Essendon versus Hawthorn for more than 50 years was a clash just like any other in the then-VFL competition. Until 1983, that is.
That season, as two teams both climbing towards premiership status butted heads, this time literally, seemingly out of nowhere sprung one of league football’s great rivalries, marked by relentlessly tough affairs played for high stakes and with a catalogue of controversial incidents.
These two teams would meet in three straight grand finals between 1983-85, the score 2-1 to Essendon, a host of other finals, and even when September wasn’t part of the equation, their clashes were no less fierce.
That they remain decades later, the respect of each club towards the other only ever grudging, the enmity still present in every tussle, even more than 35 years on.
It’s been some rivalry. And on the eve of another big Essendon-Hawthorn stoush, we're looking back at the five games we’ve enjoyed the most.
Round 11, 2004
Essendon 24.10 (154) def. Hawthorn 12.8 (80)
It’s remembered as the 'Line in the Sand' game, the day Hawthorn, after having been beaten by Essendon eight times in a row and physically intimidated in the process, decided to fight back.
The Hawks did, literally, a series of ugly second-half brawls attracting a lot more attention than the game itself. The game is cited as a turning point in Hawthorn’s modern history.
What is often overlooked is the Bombers’ crushing 74-point win, one of their biggest over a traditional rival, and that the Dons stood up to the provocation.
With Essendon leading by 32 points at half-time, Hawthorn director Dermott Brereton had during the break urged the young Hawks to take a more physical approach.
That happened, and a lot more, as a series of wild brawls broke out, Hawthorn’s Richie Vandenberg and Lance Picioane particularly active and Essendon's Adam McPhee, Mark Johnson and Justin Murphy keen to respond.
Scenes got ugly at the MCG in round 11, 2004. (Photo: AFL Media)
Things got uglier still as Jason Winderlich, being led from the ground groggy and bleeding, was struck by the Hawks’ Campbell Brown, an act later described by Matthew Lloyd as “one of the most disgusting things I've seen on a football field”.
Five players would be suspended for a total of 16 matches. And the game itself? Essendon responded with nine of the next 10 goals to lead by 74 points at three-quarter time, Lloyd finishing the match with seven goals.
You can read more of Rohan Connolly’s work at his FOOTYOLOGY website.
