1990 AFL Grand Final

The 1990 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and the Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 6 October 1990. It was the 94th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1990 AFL season. The match, attended by 98,944 spectators, was won by Collingwood by a margin of 48 points, marking that club's 14th premiership victory.

Background

Main article: 1990 AFL season

Collingwood had made nine unsuccessful Grand Final attempts (including the famous draw in the 1977 VFL Grand Final against North Melbourne), in the previous 32 years, not having won a premiership since the 1958 VFL Grand Final. Essendon had last played a Grand Final in 1985, which it had won against Hawthorn; that match was the last game of Collingwood coach and then-Hawthorn forward Leigh Matthews' playing career.

At the conclusion of the home and away season, Essendon had finished first on the AFL ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses. Collingwood had finished second with 16 wins and 6 losses. The top five qualified for the finals, which were played under the McIntyre Final Five system.

Collingwood and West Coast played a draw in the Qualifying Final at Waverley Park in the first week of the finals. The match was replayed the following week, with Collingwood winning convincingly by 59 points to advance to the Second Semi-Final against Essendon. In the Second-Semi Final, Collingwood scored ten goals to two after half time to win by 63 points and advance to the Grand Final. Essendon faced West Coast in the Preliminary Final, winning by 63 points, to earn its place in the Grand Final.

Collingwood's drawn game with West Coast caused the Grand Final and all other finals to be delayed by a week from the originally scheduled dates. This proved controversial, because in the second semi-final, it had been 21 days since Essendon's last competitive match, due to receiving a bye in the first week of the finals, following by the replayed Qualifying Final in the second week; Essendon had played an unofficial practice match against 12th-placed Fitzroy during the second week.^[1] For the 1991 and successive AFL seasons, the rules were changed to allow extra time to be played in finals, excluding the Grand Final, if scores were level at the end of the fourth quarter. The first final to require extra time was four years later in the 1994 Qualifying Final between North Melbourne and Hawthorn.

Match summary

First quarter

The match began with Essendon starting strongly, as the Bombers' beanpole full-forward Paul Salmon kicked two early goals from strong marks. The signs looked ominous for Collingwood who were unable to penetrate before a classic goal by Peter Daicos from the boundary followed by a late goal by Gavin Brown from an Essendon turnover gave the inaccurate Magpies a three-point lead, and considerable momentum, at the first change.

Quarter time brawl

At the sounding of the quarter time siren, a wild brawl erupted in the Essendon forward pocket drawing all players on the ground and even spreading to include team officials. During the brawl, Gavin Brown was flattened by Terry Daniher in retaliation for Brown felling Kieran Sporn. The umpires, police, stadium security and even Channel Seven boundary rider Bernie Quinlan were needed to restore order. In the aftermath ten players and officials were reported (see below for details). The violent brawl, beamed live across Australia and the world, shocked viewers, fans and officials alike, and would be the catalyst for the AFL to crackdown on violence in the game, leading to greater penalties and severe fines for players engaging in brawls.

Second quarter

Following the brawl, the umpires took a hard line on any indiscretions. Collingwood, playing in front at the contests, benefitted from this, and won several free kicks and fifty metre penalties, from which they scored five goals in the first nine minutes of the quarter. Essendon never really recovered from this purple patch, and after finishing with six goals to one in the second quarter, Collingwood led by 34 points at half time.

Third quarter

Collingwood continued strongly after half time, whilst Kevin Sheedy had shuffled his Essendon players into different position all across the ground in an attempt to bridge the deficit, mirroring his successful 3/4 time efforts in the 1984 VFL Grand Final. Craig Starcevich was knocked out by Terry Daniher after taking a mark, with Mick McGuane taking his kick and goalling from the resultant 50 metre penalty. Peter Daicos scored a spectacular goal from near the behind post to extend Collingwood's margin to 46 points. Essendon scored the next two goals midway through the third quarter with two quick goals, before Gavin Brown goaled late to give Collingwood a 40-point lead at three-quarter time.

Fourth quarter

Essendon attacked and dominated the play early in the last quarter but could only manage behinds, including hitting the post twice from set shots. After absorbing the Essendon pressure for twenty minutes, Collingwood's Doug Barwick scored the first goal of the quarter, with a snap shot from 25 metres. The siren sounded soon after Damian Monkhorst goalled to make the margin 48 points. Essendon was held goalless in the final quarter.

The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Collingwood's Tony Shaw for being judged the best player afield, with 32 possessions in an inspirational display. He was the first team captain to be awarded the medal.

This win represented the first for Leigh Matthews as coach. He had previously captained Hawthorn to Grand Finals in the 1980s, and later went on to coach the Brisbane Lions to premierships in the 2000s.

Many of Essendon's senior players would retire or move on in the following two seasons, however their next Grand Final appearance came three years later, when the Baby Bombers (so named because of the astounding number of players they had under 21) surprised the football world and won the 1993 AFL Grand Final against Carlton. Collingwood did not win another premiership for 20 years, until they defeated St Kilda in 2010.

Teams

Collingwood
B:	44 Shane Kerrison	21 Michael Christian	12 Denis Banks
HB:	7 Shane Morwood	23 Craig Kelly	3 Michael Gayfer
C:	42 Darren Millane	22 Tony Shaw (c)	19 Graham Wright
HF:	29 Scott Russell	35 Peter Daicos	17 Doug Barwick
F:	26 Gavin Brown	1 Damian Monkhorst	28 Gavin Crosisca
Foll:	30 James Manson	34 Michael McGuane	2 Tony Francis
Int:	24 Jamie Turner	27 Craig Starcevich

Coach:	Leigh Matthews

Essendon
B:	16 Paul Hamilton	6 Anthony Daniher	5 Terry Daniher
HB:	7 Chris Daniher	10 Gary O'Donnell	29 David Grenvold
C:	11 Greg Anderson	9 Derek Kickett	23 Peter Cransberg
HF:	32 Tim Watson (c)	18 Paul Van Der Haar	4 Michael Long
F:	15 Alan Ezard	3 Paul Salmon	8 Darren Bewick
Foll:	27 Simon Madden	1 Mark Harvey	26 Mark Thompson
Int:	17 Kieran Sporn	19 Peter Somerville

Coach:	Kevin Sheedy

Scorecard


	1990 AFL Grand Final
Saturday, 6 October 2:30pm	Collingwood	def.	Essendon	MCG (Crowd: 98,944)
	2.5 (17) 8.9 (57) 11.10 (76) 13.11 (89)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.2 (14) 3.5 (23) 5.6 (36) 5.11 (41)	Umpires: Sawers, Rich Norm Smith Medal: Tony Shaw Television broadcast: Seven Network National anthem: Normie Rowe

Brown 2, Barwick 2, Crosisca 2, Russell 2, Daicos 2, Monkhorst, Starcevich, McGuane		Goals	Salmon 2, Kickett, Somerville, Grenvold
Shaw, Russell, Monkhorst, Millane, Francis, Kerrison, Starcevich, Crosisca, McGuane		Best	Watson, Sporn, T. Daniher, Kickett, Ezard, O'Donnell
Brown (concussion), Starcevich (concussion)		Injuries	Nil
See Tribunal		Reports	See Tribunal

Match was also broadcast on 3AW and 3LO radio

Tribunal

Ten players and officials were reported on a total of seventeen offences as a result of the brawl:

Terry Daniher (Essendon): Charged with striking Gavin Brown and striking Craig Starcevich. Suspended for 12 matches.
Graeme Allan (Colllingwood football manager): Charged with striking Essendon runner Peter Power and conduct unbecoming of a team official. Suspended for six matches and fined $15,000.
Eddie Hillgrove (Colllingwood team manager): Charged with assaulting Essendon bootstudder Graham Menola and conduct unbecoming of a team official. Suspended for six matches and fined $7,500.
Darren Bewick (Essendon): Charged with striking and rough conduct against Tony Shaw, kneeing Denis Banks, and striking Doug Barwick. Cleared of first three charges; suspended for four matches.
Gavin Brown (Colllingwood): Charged with striking Kieran Sporn. Suspended for three matches.
Kieran Sporn (Essendon): Charged with striking Denis Banks. Suspended for two matches.
John Synan (Essendon doorman): Charged with charging Colllingwood team manager Eddie Hillgrove and conduct unbecoming of a team official. Fined $5,000.
Craig Kelly (Colllingwood) and Paul Van Der Haar (Essendon): Charged with striking each other. Both found not guilty.
Derek Kickett (Essendon): Charged with striking Mick McGuane. Found not guilty.

Postscript

In a tragic postscript, Collingwood player Darren Millane, who was in possession of the ball when the final siren sounded, was killed in a car accident one year and one day after this match.

References

↑ Rodgers, Stephen, Every Game Every Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1991, Ringwood, VIC: Viking O'Neal, p. 741
1 2 Pos'ns stands for Possessions.

Victorian/Australian Football League Grand Finals

VFL Grand Finals	1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

AFL Grand Finals	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Collingwood Football Club 1990 AFL premiers

Collingwood 13.11 (89) defeated Essendon 5.11 (41), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

1. Monkhorst 2. Francis 3. Gayfer 7. Morwood 12. Banks 17. Barwick 19. Wright 21. Christian 22. Shaw (c) 23. Kelly 24. Turner 26. Brown 27. Starcevich 28. Crosisca 29. Russell 30. Manson 34. McGuane 35. Daicos 42. Millane 44. Kerrison

Coach: Matthews

Collingwood Football Club

History Records Current squad Players Captains Coaches Awards Copeland Trophy Leading Goalkickers Captain: Scott Pendlebury Coach: Nathan Buckley Nickname: Magpies

Home grounds	Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–present) Etihad Stadium (2000–present) Victoria Park (1897–1999)

Premierships (15)	1902 1903 1910 1917 1919 1927 1928 1929 1930 1935 1936 1953 1958 1990 2010

Seasons (119)	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Awards	Copeland Trophy

Related articles	VFL team Carlton–Collingwood AFL rivalry Anzac Day clash Queen's Birthday clash Colliwobbles Eddie McGuire Joffa Corfe New York Magpies

Essendon Football Club

History Premierships & Records Players Captains Coaches Awards W. S. Crichton Medal Leading Goalkickers Captain: Jobe Watson Coach: John Worsfold Nickname: Bombers

Home grounds	East Melbourne Cricket Ground (1897–1921) Windy Hill (1922–91) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–present) Docklands Stadium (2000–present)

Premierships (16)	1897 1901 1911 1912 1923 1924 1942 1946 1949 1950 1962 1965 1984 1985 1993 2000

Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Related articles	Anzac Day clash Carlton–Essendon AFL rivalry Dreamtime at the 'G Archer–Hird Medal Line in the sand match Round 16, 2001 comeback vs. North Melbourne Supplements controversy

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