a two-team contest. In The Age on the day before the match, 19
‘experts’ tipped Sydney to win, compared to just four for Hawthorn (and they
shall be named and feted: Jesse Hogan, Peter Hanlon, Michael Gleeson and Wayne
Carey). Even on the day after we’d won by 10 goals, the AFL website still had
Sydney listed as overwhelming favourites. We weren’t just underdogs, we were
whining, chained up mutts.
Of
the 23 ‘experts’, 19 selected Swans players to win the Norm Smith medal,
compared to just four selecting Hawthorn players, with Peter Hanlon and Wayne
Carey both picking the Hawthorn/Luke Hodge double. Bizarrely more people
thought Luke Parker would win the Norm Smith medal than Luke Hodge. What were
they thinking? Who is Luke Parker?
The
experts were talking up Sydney based on an impressive performance against North
Melbourne the previous week, compared to Hawthorn’s relatively tougher and more
taxing match against Port Adelaide. As far as short-sightedness goes, this is
like getting a sleeve tattoo in your fit, toned and taut 20s without factoring
in the sagging triceps, or chicken wing arms of your 50s.
In
the finals Sydney had struggled to beat fourth-placed Fremantle and had then
rolled over a weak North team, who had finished sixth. Compare this to Hawthorn
who had defeated Geelong, a team that had sat top three for 13 weeks of the
season, and Port Adelaide, who had spent longer at the top of the ladder during
the season than any other team (7 weeks), including Sydney (6 weeks) and
Hawthorn (5 weeks).
Aside
from overcoming tougher finals opponents, the experts and tipsters seemed to
have forgotten that Hawthorn finished with equal wins to Sydney (17), and
defeated them on the same ground just eight weeks previous. Even when Sydney
defeated Hawthorn in Round 8, it was in Sydney at a ground we’ve only played
twice before and we were missing Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell and Brian Lake, plus
Josh Gibson and Cyril Rioli became injured during the game. And even then we
only lost by 19 points.
These
experts were blinded by the bling of Sydney’s supposed virtues and oblivious to
any merits the Hawks might possess. Luke Parker, who I’d barely heard of, was
suddenly being spoken of as the new Ablett – he was favourite for the Norm
Smith medal no less. As good as Luke Parker might be, the experts in the media
seemed to overlook that the Hawks boasted Luke Hodge and Luke Breust – that’s one
more Luke for a start. They salivated over Sam Reid but forgot about Sam
Mitchell, sang the praises of Jarrad McVeigh but barely mentioned Jarryd Roughead,
acclaimed Lewis Jetta but neglected Jordan Lewis, glorified Kieran Jack
but disregarded Jack Gunston, extolled Nick Smith and discounted Isaac Smith,
praised Ben McGlynn and snubbed Ben Stratton and Ben McEvoy, and talked up Josh
Kennedy over Josh Gibson. If the football media was to be believed, it was as
if the Hawks weren’t going to be there at all. No one belived in us.
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| Florine with some Hawthorn bling! |
Omens
When
your team qualifies for the Grand Final you immediately search for omens to
reassure you that they will achieve victory. Naturally this process also means
that you have to overlook those inconvenient signs that don’t fit your preferred hypotheses. Nor
does it matter that fans of the opposing team are also seeing their own signs
and that you can’t both be right, but you persist with your portents all the
same.
Having said that, the omens I identified leading into this match were fairly persuasive, and perhaps even partly responsible for our ultimate triumph.
The local team I support in the EDFL, Aberfeldie, made the Grand Final for the second successive year. In 2013 Abers lost and Hawthorn won, so when Abers made it back to back losses in 2014, it was a sure sign that the Hawks were also on their way to back to back wins.
Having said that, the omens I identified leading into this match were fairly persuasive, and perhaps even partly responsible for our ultimate triumph.
The local team I support in the EDFL, Aberfeldie, made the Grand Final for the second successive year. In 2013 Abers lost and Hawthorn won, so when Abers made it back to back losses in 2014, it was a sure sign that the Hawks were also on their way to back to back wins.
I’m
no fan of Olivia Newton-John’s music (though like most men my age I quite liked
the tight black leggings she wore in the latter stages of Grease), but I
couldn’t help but see the greater significance of the fact that when she last
sang at the Grand Final in 1986, Hawthorn defeated Carlton in the Grand Final.
In
2013 when Hawthorn won its 11th premiership, our number 11, Brendan
Whitecross missed the match due to injury. Here we were going for our 12th
premiership and who gets left out of the side to play – number 12 Brad Sewell. On
this basis, Kyle Cheney, number 13, has no chance of playing in the Grand Final
next season. Kyle, you may as well know now.
This
year I again queued early outside the MCC Members to secure a good seat for the
game. Last year I’d managed to get in the front row on Level 2 of the MCC Members
stand and sat second seat in from the aisle. The guy next to me last year was
also a Hawthorn fan and a good Grand Final companion who knew the game well. When
I arrived I again went to the same area and moved into the front to row, and
who should be sitting in the aisle seat but my friend from the previous year. Did
I know then that we'd win?
It’s not unusual
There
are omens and then there are the Grand Final traditions. I’ve built up so many
over the years that by the time I’ve fulfilled them all there is barely time to
watch the game.
This
year was even more complicated because Hawthorn friends Pete and Grant managed
to wrangle a ticket for Oscar to attend. He wouldn’t be sitting with me, but he
would be there, on hand to experience his first Grand Final at the ground! So
after collecting my seat ticket in the MCC, I went home to collect Oscar and came
back to the city. Here was another
sign that things were going to work out. All of this running around on public
transport involved three train trips and a tram trip, but every connection was seamless
and there were no excessive wait times.
Oscar
and I met my brother Graeme for our traditional Grand Final breakfast at
Il Solito Posto, off Collins Street. The owner is a classic – a Tiges fan that
on this occasion was exasperated by a couple of elderly customers who were
fussing over a luch menu that wasn’t yet available. An Il Solito breakfast is
big and an excellent way to fortify yourself against later hunger and having to
queue at the hot chip counter. Plus they serve beers. If the Tiges ever make
the Granny, it will be the place to be pre-match.
We
dispensed with our long-standing tradition of a beer at the Imperial on the
corner of Bourke and Spring, and went instead to the Duke of Wellington to meet
Pete, Grant and the gang to collect Oscar’s ticket. Graeme then made his way to
the ground while Oscar and I joined the Hawthorn crew of Linda, Melinda,
friends and family with whom I sat during the 80s. When Hawthorn is in the big one they hold a car park BBQ and we catch up with an array of old and new Hawks fans.
Then
it was time to take Oscar to his entry gate and head into the ground. One quick
Crowny at the Tower 6 Bar and I went to take my seat. My timing was poor, however, because I ventured to Level 2 just as Tom Jones was introduced, so you can imagine the congestion at the entry and the clogging of thoroughfares as the septuagenarians stood to squeeze out of their support garments to hurl them at Sir Tom.
As a former cheer squander from the 70s and 80s, I still love to check out the banners and the Hawks had a beauty to commemorate Hodgey’s 250th game on one side and team bonding on the other.
As a former cheer squander from the 70s and 80s, I still love to check out the banners and the Hawks had a beauty to commemorate Hodgey’s 250th game on one side and team bonding on the other.
On
Grand Final day there seems to be a couple of hundred people on the arena when
the teams run out, but nevertheless, the shivers buzzed up and down my body
like a quick-working drug when the boys in brown and gold emerged. We’re here
again.
It
has been a recent tradition for teams to soundtrack their entry with music
other than their club song. This is because most club songs are naff. Hawthorn’s
and Sydney’s songs, for instance, both feature banjo solos. Most famously Port
Adelaide have adopted INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart as their anthem, which must
seem ironic to any of their former board members. I hadn’t realised, however,
that Sydney had also adopted some entry music: in their case the opening tribal
drums, heavy breathing and screaming of Kanye West’s Black Skinhead. It sounded
great. As audio branding goes, it certainly presents a more formidable
soundtrack than Hawthorn’s Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Full-on football
The Tackle
Of course it’s not about the music, it’s about the game and that got underway with a series of fast and ferocious skirmishes as players from both teams went at the ball.
Of course it’s not about the music, it’s about the game and that got underway with a series of fast and ferocious skirmishes as players from both teams went at the ball.
The
scores were even early on but it was clear that Hawthorn were playing with a rabid
intensity rarely seen outside religious insurgencies. Sustaining this ferocity
was going to be the challenge. Which made early missed set shots from Liam Shiels and Jack Gunston frustrating. But we were getting the ball, and more
importantly, stripping Sydney of it on the rare occasion they had it.
Josh Kennedy of the Swans kicked the first goal of the match, but the Hawks responded quickly with Brad Hill running clear and getting the ball to Matt Suckling, who speared a pass to The Poo. His set shot from 50 was a beauty and the Hawks were level.
Josh Kennedy of the Swans kicked the first goal of the match, but the Hawks responded quickly with Brad Hill running clear and getting the ball to Matt Suckling, who speared a pass to The Poo. His set shot from 50 was a beauty and the Hawks were level.
After
Buddy marked strongly and goaled, the Swans were ahead again, despite Hawthorn’s
ascendency around the contest. This was Buddy’s second mark, but as Matt
Spangher had done when Franklin took his first mark, Brian Lake fell roughly
into him ‘in the contest’, in this case driving his elbow into Franklin’s head.
Buddy was playing well, but he wasn’t going to get many easy, let alone pain-free
possessions.
Shaun
Burgoyne was playing a beautiful game of poise and polish. When he took
possession time seemed to stop for him. He occupied his own world. His pass to Breust on 50 was
gorgeous. Breust’s monster kick from the 50 arc straight through the middle was even better.
The
scores were even again, but then the Hawks took over. The final 10 minutes of
the first quarter and the first 10 minutes of the second quarter was the decisive
period of the game. During it Hawthorn applied relentless pressure on the Swans
players and tackled like the All Blacks, basically pummelling the Swans into
submission. In one sequence, four consecutive contests saw Sydney players try
to take possession but get flung off the ball or ridden into the ground.
Hawthorn was missing shots at goal, but this just meant but Sydney had to kick
the ball in and this was a task they approached with all the assuredness of a male virgin confronted with a woman in lingerie.
The
extreme pressure eventually led to goals. Instead of marking, Heath Grundy
punched the ball into the arms of Brad Hill who kicked a simple goal. Jarryd
Roughead hit Dan Hanneberry so hard it knocked the wind and also the will to
live out of several Swans, and led directly to Gunston running in to kick an easy goal. This tackle epitomised the way the Hawks were approaching the game and would come to symbolise the match. Then Will
Langford hurled himself into a pack and emerged to snap over his shoulder for
our fourth unanswered goal and fifth of the quarter.
Quarter time: Hawthorn 5 5
35 v Sydney 2 3 15
The Burst
The
second quarter began inauspiciously enough with Ben McGlynn kicking a goal for
Sydney and Ben McEvoy and Sam Mitchell both missing set shots for
Hawthorn. At the six-minute mark
Hawthorn’s lead was 16 points; nine minutes later it was 47 points. For repeat
viewings, this was the period of the game that will rival Stuart Dew’s magic
five minutes from the third quarter of the 2008 Grand Final.
Luke
Breust kicked his second goal from a free kick; then Mitchell marked and passed
to Hale who kicked accurately. From the next clearance Hodge handballed quickly to
Langford who burst through half forward to kick another; then Roughead slammed it
on his boot and Hodge marked in the goal square; a behind to The Poo gave Gary
Rohan the kick-in which Hodge intercepted for another goal to give the Hawks a
47 point lead and trigger utter pandemonium in the stands. We kicked so many
goals in such quick succession I nearly did my hammy standing up to cheer them.
When
Adam Goodes kicked Sydney’s next goal, Bruce McAvaney in the Channel 7
commentary noted that this was the first goal of the game not to be kicked by a
Hawthorn player, or someone who used to play for Hawthorn, as Sydney’s other
goal kickers were Kennedy, Franklin and McGlynn. Franklin added another after a
good mark, but then Cyril brilliantly intercepted a Tippet handball and passed
it to Roughead for his first and a half-time lead of 42 points.
Half-time: Hawthorn 11 9 75
v Sydney 5 3 33
Hawthorn’s
half-time score of 75 was more than any other team had kicked in total against
Sydney in the previous 12 weeks – except of course for Hawthorn in Round 18. Had
I known that at the time, I might have been more bullish in my half-time assessment
of the game. But I was still tense.
The
biggest Grand Final comeback is 44 points for Carlton in the famous 1970 Grand
Final. It was difficult to see that Sydney would muster something of its equal,
but they had Buddy, and we’d nearly blown a five goal lead in the final 10
minutes the previous week, and Sydney still had 60 minutes of football to
bridge the gap if they were good enough. So Hawks fans, while confident and
slightly dizzy, were still not wholly certain of victory.
The
main argument against a Swans comeback in the second half was just how well the
Hawks had played in the first half.
That had to count for something. Mitchell, Hodge, Lewis and Burgoyne
were playing likes princes, but other lesser royals were also pivotal: Langford,
Hill, Shiels, Stratton, Suckling and Spangher. McEvoy and Rioli more than justified their
selection, while Breust, Gunston and of course the great Roughead were superb. It
had been a complete team performance.
I
joined my friend Martin, a Cats fan, in the Sir Bernard Cullinan Bar. He was
quick to declare the match for the Hawks. One guy I pushed past on my way to
the bar saw my ‘Premiers 2013’ cap and suggested I update the year. I may not have
been wholly convinced as yet, but the non-partisan fans were already looking
forward to next season.
The Kiss
If
we can kick the first goal of the third quarter, I thought, we’re nearly there.
Within minutes we had two: one to Roughead and one to Gunston, and the lead was
55 points! This was a goal glut. This was Hawthorn hedonism!
Two
quick goals to the Swans brought us back to something like sobriety. The second
was to Franklin who was playing a great game considering how seldom the ball
was in his zone.
Cue
the highlight reel: Lake takes a screamer over Tippett, Suckling snaps over his
shoulder for a goal, Goodes misses a set shot, Hill passes to Roughead who
kicks his third, then Langford, who has already kicked goal of the day twice, supersedes them with the best one yet: winning the ball from Josh Kennedy on the boundary line in the pocket, he kicked the ball low to keep it under Kennedy’s flailing
attempt to smother, but drove it so hard into the ground that it bounced high
and also eluded another Swan. If we were scoring goals like that, then the
Fates were guiding the ball for us. As it went through I leapt to my feet with
such mad exhilaration, I actually got a headrush and nearly fainted. I could
not have been more aroused if Scarlett Johanssen, wearing nothing but a
Hawthorn jumper, were to whisper the score into my ear.
And
I wasn’t the only one feeling stimulated by the goal. Tangling with Buddy, Luke
Hodge gave him a kiss on the cheek. In the most famous of all kisses it is
Judas who betrays Christ by kissing him. In this one, it was Christ kissing
Judas.
The
kiss, of course, is a symbol of love, passion, congratulation, friendship and
affability. It’s a greeting and a farewell, and perhaps in this case it was a
bit of both. This Hodge-Franklin smooch joins the gallery of famous kisses:
Judas kissing Christ, Auguste Rodin, Rene Magritte, the grafitti on the Berlin
Wall of Roanld Reagan and Leonid Brezhnev, and of course the most famous smooch
of all, Dermott Brereton and Billy Duckworth.
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| Magritte - this says more about Rene Magritte than Hodgey & Buddy |
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| How Rodin saw the Hodgey-Buddy kiss |
With
a 54 point three quarter time lead, I was also up for kissing just about anyone
who strayed into my path, so Hodgey’s affectionate peck on Buddy is quite
understandable. Particularly as
Tom Jones and Ed Sheeran had sung the Prince hit, 'Kiss' earlier: Hodgey was simply enacting
their prophecy.
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| Dermie and Duckworth pucker up |
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| Reagan and Brezhnev |
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| Hodgey & Buddy: all is forgiven, but only because we're 9 goals up |
Three quarter time:
Hawthorn 16 11 107 v Sydney Swans 8 5 53
The Strip - “If Hawthorn win I’m getting naked”
In
the first minute of the final quarter, Hodge got the ball out to Isaac Smith
who passed to Luke Breust in the pocket. Breust’s elegant kick went straight
through the middle to give the Hawks a 10-goal lead.
From
here on it was a brown and gold celebration. Rioli was subbed-out and Taylor
Duryea came on and gathered nine possessions in 15 minutes – more than several
Swans players managed for the entire match. He was so effective he nearly played himself into Norm
Smith contention. As did Ben Stratton who took a series of fine marks at half
back.
Shaun
Burgoyne bagged a couple of goals – the first from outside 50 after a graceful
turn.
Duryea
went on a five bounce run along the outer wing after which he was pushed,
gifting a free kick downfield and goal number five for the big Rough!
Hodge
hung about on the Members wing taking simple marks to repeated roars of “Ole!”
from Hawks fans.
In
my row speculation had begun about the winner of the Norm Smith medal winner. I
thought Mitchell, another said Hodge, and someone else said Lewis,. Andrew next
to me nominated Stratton while I also heard Langford. I thought they should
quickly mint a few more so that everyone who deserved it could get one. Just as
there should have been a seond Jock McHale medal for ‘Bolts’ – Brendan Bolton
who coached for five weeks in place of Clarkson. Is it time they renamed that
medal the Alastair Clrkson medal? Ot least give him a statue at Waverley.
The
most pleasing aspect of the final quarter was that Hawthorn kept going and still
outscored the Swans, kicking five goals to three – never letting up and not
allowing Sydney any cheap consolation goals. Pretty much every player got a final
quarter touch and a chance to take a bow as they did so. And each player
rotated off the ground received a standing ovation as they ran towards the
bench.
The
only way this could have been better is if the final play had come off. With
just 10 seconds on the clock, Burgoyne had the ball on the northern flank,
looked up and saw Matt Spangher loose in the opposite pocket. As the ball
sailed in Spangher’s direction, every Hawks fan rose in anticipation of to the
perfect finale. A goal after the siren to The Spang might have provoked a ground invasion. Sadly the fates weren’t with us and Sydney managed to
intervene before the bearded one could take it.
It
was one of the most gratifying Grand Finals ever, and when the final siren rang
with Matt Suckling about to gather a loose ball, I leapt to my feet and
embraced Andrew next to me. I’ve met this guy twice in my life and on each occasion
we’ve embraced in tears – I think there might be a bromance brewing. We’ve made
a pact to meet up at the same seats next time the Hawks are in the big one.
Many
commentators would described Hawthorn’s performance as ‘total football’ – in
refernce to the Dutch football game-plan of the 70s in which every player can play every
position. And while that is as true of this Hawthorn team as it could be of any
Australian football team, this was more than just ‘total’ football;, it was
‘full-on’ football.
The
Norm Smith medal was awarded to Luke Hodge – his second following the one he
won in 2008. Watching the game live I thought Sam Mitchell or Hodge would win
it. Watching it in replay I thought perhaps Jordan Lewis might have won it, but
really, it was only ever out of those three. Between them, Hodge, Lewis and
Mitchell received 28 of the 30 possible votes (with Gibson and Langford also
receiving one each), so really, they should each have received one. Hodge probably got it as much for his smother against Port Adelaide the week previous as for anything he did this week. It is perhaps instructive that Roughead kicked 5 goals and didn't come into consideration.
I
like a woman who is true to her word. Heather McCartney, arrested for stripping
in one of the corporate boxes after Saturday’s match, later told the
Magistrates court, “I said if Hawthorn win I’m getting naked. And they won, and
I got naked.” Well that seems perfectly reasonable to me. I’ve lost count of
the number of times I’ve said exactly those words and then acted on it. And
really, if ever there was an occasion that justified it, this was it: Back-to-Back Premiers. 21 goals. An emphatic 10-goal triumph. Revenge for 2012. Matt
Spangher. All good reasons to celebrate. All good reasons to disrobe. In fact
I’m shocked more people didn’t ‘get naked’ for Hawthorn. Getting your gear off
and parading about not only a perfectly natural response to Hawthorn going back
to back, it’s the only response.
This
is Hawthorn hedonism.
Final scores: Hawthorn 21
11 137 d Sydney Swans 11 8 74.
Attendance: 99,454
What we learned: Sydney may enjoy a higher salary cap than any other team, they may have outlayed $2 million this year on their two key forwards alone, but they still lost the Grand Final by 10 goals. Clearly the salary cap is still too restrictive.
What we learned: Sydney may enjoy a higher salary cap than any other team, they may have outlayed $2 million this year on their two key forwards alone, but they still lost the Grand Final by 10 goals. Clearly the salary cap is still too restrictive.
What we already knew: There’s
never a frown with the gold and brown.
What we wonder:
When the boys get together in 2039 to celebrate the 25th anniversary
of our back to back flags, as they did this year for the 1988-89 triumph - will
Buddy have to leave half way through the night? Or will he just have to shout
the drinks?
What we can continue to
take satisfaction from: Forget the Kennett curse – it is worth noting that
in each of our past five premierships, 1989, 1991, 2008, 2013 and 2014 – we’ve
defeated Geelong at some stage in the Finals series or in the Grand Final
itself.
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| The author celebrates! |
