Almanac Footy: A Flag by the Narrowest Possible Margin

Across the largest and traditional Australian football states of South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, there have been a combined total of 371 Grand Finals since the inception of each League; the SANFL began in 1877, the VFL/now AFL in 1897 (apologies to Colin Carter, as we wait for official clarification of the status of 1877-1896) and the WAFL in 1885. These 371 Grand Finals include drawn playoffs and the replay, but excludes the early years of each competition when the top side was sometimes awarded the Premiers title, without any Grand Final being played. Up to and including 2022, just 52 Grand Finals (14% of the total;19 each in the SANFL and VFL/AFL and 14 in the WAFL) have been decided by a kick (6 points or less), with this figure excluding draws, unless the replay was won by a goal or less. Of these 52 matches, just 10 have been decided by the narrowest possible margin of 1 point; 4 each in the SANFL and VFL/AFL and 2 in the WAFL. These games no doubt live long in the memories of supporters, players and coaches due to the extremely tight margin, with the winners celebrating furiously, after perhaps some initial relief at having won such a close game where the flag was on the line. Conversely, the very unlucky losers are distraught and disconsolate; and understandably thinking of what might have been….and probably how the final minute or two might have been played differently.

 

Of these 1 point flags, the most famous is no doubt that of St Kilda in 1966, as this victory remains their first and only Premiership to date. The game was tight and tough all day, with little separating the Saints and the Magpies, as evidenced by each of the quarter scores; the Saints led by 4 points at the first break, the ‘Pies by 1 point at the half, the Saints by 4 points at the last break and then by just 1 point at the final siren. In the last quarter the Saints led by 13 points after 10 minutes, but goals to Collingwood’s Des Tuddenham and Ian Graham saw the margin back to 1 point after 16 minutes. About 2 minutes later, a big pack mark at the top of the goal square by Kevin “Cowboy” Neale saw him restore a 7 point advantage to the Saints with his 5^th goal for the game. However, at about the 21 minute mark, a long punt kick from Collingwood’s Max Pitt sailed through the goals to make it again a 1 point margin. This was the last goal of the game, and there was about 6:45 left on the clock.

 

With about 4:30 to play, Des Tuddenham had a running shot for goal which tied the scores at 10.13 apiece, as his punt drifted left. About a minute later Wayne Richardson’s running shot to potentially put Collingwood in front also faded left and missed everything, going out of bounds. The next 2 minutes saw frantic play from both sides, but no shots on goal. With just over a minute left to play Barry Breen immortalised himself when he latched onto a loose ball after Collingwood defender Ted Potter’s attempted handball was smothered by Saints ruckman Bryan Mynott, and his wobbly punt from about 40 yards out bounced through for a point to put the Saints in front. They then ferociously defended their slender lead in the final minute of play, but with only about 15 seconds left Collingwood had one last forward thrust. Terry Waters took a strong mark 10 yards from the Saints goal and played on quickly with a long kick to the open outer wing where Des Tuddenham gathered the bouncing ball and kicked long to centre half forward, but Saints full back Bob Murray stood tall and took the (flag saving) mark. There was just 8 seconds left on the clock, time enough for Murray’s drop kick (yes, a drop kick….) to reach the wing, as the siren sounded to give the Saints their first ever flag. It was just their third Grand Final appearance since 1897.

 

Prior to 1966, there had been two other 1 point flags in the VFL. Way back in 1899, Fitzroy triumphed over South Melbourne at the Junction oval in a game that was played in driving rain, after the adverse weather committee allowed the game to go on. On the day, Fitzroy wanted to play whereas South Melbourne had asked the committee for a postponement, but the ‘Roy’s, who had finished on top of the ladder, won the pre-match battle. Rover Bill McSpeerin put Fitzroy in front with the last goal of the game at about the 15 minute mark of the final quarter, and with both teams scoring a further point each, this proved to be enough to secure a 3.9 (27) to 3.8 (26) win. In 1947 Carlton also came from behind to beat Essendon and secure victory when first year player Fred Stafford snapped truly off his non-preferred foot with only about 40 seconds left to play. The Blues had trailed for most of the game, but had dominated the final 10 minutes, as the Bombers’ last score (a goal) came at about the 14 minute mark of the final term. The Blues had missed several chances to score before Stafford finally kicked the winner and the Bombers were left to lament their inaccuracy on the day, scoring 11.19 (85) to Carlton’s 13.8 (86). The next season, the goal front curse was even worse for the Bombers, as they kicked a woeful 7.27 (69) to draw with underdogs Melbourne 10.9 (69) in the Grand Final. The next week, in a major upset, Essendon lost the replay by 39 points.

 

In the era of the AFL, West Coast are the only 1 point flag winners after their nail biting win over Sydney in 2006. This game was remarkable, not just because of the ultra close finish, but it also represented the 5^th game in a row between the 2 teams that was decided by less than a goal (this extended to 6 games when, in the opening round of 2007, West Coast again defeated Sydney by 1 point: this remains the record for successive close finishes between two teams). Further, Sydney had won the qualifying final in Perth 3 weeks earlier by 1 point, with the total scores being 85-84, and in the Grand Final, this was exactly reversed, with West Coast 85 to Sydney 84. The Eagles were never headed in the Grand Final and the scores were never tied, but it was a near thing in the last quarter! With just over 5 minutes to play, West Coast led by just a solitary point. Suddenly, Daniel Chick produced possibly the most important 1 percenter double-play ever: his combination of smother and shepherd allowed Adam Hunter to run into an open goal and make the margin 7 points. This was to be West Coast’s final score and there was only 4:36 left on the clock.

 

Nearly 2 minutes elapsed before Amon Buchanan fed a handball to Nick Malceski , where his kick across the body (from about 30 metres out) made it a 1 point game once again. There was just 2:45 left to play. The clock ticked down to less than a minute to play and from a bouncedown at half forward for West Coast, Ben Cousins gathered and handballed backwards to Chad Fletcher, who went further back to Daniel Kerr. Under intense pressure from the Sydney players, Kerr passed across the ground towards Adam Hunter, but the kick pitched well short of him and the ball was up for grabs in the centre circle. This was the Swans last roll of the dice….but for West Coast, the often unsung Rowan Jones won the hard ball get and handballed to Quentin Lynch  who scrambled a short 10 metre kick to Beau Waters who then made a hurried handball out towards the wing. In the frenzied play here, Nic Fosdike won the ball and kicked long down the line to Sydney’s forward flank, about 50 metres from their goal, where West Coast full back Darren Glass forced a boundary thrown in. There was just 2.5 seconds left, and as the ruckmen put hands to the ball the siren sounded and West Coast had avenged their 4 point defeat by Sydney in the 2005 Grand Final by the narrowest of margins.

 

In the West in 1907, Perth (eventually) triumphed over East Fremantle by a single point, 6.6 (42) to 5.11 (41) in a Grand Final unfortunately marred by bitter controversy. East Fremantle were in fact ahead by 5 points when the final siren sounded, but Perth appealed immediately after the game, contending that a free kick and subsequent goal scored by East Fremantle’s Charlie Doig at the end of the second quarter, had occurred after the half time bell had been rung, and should therefore be disallowed. The respective time keepers for each club allowed no resolution, as East Fremantle’s reporter indicated that he had heard umpire Ivo Crapp’s whistle 5 seconds before the bell, whereas Perth’s said it was 2 seconds after.

On the Tuesday night after the match, the WAFL Appeals Board somehow upheld Perth’s appeal and named them as Premiers (it was their very first flag). The club then showed great sportsmanship in offering to replay the match but WAFL insisted that the Premiership had been decided. East Fremantle, after Perth had admirably persisted with the offer of a replay, countered first with a refusal, claiming the “doubtful honour” of the win was plain to see and secondly with a threat that they may pull out of the WAFL competition in protest. They didn’t follow through, but did exact some revenge by defeating Perth in the next 2 Grand Finals whilst on their way to winning the next 4 Premierships.

 

In 2010, in what is considered to be the best WAFL Grand Final of the current era, Swan Districts beat Claremont by the narrowest possible margin. The game was a classical “nip and tuck” affair with little separating the two teams throughout. Swans briefly led by 18 points late in the third quarter, but Claremont promptly scored 2.2 in the last few minutes, to again make the margin 4 points at the last break, as it also was at half time. In the final quarter the lead changed hands several times, until with about 2:30 left to play Claremont’s David Crawford took a big pack mark at the top of the goal square and duly converted to give the Tigers a 5 point lead. Wanting to now close the game down and keep things tight, the Claremont players then forced bouncedown after bouncedown (6 in all), before they won a free kick for kicking in danger inside the Swans forward 50.

 

The recipient was Crawford, now playing behind the ball to clog things up. There was under a minute to play as he kicked long out to the wing, but it was a “floater” and did not quite get the expected distance. Swans pounced, with Ben Colreavy (ex- Claremont, Fremantle Dockers rookie and Sturt) spoiling the ball, which was gathered by a 16 year old Stephen Coniglio (GWS), who was playing just his 5^th game of League, and who had scored Swan’s last goal (his 4^th for the game) about 10 minutes previously. He dodged and weaved and fed a handball to Tom Roach (ex-Richmond; Michael’s son), who quickly dished off to Wayde Twomey (Carlton rookie in 2011) who kicked forward off the inside of his boot to about 25 metres from the Swans goal. The ball spilled over the back of the pack into the waiting hands of Sandover medallist Andrew Krakouer (ex-Richmond and Collingwood), who with his 41^st possession of the day, kicked his 4^th goal of the game and 3^rd in the last quarter to put Swans back in front by a solitary point. There were just 28 seconds left to play.

 

From the centre bounce Swans forced the ball out towards the wing, where Claremont’s Byron Schammer (ex-Dockers) tried to beat the tackle of Ashley Hansen (ex-West Coast, now Senior Assistant Coach at Carlton), but was caught holding the ball. That should have been game over, but Swans gave Claremont one more half chance as Hansen passed 35 metres back to Matt Riggio (ex-Kangaroos), who then missed with a short pass to Clancee Pearce (ex-Dockers), and suddenly the ball was loose about 70 metres from the Claremont goal. Desperate defence by Swans Captain Josh Roberts and Hansen forced a bouncedown, and then, after the quarter had gone 35 minutes and 4 seconds, the siren sounded, breaking a 20 year Premiership drought for Swans, winning 14.16 (100) to 14.15 (99). Deservedly, Andrew Krakouer added the Simpson medal for best afield to his Sandover, leaving no doubt that he was primed for a return to the AFL (Collingwood in 2011). With Swan’s victory, Ash Hansen also became a quiz question: “Name the only player to have won both an AFL (WCE;2006) and WAFL Premiership with a winning margin of just 1 point”.

 

In South Australia, remarkably, Norwood have played in 3 of the 4 single point Grand Finals, and won them all! The first was in 1925, when they were favourites and in front of West Torrens for almost all of the game, until they were headed with just a few minutes to play. Torrens now had chances to wrap it up, but scored only behinds, leaving the margin at 5 points. With under a minute to play Norwood swept the ball forward and goalsneak Roy Bent let fly with a long punt for goal which went through, his 6^th for the game. The Redlegs had their 17^th flag, winning 8.4 (52) to 7.9 (51).  Wests were denied back to back Premierships, having won their first in 1924.

 

In 1978 Norwood won perhaps their most famous premiership when they triumphed by a point over Sturt. The Double Blues had lost only 1 game all season and were red hot favourites, and when they led by 29 points at the last change, it seemed that the expected script was playing out, despite their goal front inaccuracy (12.21 to 9.10 was the score).However, Norwood found something special and by midway through the last quarter had hit the front! The lead would change twice more, as Sturt fought back and then the Redlegs again hit the front late into time on.

 

With only about 3 minutes of play left, the ball was in the Norwood goal square, but a Sturt defender managed a hurried kick away towards the pocket. However, after a desperate tackle as he kicked, saw the ball stay low and only travel about 15 metres. Norwood’s Phil Gallagher was then paid a mark, although it is unclear as to whether he actually took clean possession; he may have dropped the ball as he turned his body away from where the umpire was standing. His drop punt on goal from 20 metres on a difficult angle was good (his third for the game) and the Redlegs now held a 2 point lead with just under 3 minutes left. Sturt then had the ball in their forward half for most of the rest of the game, managing 2 hurried shots on goal: the first failed to score as Norwood Captain Michael Taylor marked right on the line (if it had have carried it would have been a point, not a goal) and with about 30 seconds left, Sturt ruckman Rick Davies left foot snap drifted wide for a point. He then marked the kick in on the outer flank and quickly kicked back towards their goal, when the siren sounded to signal a Norwood win, 16.15 (111) to 14.26 (110), in one of the greatest final quarter comebacks seen in SANFL history.

 

Norwood’s third 1 point flag came just last season in 2022, when they beat the strong favourites North Adelaide. The Roosters had finished on top and won the second semi-final, while Norwood had lost their first qualifying final before scrapping their way into the decider with semi- and preliminary final wins. In the Grand Final it was a tight game all day, with North always just ahead on the scoreboard, and when they jumped 17 points clear after 12 minutes of the last quarter it looked like the Roosters day. However, the Redlegs thought otherwise and they kicked the last 3 goals of the game, while keeping North scoreless, to win by the solitary point.

 

With 3 minutes left to play, Norwood were 5 points behind, but pressing forward relentlessly. From a boundary throw-in about 25 metres from their goal, Matthew Panos became the hero, as he brilliantly roved the tap from ruckman Harry Boyd and on his left foot snapped the goal that gave the Roosters the lead, 8.11 (59) to 8.10 (58). For the remaining time they defended the narrow lead grimly, and denied the Roosters any clear scoring opportunities, before the siren sounded to give them their 31^st Premiership. They also became just the 4^th team to win the Premiership after losing the qualifying final (joining Sturt in 1976 and 2017 and the Eagles in 2011). For Panos, it was a fairy-tale finish, as he had missed most of the past two seasons with a knee injury.

 

In 2017 Sturt produced a rags to riches season to remember. After losing their first 4 games they then lost just one more match to finish third on the ladder. Port Adelaide won the qualifying final against them, but the Double Blues scrapped their way into the Grand Final after hard fought wins against Centrals and Woodville-West Torrens. The re-match against Port saw Sturt always in front in a low scoring game. At the first break it was Sturt by 10 points, at half time by 12 points and at the last break, in the biggest margin of the game, they led by 17 points after keeping Port goalless in the third term. The Magpies then promptly scored the first 3 goals of the final quarter, so that scores were level after 13 and a half minutes.

 

About 5 minutes later Sturt’s Kory Beard converted from the goal square after a free kick and 25 metre penalty, and at nearly 22 minutes James Battersby kicked a point from about 50 metres out (the critical score as it turned out) to give Sturt a 7 point break. About 2 minutes later Port’s Brendon Ah Chee (ex-Port Power and WCE) received a free kick for a marking infringement and scored from 45 metres out to shrink Sturt’s lead to a solitary point. There were about 4 minutes left to play. Desperate defence from the Double Blues saw them survive, with no more clear shots on goal from either team until the siren sounded to give Sturt back to back flags (after having beaten Woodville-West Torrens by 27 points in 2016). The 1 point win also saw Sturt become the first SANFL club to celebrate the “treble”, by winning the Under 18’s, Reserves and League Premierships all in the same season.

 

Of these ten solitary-point Premiership wins, on five occasions the winning team was ahead in the dying minutes (St Kilda 1966, Fitzroy 1905, West Coast 2006, Norwood 1978 and Sturt 2017) and had to frantically defend the slender lead. In four of the other wins, the winning team had to score last to get in front (Carlton 1947, Swan Districts 2010, Norwood 1925 and 2022) and then defend grimly for the remaining time. Swans are the team that left it at the very the latest to snatch the lead: there were just 28 seconds left to play when they scored the goal that put them in front. Way back in 1907, Perth had to wait until the Tuesday night after the game to be awarded (on appeal) the Premiership, by the narrowest of margins!

 

 

 

 

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