It was the third consecutive year in which the two clubs met in the premiership decider, with Hawthorn having won the 1983 VFL Grand Final and Essendon having won the 1984 VFL Grand Final
At the conclusion of the home and away season, Essendon had finished first on the VFL ladder with 19 wins and 3 losses. Hawthorn had finished third (behind Footscray) with 15 wins, 6 losses and a draw.
In the finals series in the lead-up to the game, Hawthorn defeated Footscray in the Qualifying Final before meeting the Bombers in the second semi-final, which Essendon convincingly won by 40 points. The Hawks then met Footscray again in the preliminary final, which they won by 10 points to advance to the grand final. The Bombers advanced straight to the grand final on the back of their second semi-final win.
Match summary
The grand final is often remembered for a bench-clearing brawl which broke out on the wing soon after the opening bounce.
Essendon edged ahead early and increased its margin slightly at each of the changes, leading by nine points at quarter time, 18 points at half time and 30 points at three quarter time. The Bombers then scored a record 11.3 (69) in the final quarter to completely blow the game open. Paul Salmon kicked six goals for Essendon and Roger Merrett five.
Forward Dermott Brereton starred for the Hawks with eight goals, the most ever in a losing grand final side (a record that stood until Gary Ablett's current record of nine goals in Geelong's losing 1989 VFL Grand Final against Hawthorn). Brereton was also reported three times in the game: he received a four match suspension for rough conduct and two counts of striking arising from the brawl.
At the conclusion of the game, the 332nd and final game of Hawks great Leigh Matthews' 16-year career, Matthews was chaired off the ground by his teammates.
Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said after the game to his players "It took you five years to play four quarters of football, but I'm patient. It was a wonderful effort of football, the way football should be played."
Hawthorn would play in five of the next six grand finals including winning the 1986 VFL Grand Final, while Essendon would have to wait until the 1993 AFL Grand Final before their next Premiership success.
Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN0-670-86814-0
External links
1985 VFL Grand Final - Essendon Vs Hawthorn (Extended Highlights) on YouTube
1985, grand, final, 1985, grand, final, australian, rules, football, game, contested, between, essendon, football, club, hawthorn, football, club, held, melbourne, cricket, ground, melbourne, september, 1985, 89th, annual, grand, final, victorian, football, le. The 1985 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1985 It was the 89th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League staged to determine the premiers for the 1985 VFL season The match attended by 100 042 spectators was won by Essendon by a margin of 78 points marking that club s 14th premiership victory 1985 VFL Grand finalEssendon Hawthorn26 14 170 14 8 92 1 2 3 4ESS 6 4 40 11 9 75 15 11 101 26 14 170 HAW 5 1 31 9 3 57 11 5 71 14 8 92 Date28 September 1985StadiumMelbourne Cricket GroundAttendance100 042FavouriteEssendonAccoladesNorm Smith MedallistSimon Madden Essendon Jock McHale MedallistKevin SheedyBroadcast in AustraliaNetworkSeven NetworkCommentatorsLou RichardsBob Skilton 1984 VFL Grand Final 1986 Contents 1 Background 2 Match summary 3 Teams 4 Goalkickers 5 See also 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External linksBackground EditMain article 1985 VFL finals series See also 1985 VFL season It was the third consecutive year in which the two clubs met in the premiership decider with Hawthorn having won the 1983 VFL Grand Final and Essendon having won the 1984 VFL Grand FinalAt the conclusion of the home and away season Essendon had finished first on the VFL ladder with 19 wins and 3 losses Hawthorn had finished third behind Footscray with 15 wins 6 losses and a draw In the finals series in the lead up to the game Hawthorn defeated Footscray in the Qualifying Final before meeting the Bombers in the second semi final which Essendon convincingly won by 40 points The Hawks then met Footscray again in the preliminary final which they won by 10 points to advance to the grand final The Bombers advanced straight to the grand final on the back of their second semi final win Match summary EditThe grand final is often remembered for a bench clearing brawl which broke out on the wing soon after the opening bounce Essendon edged ahead early and increased its margin slightly at each of the changes leading by nine points at quarter time 18 points at half time and 30 points at three quarter time The Bombers then scored a record 11 3 69 in the final quarter to completely blow the game open Paul Salmon kicked six goals for Essendon and Roger Merrett five Team 1 2 3 FinalEssendon 6 4 11 9 15 11 26 14 170 Hawthorn 5 1 9 3 11 5 14 8 92 Forward Dermott Brereton starred for the Hawks with eight goals the most ever in a losing grand final side a record that stood until Gary Ablett s current record of nine goals in Geelong s losing 1989 VFL Grand Final against Hawthorn Brereton was also reported three times in the game he received a four match suspension for rough conduct and two counts of striking arising from the brawl The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Essendon s Simon Madden for being judged the best player afield At the conclusion of the game the 332nd and final game of Hawks great Leigh Matthews 16 year career Matthews was chaired off the ground by his teammates Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said after the game to his players It took you five years to play four quarters of football but I m patient It was a wonderful effort of football the way football should be played Hawthorn would play in five of the next six grand finals including winning the 1986 VFL Grand Final while Essendon would have to wait until the 1993 AFL Grand Final before their next Premiership success Teams Edit Essendon HawthornEssendon B 26 Mark Thompson 28 Paul Weston 22 Billy DuckworthHB 10 Garry Foulds 30 Kevin Walsh 33 Glenn HawkerC 0 2 Bryan Wood 32 Tim Watson 0 8 Neil ClarkeHF 0 5 Terry Daniher c 25 Roger Merrett 38 Mark HarveyF 0 4 Leon Baker 0 3 Paul Salmon 18 Paul Van Der HaarFoll 27 Simon Madden 13 Darren Williams 14 Tony ElshaugInt 17 Stephen Carey 15 Alan EzardCoach Kevin Sheedy Hawthorn B 0 7 Gary Ayres 0 2 Chris Mew 30 Peter SchwabHB 15 Russell Morris 0 6 Rod Lester Smith 29 Russell GreeneC 0 9 Robert DiPierdomenico 16 Terry Wallace 0 4 Peter RussoHF 34 John Kennedy 23 Dermott Brereton 0 1 Ken JudgeF 20 Michael McCarthy 19 Jason Dunstall 0 3 Leigh Matthews c Foll 28 Chris Langford 37 Robert Handley 22 Richard LoveridgeInt 17 Michael Tuck 0 8 David O HalloranCoach Allan JeansGoalkickers EditEssendon Salmon 6 Merrett 5 Harvey 4 Watson 3 Baker 2 Ezard 2 Williams 2 Duckworth 1 Thompson 1 Hawthorn Brereton 8 DiPierdomenico 1 Judge 1 Lester Smith 1 Loveridge 1 Matthews 1 McCarthy 1See also Edit1985 VFL seasonReferences EditBibliography EditThe Official statistical history of the AFL 2004 Ross J ed 100 Years of Australian Football 1897 1996 The Complete Story of the AFL All the Big Stories All the Great Pictures All the Champions Every AFL Season Reported Viking Ringwood 1996 ISBN 0 670 86814 0External links Edit1985 VFL Grand Final Essendon Vs Hawthorn Extended Highlights on YouTube 1985 VFL Grand Final Souvenir The Football Record Vol 74 no 27 Victorian Football League 28 September 1985 via State Library of Victoria Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1985 VFL grand final amp oldid 1132347136, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
