1987 VFL finals series
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| 1987 premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Date | 5–26 September 1987 |
| Teams | 5 |
| Premiers | Carlton (15th premiership) |
| Runners-up | Hawthorn (11th grand final) |
| Minor premiers | Carlton (16th minor premiership) |
| Attendance | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Total attendance | 429,057 (71,510 per match) |
| Highest | 92,754 (Grand Final, Carlton vs. Hawthorn) |
The 1987 Victorian Football League finals series was the 91st annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 1987 VFL Premiership season. The series ran over four weekends in September 1987, culminating with the 1987 VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 1987.
Qualification
Matches
The 1987 VFL finals series was contested using the McIntyre Final Five system, which had been in use since 1972.
Week one (Qualifying and Elimination finals)
Elimination final (North Melbourne v Melbourne)
Melbourne were making their first VFL finals appearance since 1964, while North Melbourne had last appeared in 1985. This was the second final between the two sides, having previously met in the First Semi-final in 1954 which was won by Melbourne.[1]
Teams
This shows the teams as listed in the The Football Record.[2] Melbourne centreman Brian Wilson was a late withdrawal and was replaced by Russell Richards, while for North Melbourne Jim Krakouer was replaced by Shaun Smith.
    North Melbourne
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 Melbourne
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Scorecard
| Elimination Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 6 September (2:30pm) | North Melbourne | def. by | Melbourne | MCG (crowd: 72628) | Report |
| 3.2 (20) 4.4 (28) 4.8 (32) 5.10 (40) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
3.6 (24) 9.11 (65) 16.16 (112) 22.26 (158) |
Umpires: Clayton, Robinson Television broadcast: ABC TV | ||
| 2: P Krakouer 1: Smith, Steele, Hepburn |
Goals | 5: Flower 3: Dean, Jackson, Williams, Campbell 2: Stynes 1: Richards, Bailey, Viney | |||
| P Krakouer, Steele, Law | Best | Wight, Spalding, Dean, Bailey, Newport, Stynes, Jackson, Flower | |||
| Ackerly (ankle), Jonas (hamstring) | Injuries | ||||
| Reports | Chiron (striking) | ||||
Qualifying Final (Hawthorn v Sydney)
The Qualifying Final saw second-placed Hawthorn host third-placed Sydney at VFL Park. The game was significant for Sydney coach Tom Hafey as he reached 500 games as coach. In what was a crushing victory for Hawthorn, Warwick Capper booted four goals to become the second player after Tony Lockett to reach 100 goals for the season, but suffered a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the semi-final. Wingman Merv Neagle also suffered a knee injury.
- Scorecard
| Qualifying Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 7 September (7:25pm) | Hawthorn | def. | Sydney | VFL Park (crowd: 47,752) | Report |
| 5.7 (37) 9.10 (64) 16.13 (109) 23.18 (156) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
2.4 (16) 5.7 (37) 7.9 (51) 8.9 (57) |
Umpires: Sawers, Dore Television broadcast: ABC TV | ||
| 6: Brereton 5: Dunstall, Buckenara 2: DiPierdomenico, Russo 1: Schwab, Kennedy, Tuck |
Goals | 4: Capper 1: Bayes, Healy, Wright, Mitchell | |||
| Buckenara, Morris, DiPierdomenico, Tuck, Kennedy, Brereton, Collins | Best | Capper, Mitchell, Williams | |||
| Robinson (hamstring) | Injuries | Capper (hamstring), Neagle (knee) | |||
| Nil | Reports | Nil | |||
Week two (semi-finals)
First Semi-final (Sydney vs Melbourne)
The First Semi-final saw Melbourne host Sydney at the MCG. This was the second VFL final contested between the two clubs, having met for the first time back in the 1936 Preliminary Final, when Sydney were formerly based in South Melbourne. South Melbourne won that encounter 13.11 (89) to 8.15 (63).
- Scorecard
| First semi-final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 13 September (2:30pm) | Sydney | def. by | Melbourne | MCG (crowd: 80,292) | Report |
| 3.3 (21) 6.6 (42) 8.12 (60) 10.13 (73) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
2.4 (16) 10.13 (73) 17.18 (120) 21.23 (149) |
Umpires: Cameron, Howlett Television broadcast: ABC TV | ||
| Gerard Healy, Carroll, Morwood 2 Williams, Scott, Coleman, Wright 1 |
Goals | 4 Flower 3 Greg Healy, Campbell 2 Gaff 1: Petruccelle, Ryan, Hickey, Masten, Kennedy | |||
| Gerard Healy, Mitchell, Williams, Bolton, Carter, Browning | Best | Stretch, Lovett, Yeats, Flower, Jackson, Greg Healy, Eishold, Dean, O'Dwyer | |||
| Nil | Injuries | Nil | |||
| Nil | Reports | Nil | |||
Second Semi-final (Carlton vs Hawthorn)
The Second Semi-final saw minor premier Carlton play Hawthorn at VFL Park. This marked the seventh VFL final contested between the two clubs, having previously met in the 1986 VFL Grand Final which was won by Hawthorn. The two teams met twice during the 1987 home-and-away season in Rounds 1 and 14, with the Hawks winning both encounters.
- Scorecard
| Second semi-final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 12 September (2:30pm) | Carlton | def. | Hawthorn | VFL Park (crowd: 64,333) | Report |
| 1.2 (8) 2.11 (23) 6.12 (48) 11.14 (80) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
3.2 (20) 6.2 (38) 9.3 (57) 10.5 (65) |
Umpires: Clayton, Sawers Television broadcast: ABC TV | ||
| Kernahan 3 Evans 2 Johnston, Hunter, Naley, Sartori, Madden, McKenzie 1 |
Goals | 2 Dunstall, Platten 1 Curran, Buckenara, Loveridge, DiPierdomenico, Brereton, Kennedy | |||
| Naley, Johnston, Hunter, Bradley, Alvin, Madden, Aitken, Silvagni | Best | Platten, Tuck, Langford, Kennedy, Ayres, Schwab | |||
| Injuries | Dunstall (ankle) | ||||
| Nil | Reports | Nil | |||
Week three (Preliminary Final)
Preliminary final (Hawthorn vs Melbourne)
The Preliminary Final saw Hawthorn play Melbourne at VFL Park on Saturday 19 September for the right to contest the Grand Final against Carlton. Among the spectators was Wimbledon champion and Hawks fan Pat Cash, who had interrupted a holiday in Queensland with family to attend the match.[3]
Teams
The line-ups as announced on the Thursday before the game were as published in the The Football Record.[4]
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There were no late changes for either side.
Match Summary
Although kicking against the wind, it was Hawthorn who controlled most of the play early in the game, but struggled in the tricky conditions to finish a number of scoring chances, registering three behinds before Melbourne opened its scoring account at the 15-minute mark, with veteran umpire Robinson awarding a free kick to Jackson, who converted the set shot 30 metres out on a tight angle. The Hawks finally broke through for their first goal of the game nearly on the 20-minute mark; starting from the kick-in after a long kick at goal by Flower was off target, the Hawks worked the ball up the field through determined team play to Pritchard, whose pass into the forward pocket found Paul Dear. Dear quickly handpassed over the man on the mark to his unguarded teammate Curran who ran in towards goal and snapped truly to put Hawthorn back in front. But Viney replied soon after for Melbourne with a superb long kick which carried with the wind and was shepherded through on the line by Flower. The Demons added two further behinds to go into the first change leading by five points.
Early on in the second term, it was noted that the wind direction had changed to again favour Melbourne.[5][6] It took the Demons until four minutes into the term to score from the advantage when Stynes converted a 50-metre set shot from the forward pocket boundary. Grinter added another five minutes later before Buckenara replied with his first goal for Hawthorn, his long shot catching the Melbourne defence by surprise. Then at the 15-minute mark, Flower had the ball on the wing and was struggling to evade Jencke when DiPierdomenico met him with a hard but fair shirtfront. The Melbourne captain came off with what was reported as a bruised shoulder, and although he later returned to the field, he would have no further influence on the game.
Although behind at the last change, the Hawks felt that they could still win; for the first time, they were kicking with the wind, and Melbourne's physical approach was starting to affect several of its players.[7] Both coaches made several positional changes, the most notable being that of Brereton to centre half-back, from where he helped turn the game for Hawthorn.[8]
The finals-hardened Hawks were determined to make their fifth consecutive Grand Final appearance, and when time-on began in the final quarter Melbourne's lead had been cut to seven points. In the frenetic final minutes, the demons Simon Eishold hooked a set shot from point blank range. Hawthorn trailed by 9 points with 1 minute left, when Hawthorn kicked a goal with 28 seconds left to make it 3 points. The demons got a chance through Tony Campbell, but he missed a running shot from 40 metres out. Hawthorn bombed it out of the square and later resulted in a Hawthorn mark just inside the 50 meter mark. The siren sounded and it was a goal. Hawthorn won by 2 points.[9]
Scorecard
| Preliminary Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 19 September (2:30pm) | Hawthorn | def. | Melbourne | VFL Park (crowd: 71,298) | Report |
| 1.4 (10) 3.6 (24) 7.8 (50) 11.14 (80) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
2.3 (15) 6.10 (46) 10.12 (72) 10.18 (78) |
Umpires: Robinson, Howlett Television broadcast: ABC TV | ||
| Buckenara 5 Jencke, Morris, Curran, Brereton, Pritchard, Kennedy 1 |
Goals | 3 Jackson 2 Wilson, Grinter 1 Viney, Stynes, Dean | |||
| Schwab, Buckenara, Tuck, Russo, Langford, Ayres | Best | Jackson, Wight, Viney, Hughes, Spalding, Healy, Chiron | |||
| DiPierdomenico (bruised shoulder), Kennedy (bruised thigh), Mew (slight concussion) | Injuries | Wilson (dislocated shoulder), Flower (bruised shoulder) | |||
| Morris (striking) | Reports | Nil | |||
Week four (Grand Final)
This was the second consecutive Grand Final involving Carlton, who were chasing a League record 15th VFL premiership, and Hawthorn, who were chasing their 7th premiership and aiming for their first set of back-to-back flags.
| Grand Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 September (2:50 pm) | Carlton | def. | Hawthorn | MCG (crowd: 92,754) | Report |
| 3.5 (23) 6.8 (44) 10.11 (71) 15.14 (104) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
4.2 (26) 4.9 (33) 7.13 (55) 9.17 (71) |
Umpires: Robinson, Sawers Norm Smith Medal: David Rhys-Jones Television broadcast: ABC National anthem: Daryl Somers | ||
| Kernahan, Bradley 3 Johnston 2 Dorotich, Gleeson, Murphy, Hunter, Naley, McKenzie, Meldrum 1 |
Goals | 3: Kennedy 1: Curran, Collins, Pritchard, Platten, DiPierdomenico, G Dear | |||
| Rhys-Jones, Johnston, Glascott, Aitken, Madden, Alvin | Best | Langford, DiPierdomenico, Tuck, Collins, Ayres, Greene | |||
| Nil | Injuries | Nil | |||
| Johnston (striking), Madden (striking) | Reports | Nil | |||
References
- ^ Iles, Geoff (5 September 1987). "The Game in Figures". The Football Record. p. 39.
- ^ "TEAMS AS SELECTED ON THURSDAY NIGHT". The Football Record. Victorian Football League. 5 September 1987. p. 32 – via State Library of Victoria.
- ^ "CASH ON THE EDGE OF SEAT". The Canberra Times. Vol. 62, no. 18, 979. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 20 September 1987. p. 6 (Sunday Sport). Retrieved 4 October 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "TEAMS AS SELECTED ON THURSDAY NIGHT". The Football Record. Vol. 76, no. 25. Victorian Football League. 19 September 1987. p. 33 – via State Library of Victoria.
- ^ Atkinson & Atkinson (2009), p. 398
- ^ Sheedy, Kevin (21 September 1987). "Goal after the bell a real kick in the guts". The Age. p. 34.
- ^ Atkinson & Atkinson (2009), p. 399
- ^ Atkinson & Atkinson (2009), p. 399
- ^ Final Minute of Hawthorn v Melbourne 1987 VFL Preliminary Final - WITH COUNTDOWN CLOCK, retrieved 9 September 2021
Bibliography
- Atkinson, Graeme; Atkinson, Brant (2009). The Complete Book of AFL Finals (5th ed.). Scoresby, Victoria: The Five Mile Press. ISBN 978-1-74211-275-6.
