This moment is the 24th of a virtual series presenting the Bombers' best 30 moments over 150 years, which fans can vote on for their chance to win prizes. Click here to view and vote, and see the schedule and prizes below.
What the 'Baby Bombers' (dubbed as such because of the 20 who played in the triumphant Grand Final, 12 were aged under 25 years) achieved in the 1993 season was nothing short of remarkable. They won the Foster’s Cup pre-season night premiership, rose from eighth in 1992 to end the home and away rounds of 1993 on top of the AFL ladder, Gavin Wanganeen won the Brownlow Medal, then a roller-coaster finals series captured the public’s attention.
In the qualifying final, the first final ever played at night, the Bombers fell two points shy of Carlton. They then defeated reigning premier West Coast by 32 points in the first semi-final, booking a do-or-die assignment against Adelaide in the preliminary final. The dream run looked over when the Bombers trailed the Crows by 42 points at half-time, but, such was the belief in the dressing room, the Essendon coaches and players spoke positively about turning things around in the second half.
Defender David Grenvold recalled, “At half-time, captain Mark Thompson grabbed us on the ground and said, ‘Look, the Crows have no upside, they can’t play any better. If we can be within three or four goals of the Crows by three quarter-time, we’ll roll over them in the last term.’ ‘Bomber’ [Thompson] didn’t panic and was really level-headed, and so we put all our energy and focus into that third quarter.”
Veteran Tim Watson, who returned to the club mid-season after a one-year retirement, recalled Sheedy saying, “Okay, we’ve got ourselves into a difficult situation [but] we’ve got an opportunity to show everyone what we’re capable of doing, and we don’t get many great opportunities like this to turn it around.” Wanganeen remembered how Sheedy “spilt his heart out to us” by “talking about how our families, our wives, our parents are all in the stands watching.” The master coach told the players to go out and play for all of those special people in their lives. “It was very motivating and emotional,” Wanganeen added. “He just got us going.”
In the second half, the Bombers kicked 11.3 to just 2.4, propelling them into the Grand Final against Carlton. Ruck-rover Gary O’Donnell felt there were “two key things that happened” in the third quarter that sparked the team into action. “Firstly, there was a build-up from full-back where all the young kids had a touch of the footy. Dustin Fletcher gathered it and got it to Wanganeen, he found Ricky Olarenshaw who bounced through the middle, then Davey Calthorpe passed to Mark Mercuri who kicked a long goal: the build up from defence to attack was huge, and the noise and expectation of the crowd was enormous. As a player, that was the biggest roar I ever heard when Mark kicked that goal.”
The second key moment was Crow Andrew Jarman’s shocking miss from point-blank range. “It happened at a time when Adelaide needed a goal just to stop our momentum, and I thought, ‘You beauty, we’ve got them,’” O’Donnell explained.
Darren Bewick finished with six goals, Michael Long was everywhere and Watson kicked the sealing goal late in the match, as Essendon gained enormous momentum leading into the Grand Final.
But the 'babies' saved their best for the biggest stage of all. Mercuri kicked three goals on Grand Final day, Hird two, while Wanganeen was brilliant in defence. Calthorpe, Joe Misiti, Rick Olarenshaw and Paul Hills were equally as important, as Essendon led at every break to defeat the Blues by 44 points: 20.13 (133) to 13.11 (89). Of the older heads, Paul Salmon kicked five goals, O’Donnell was his consistent best, and Long won the Norm Smith Medal for best player afield.
SCHEDULE OF MOMENTS
Round 1 (launching May 6) - 1872-1939
Round 2 (launching May 10) - 1940-1959
Round 3 (launching May 15) - 1960-1979
Round 4 (launching May 20) - 1980-1989
Round 5 (launching May 25) - 1990-1999
Round 6 (launching May 30) - 2000-2021
Round 7 (launching June 4) - Finals round
PRIZES
Round 1 – One 2022 merchandise pack, including an Essendon New Era Black on Black 9FORTY Snapback cap ($40) and an Essendon Heritage Bar Scarf ($30)
Round 2 – One Essendon Fibre of Football Scarf ($80)
Round 3 - One Essendon Football Club 150-year anniversary commemorative mosaic ($295)
Round 4 – One Essendon Football Club 150-year anniversary commemorative mosaic ($295)
Round 5 – One 2022 team-signed guernsey ($500)
Round 6 – One copy of the Red & Black Collection special 150th anniversary book ($329)
Round 7 – One copy of the Red & Black Collection special 150th anniversary book ($329) and one 2022 team-signed guernsey ($500)
