A fun fact about June 5, 2004, is that the Athens Olympic torch was touring through Melbourne that very day, having begun its international journey in Sydney the day before, and the torch would make an appearance at the MCG for a nondescript Saturday afternoon game between lowly Hawthorn and Essendon.
What followed was something that resembled the Blood in the Water match from the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, albeit without the water, although by the standards of two teams that had numerous brawls throughout the 1980s, it was Saturday.
Now, the story goes that none other than Dermott Brereton (A Hawthorn legend + Director of the club with strong views on the Bombers) went down into the rooms at half-time told a few Hawks players to draw a line in the sand and not be intimidated by Essendon, given the Hawks had only defeated the Bombers once in 10 years (1997), the Bombers were still a finals contender, and the Hawks were stone motherless last on the AFL ladder, facing their first wooden spoon since 1965.
Needless to say the lowly Hawks were outclassed by the Dons and trailed by 32 points at half-time, during which Dermie said his piece and Peter Schwab allegedly directed that Mark Johnson didn't walk off the ground (In revenge for a tackle that knocked out Robert Campbell), then early in the 2nd Half Mark Williams goaled from a free kick to cut the lead down to 26 points, after which tensions started building up during a stoppage as several players started wrestling and throwing jumper punches, which was noted by Channel 10 commentator Michael Christian as "Bubbling over a little" while the Hawks got another free kick and went forward, but the Bombers repelled until a kick to Jason Winderlich at centre wing ended with him being clouted (accidentally) by Chance Bateman.
After that, the greatest brawl of the 21st century erupted, as some 18 players, some of them former teammates, got involved and threw punches willy nilly, especially Richie Vandenberg and Lance Picioane on Adam McPhee, leaving McPhee with a bloodied eye, while poor old Jason Winderlich got belted by Campbell Brown as he was being carried off the ground, which Matthew Lloyd later described as one of the more disgusting things he'd ever seen on a football field.
"At least Hawthorn are showing a bit of spirit here.." - Michael Christian
"I'm not sure if it's the Olympic spirit but it's something out there!" - Anthony Hudson
If you don't enjoy listening to Stephen Silvagni complaining about the brawl, here's the Triple M commentary in which James Brayshaw goes off his nut alongside Brian Taylor and Jason Dunstall, who could only sit there and reminisce.
Another incident occurred a few minutes later when Smokin' Joe Misiti was simultaneously tackled & bumped by Trent Croad & Danny Jacobs respectively after kicking another Bombers goal, resulting in a groggy Misiti being taken from the ground (The kind of hit that would get 3 weeks in 2024), while Scott Lucas accepted the free kick goal.
Ultimately, while Hawthorn focused on winning the fight like a bunch of Millwall fans on an away day, the Bombers focused on winning the game and kicked 9 of the next 10 goals to lead by 74 points at 3/4 time, which was the same margin at the end of the game as both teams kicked 5 goals in the last quarter, with the Bombers winning 24.10-154 to 12.8-80 to go up to 3rd on the AFL ladder, with the Hawks anchored to last.
There was also a near verbal fight on Channel 9 the next day, when Garry Lyon had a go at Dermott Brereton for his actions behind the scenes in supposedly inciting the brawl, which Dermie took no responsibility for.
Crime and Punishment
"What we've seen is nothing to do with the playing of Australian rules football." - Tribunal Chairman Brian Collis QC
The Line in the Sand brawl set several records that still remain, one of them being the most charges from a single game (27), and it remains the costliest brawl in AFL history, at least in terms of fines, with 17 players fined a total of $70,700 for engaging in a melee, and 5 players were suspended for a total of 16 matches:
Richie Vandenberg (Hawthorn) was suspended for 3 matches for striking Adam McPhee, then got another 3 on top of that for kneeing McPhee, giving him a total of a 6-match suspension.
Lance Piciaone (Hawthorn) was suspended for 4 matches for striking McPhee.
Campbell Brown (Hawthorn) was suspended for 4 matches for striking Winderlich while he was in the arms of the trainers coming from the ground.
Simon Beaumont (Hawthorn) was suspended for 1 match for misconduct against Justin Murphy.
Justin Murphy was the only Essendon player suspended, copping 1 match for head-butting Beaumont.
Other notes
Michael Christian, who commentated the game for Channel 10, has held the role of the AFL's Match Review Officer since 2018.
Justin Murphy and Simon Beaumont, who were teammates at Carlton, had a dinner booking for after the game... due to the events that afternoon, it never happened.
June 5, 2004 is the only day in AFL history to have 2 games finish with the exact same scoreline, all the way down to goals and behinds - Essendon won 24.10-154 to 12.8-80, while at the Telstra Dome that night, North Melbourne defeated Richmond 24.10-154 12.8-80.
By sheer coincidence, these are the only games in league history that have finished with that scoreline.
It wouldn't be Campbell Brown's last incident with Essendon, as the next year in Round 20 (When the Hawks defeated the Bombers for the first time in 8 years) he was given another 4-game suspension for striking Matthew Lloyd, then in Round 22 of 2009 he referred to Lloyd as a "Sniper" after Lloyd's hit on Brad Sewell that inspired Essendon's comeback win against the Hawks to get into the finals, and resulted in the premature end of Lloyd's career... Somehow Browny didn't get rubbed out in that game.
Still, for the most part the Hawks never looked back from the Line in the Sand incident, as even though they remained winless until Round 19, they won 2 games late in the year and avoided the wooden spoon, Alastair Clarkson was appointed as coach, they drafted Roughead, Franklin & Lewis, and subsequently rose up and won 4 flags in the next 10 years, and while Essendon did win a final at the end of the season, they fell out of the Top 8 in 2005 and still haven't won a final since 2004, their best ladder position being 7th.
Other moments
Richie Vandenberg on the game, mentioning Don Scott having a chat to himself and Campbell Brown on the Friday before the game:
Campbell Brown and Matthew Lloyd burying the hatchet in 2013, detailing all their incidents over the years:
No comments:
Post a Comment