Essendon had finished the 1993 home and away season on top of the ladder.

But it was fifth placed Adelaide that looked set to progress to the Grand Final at the main change in the Preliminary Final against the Bombers.

At that stage the Dons trailed by 42 points.

Gavin Wanganeen was just days away from winning a Brownlow Medal.

He wondered if his season was about to come to an end.

"In a normal scenario, the game is over," Wanganeen said.

"There was a lot of self doubt creeping in but 'Sheeds' gave us a really nice speech at half time.

"We all know what a great motivator 'Sheeds' is, how passionate he is ... we went back out there and with the help of Darren Bewick and Michael Long - who had it on a string all day - we were able to fight back in that second half and win our way into a Grand Final."

Bewick kicked six goals to help inspire the comeback win.

He said the half time break also showed then-Captain Mark Thompson's leadership qualities.

"My memories of half time were of being seven goals down and getting a stare from 'Bomber' Thompson," he said.

"That was him showing the first sign of being a really good Coach.

"There were some stern words from him and then that was followed up by Kevin giving us reassurance if we did a few things a little better we were a chance to get over the top of them."

Essendon had unearthed a number of ‘Baby Bombers’ it hoped would propel the Club back to the heights it had experienced in the mid 1980s.

Adelaide was entering just its third season in the AFL.

"We didn't need to go out and kick seven goals in the third quarter, we just whittled the margin down ... we knew if we did that Adelaide being in the position they were for the first time in a final, they'd get a bit jittery," Bewick said.

The Bombers led by a goal deep into time-on in the last quarter.

Adelaide had possession in the middle of the ground and looked to move the ball forward but a Wanganeen tackle saw the Dons win the ball back and from the resultant forward trust Tim Watson kicked the match-sealing goal.

Sean Denham gathered 29 possessions in the midfield.  Long had 22 and kicked a goal.

The Bombers line-up that day featured eight players aged 20 or younger.

A week later they were premiership players after a 44 point win over Carlton.