I’m not sure any Western Bulldogs fan, or any Footscray fan will ever get over the events of 1997. Whether they were adults or kids… it doesn’t matter. If you bring up the Preliminary Final against the Adelaide Crows, you can see them visibly recoil, as though the mere mention of that game has caused an involuntary emotional reaction.
It is a scar that has never fully healed.
“I still can’t watch it,” said one Doggies supporter. “When I hear someone mention it, the memories come flooding back.”
He looks down and away, then shakes his head.
“We should have won that one.”
Is there a worse feeling than having something you’ve longed for within your grasp, tantalisingly close, only for it to be snatched away? And does it make it worse knowing that you’re responsible for allowing it to slip away?
The Western Bulldogs should have met St Kilda in the 1997 AFL Grand Final. They should have ended a long Grand Final drought 19 years before they raised the premiership cup against the Sydney Swans in 2016.
But they didn’t.
It was the Adelaide Crows who ran over the top of the Dogs, with Malcolm Blight swinging the changes at halftime and the Crows riding some powerful contested marking from Nigel Smart, some midfield grunt from Mark Bickley, a sign of things to come from Tyson Edwards, and a blistering burst of Darren Jarman forward-craft to snatch the victory. An Adelaide team full of self-belief made their way into their first-ever Grand Final, and defeated St Kilda to win it all.
They were a team of destiny, fuelled by a coach who was, fair to say, a little bit left of centre. And they got inside the heads of the Bulldogs players. It was self-belief versus self-doubt, and there can only ever be one winner in such a contest.
Where did things go so right for the Crows? And where did things go so wrong for the Bulldogs? Was it the coaching genius of Blight, or a flaw in the coaching of Terry Wallace? Was it the adoption of tactics to save the game, or the dare demonstrated to win it that was the catalyst for one of the greatest victories in Adelaide history, and perhaps the most devastating loss in the lives of Dogs supporters everywhere?
It was the 1997 AFL Preliminary Final. It was the day the Crows grew up. It was the day the Dogs fell over. And it remains one of the greatest games, with one of the greatest stories, in the history of the AFL.
There had to be a winner and there had to be a loser. And their stories have to be told.
Here is the Mongrel Punt’s oral history of one of the most famous Preliminary Finals of the modern era.
BEFORE THE GAME
If it wasn’t the Doggies supporters willing us on, it was the Victorian supporters who wanted to see a Grand Final between the Dogs and Saints. It was going to be a fairy tale. Terry Wallace in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
Practically my whole family travelled to Melbourne for the match, and I can remember feeling as nervous as I’ve ever been. No one gave us a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. – Simon Goodwin, in his bio, Goody
These are the lucky rooms – Malcolm Blight before the game, as told by Shaun Rehn on the 1997 documentary.
We had Danny Southern get a week for a trip. We had Paul Dimmatina in the stands – Paul Hudson on This is your Sporting Life with Pete Donegan
AND, WE’RE OFF.
We were sluggish and seemed nervous, which ran contrary to the way we had played out the previous two finals matches – Goodwin from his biography Goody
I jumped into a pack, lost my bearings as I landed and my leg wasn’t ready for the impact. The pain came pretty much straight away and I knew deep down that I’d done something pretty serious. – 1997 Coleman Medallist, Tony Modra.
This is a tragedy now for Adelaide – Kevin Bartlett on commentary after the Modra injury
It just went “crack” and I knew straight away. There was a fair bit of pain – Modra on Open Mike
Not a great start. So we’ve got our two All-Australians not playing – Blight during the 1997 documentary, referring to Modra and the absent Mark Ricciuto.
THE DOGS IN CONTROL
The Crows had an inaccurate first term, kicking 0.7 and allowing the Dogs the ascendancy. As we headed to halftime, the Western Bulldogs sat 31 points clear and the result seemed beyond doubt.
Ruck advantage? What fucking ruck advantage? – Blight as he walked through the rooms at halftime, making sure everyone could hear.
He (Rehn) reacted in the most positive way, so Shaun was a good one to lever on – Blight during the 1997 doco
Rehn had been wearing a knee brace since returning from injury, but it was painfully apparent that Blight had no time for excuses. He needed results, and he needed them quickly.
In the back of my mind, I was still really paranoid before games. I still had it on my mind and part of getting over that mental hurdle was putting on the knee brace. – Shaun Rehn in the 1997 doco
We were in a situation where if we don’t change something, we went in feeling like we’re gonna miss out on a Grand Final. So for me, it was like ‘We’ve come this far – time to release the shackles’. – Rehn in the 1997 doco
He just grabbed his knee brace and threw it in the room. I’m sure everyone saw it – Darren Jarman in the 1997 doco
For him to do that, he was a bit of a spiritual leader for us as a footy club. He had the ability to bring others along with him – Andrew McLeod on Rehn in the 1997 doco
Probably one of the inspirational moves that got us back into the game – Jarman, on Rehn taking the field without the brace in the 1997 doco
I ran out and I felt great – Rehn in the 1997 doco
Four goals per quarter, our usual target, was the halftime message. We were 31 points up at halftime; four more goals in the third quarter and we would have been in a great position – Brad Johnson in his autobiography
Malcolm Blight was throwing his players all over the place in a bid to spark something – Tony Liberatore in his bio
Because we were struggling, I put Bond onto the ball at the same time as McLeod – Blight in his biography
I can’t believe the opposition left McLeod pretty much alone at half-back. He sliced teams up with his run and kick, and we got away with it all year. A couple of times during the year we tried him on the ball for five or ten minutes and he could clearly do it, so we put it away for later. Because we were so far down we had to change the midfield. That was where we had a chance to change the game. That was the bonus I had up my sleeve – Blight in his biography
It was the first time we’d played him there in public view, a big stage – Blight on McLeod in his biography.
Maybe someone could have done something about it?
Mark West, one of my good mates from Darwin, was playing for the Bulldogs at the time. During the match, he had knocked a tooth out of one of my teammate’s jaw with one of his well-timed hip and shoulders. Later in the game, Mark had an opportunity to knock me into next week, too, but he eased up on me and I got to keep my beautiful smile. – McLeod in his biography, Black Crow
We had that respect for each other, plus he knew he always got a good feed from Mum and Dad’s place in Darwin – McLeod on West in Black Crow
It makes you wonder if the game could have changed had West not eased up on his mate? I wonder if he’d now trade a few good meals for a shot at the flag? Mark West played a wonderful game for the Dogs and had a chance to settle them late in the game, but missed. That was two occasions his actions could have altered the result of this game.
I wonder what the Dogs could do next week when they take on St Kilda? – Sandy Roberts on commentary in the third quarter
THREE QUARTER TIME
The boys thought, ‘We’re still in this’, and that’s when they came back and got over the line. – Modra
This will be the biggest quarter of your life – Wallace to Brad Johnson at three-quarter time – Brad Johnson’s autobiography
Can you believe this – one more solid quarter and all that hard work and planning will end in a Grand Final – Western Bulldogs President, David Smorgon to board member, Ray Baxter at three quarter time – Perth Now Aug 17 2007
Hey, hang on David, there’s one quarter to go – Baxter in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
I spoke to four players. Darcy, Smith, Johnson and Grant. I said ‘It’s your time in the sun – we need you to step up.‘ – Wallace Perth Now Aug 17 2007
The one thing we speak about today in modern footy is ‘process-driven’ … (my address) was about what it would mean to the club and supporter base, and I think it was just a little bit too overwhelming for the group as a whole – Wallace on Channel 9 regarding his three-quarter time speech to the players.
THE LAST QUARTER
You could feel it shift. People still ask ‘Why didn’t you stop the momentum?’ But once you realise the momentum is swinging against you, it’s almost too late – Scott West in Brad Johnson’s autobiography
You look at it today and say ‘Why didn’t we drop two behind the ball, have Chris Grant playing like that? But it wasn’t played like that. – Wallace on Channel 9
Jarman was a superstar, but gee, I would have loved to have Granty floating in front of him for a while and see whether he would have been able to kick them – Wallace on Channel 9
Fortunately for us, the momentum shifted in the second half. I think it was when Tony Liberatore celebrated thinking he’d kicked a goal, but it was a point. – Modra
Ah yes… THE point.
THE MOST CELEBRATED POINT IN HISTORY
If we had score review back then, it might have been a different story – Brad Johnson, in the 1997 doco
I was right next to him. In fact, the ball went over my head and I watched it go over my head and I can tell you now…I don’t know – Rehn in the 1997 doco
I was running towards the goal square, and even yelled at the goal umpire ‘That’s all clear’ – Brad Johnson in his autobiography
Obviously, he didn’t agree with me. That was the major moment. We kick that one goal, game over. – Brad Johnson in his autobiography
I think you’ll find I went back and grabbed the footy before the umpire made his decision. I was pretty sure (it missed) – Rod Jameson in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
To the eye, I thought it was through by a foot – Paul Hudson in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
Everyone says it was through. It looked like it was a goal. Brad Johnson swears it was a goal – Liberatore in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
You can see by my excitement, what I thought. I get excited by goals, not points – Hudson in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
From where I was it looked like it did miss. It was tight, though – Jameson in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
For it to be called a point was pretty devastating – Hudson in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
Gee, I’d love to have vision behind the goals. I still swear it was a goal – Hudson in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
I did (think it was a goal), and the only reason I say that I thought it was a goal is just about the most honest person that I know is Brad Johnson who was standing right on the goal line at the time and he swears to this day that it was a goal. – Wallace on Channel 9
I know I should have nailed the goal, and have had that kick again in my sleep many times over – Liberatore in his bio
It would have lifted the roof – it did, almost. We just needed one goal to get over the line. We kicked 0.6 in the last quarter of that game and it was only the second quarter of the season that we didn’t kick a goal in a quarter, so that’s why I think the whole thing just got a bit overwhelming. – Wallace on Channel 9
Wrong decision, bad luck, move on. – Liberatore on Open Mike
MOVING ON
One of my proudest moments in footy came with just a couple of minutes left in the match when we trailed by ten points but were charging home. I took a mark in the forward pocket and managed to kick a goal, which essentially kept us in the hunt. – Goodwin in his bio, Goody
I’ve kicked plenty of goals since that one, but probably none have been as important in the context of a season. I still rate that kick under enormous pressure as one of my biggest achievements in footy. – Goodwin in his bio, Goody.
We got a little nervous. Panic started to set in, I think – Rohan Smith after Goodwin’s last quarter goal in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
Then Darren Jarman went berserk – Brad Johnson in his autobiography
JARS
He’s just a whiz. His football IQ is as good as anyone I’ve ever seen – Blight on Jarman in the 1997 doco
It was just ‘get it to Jars’ – Mark Bickley in the 1997 doco
People ask about Todd Curley playing on Jarman. Well, Curley had done a good job on him both times that year, but Jarman went to another level that day. The following week he kicked five in the Grand Final. He was a freak. – Wallace in Brad Johnson’s autobiography
I saw Kane (Johnson) coming through the centre and he laced me out. – Jarman in the 1997 doco
Mr Magic’s got it – Bartlett on commentary
Run straight. Kick through the ball – Jarman in the 1997 doco
Who would you rather have with the ball in hand? He was just so calm over the ball – Bickley on Jarman in the 1997 doco
As he had already done twice that afternoon, DJ went back and slotted the goal that would propel the Adelaide Football Club into their first Grand Final. – Goodwin in his bio, Goody
Ice running through his veins – Bickley on Jars in the 1997 doco
If I’d missed that we didn’t make the GF – Jarman in the 1997 doco
It was him proving to the whole world that he’s not just a brilliant footballer, but he’s a brilliant footballer who performs when it matters the most. That’s the best accolade you can get – Rehn on Jarman in the 1997 doco
THE FRANTIC FINISH
You would have backed him with $1 million. He was the best kick of the lot – Wallace in Perth Now Aug 17 2007 on James Cook’s miss in the last quarter
It just drifted a bit. I thought ‘oops, we’ve got to go again’. Given the time in the game, that’s all you could do – Mark West on his miss with 2.38 remaining in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
I just remember giving it to Westy and shouting that loud to run, run, run. He couldn’t hear me – Hudson on the West miss in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
I was shouting my lungs out, but obviously, he had a shot. It was the pressure of the game – Hudson on the Scott West kick inside 50 late in the last quarter in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
The last quarter was like watching a fairy tale turn into a horror movie – Smorgon in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
Paul Hudson and Chris Grant ran together as the ball bobbled toward goal late in the last quarter. Both went to the ball instead of one laying a shepherd. It was a huge mistake.
He (Grant) took a snapshot on a tight angle. That’s the pressure of footy… finals footy… the closeness of the scores – Hudson on the Grant miss in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
In hindsight, Granty could have picked it up, gone around and snapped it on his left. But he did what was the natural reaction under pressure – Hudson in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
Hindsight…
SIREN
It was disbelief more than anything. We felt we’d dominated the game for so long – Rohan Smith in Brad Johnson’s autobiography
I can remember my legs going from underneath me. We’d worked our arses off. I was emotionally spent. Exhausted – Wallace in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
It was just the most amazing feeling – Jarman in the 1997 doco
You’re the face of the club. You’ve got to be the one that stands up when we get back across the other side – Gordon Casey to a shaken Terry Wallace after the final siren, in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
It was a bloody long walk. I reckon the song was played six times while I was on the ground. It’s not one of my favourite songs, I can guarantee you that. – Wallace in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
I cried. So did Southo (Danny Southern) – Paul Dimmatina in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
I gave the ground a fair pounding. I think the dents are still there – Rohan Smith in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
I walked out of the Southern Stand after the game and the Adelaide Crows supporters walked past me saying ‘We’ve waited seven years for this’. It was 36 years we had waited at the time – Wallace on Channel 9
Seven long years, you’re kidding – Wallace in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
Channel 7 had footage of a girl distraught in the stands. That was my younger sister – Paul Dimmatina in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
It was because I had broken three bloody chairs carrying on like an idiot. I didn’t know what to do. – Dimmatina in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
To do what we did that second half, I still reckon, to this day, it’s still the best game I’ve been involved with – Jarman in the 1997 doco
That win came out of sheer guts, determination and mental toughness. – Goodwin in his bio, Goody
Sometimes in life, you have to face those facts: we blew it – Scott West in Brad Johnson’s autobiography
I remember walking to the car with my old man. I got in, and for five, maybe ten minutes, I just broke down. I couldn’t believe it – Brad Johnson in his autobiography
Wow. It was probably the best game I ever played in – Goodwin in Blight’s biography
THE AFTERMATH
Was it our best opportunity to win it? Yes. Did we deserve to win it? Absolutely not. The premiers for that year ended up being the Adelaide footy club – deserved premiers – Chris Grant on Open Mike
That year was the best year of footy and the worst year of footy – Liberatore on Open Mike
I’m sure if we had a few things go our way… I still swear that was a goal – Hudson on This is your Sporting Life with Pete Donegan
It was there on a platter. And we’d thrown it away. It was as if someone close to me had died – Liberatore in his bio
My daughter was born three days earlier. I was on such a high having a baby then such a low – Rohan Smith in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
I didn’t watch a video of it for six or seven years – Wallace Perth Now Aug 17 2007
Absolutely, by that far it’s not funny – Wallace on if this was the most disappointing day of his coaching career, in Perth Now Aug 17 2007
THE LEGACY
As happens when success is not achieved, fingers are pointed and rifts develop. Someone has to be at fault, right?
We believed that the coach focused too heavily on the individual rewards the game offers, such as the best and fairest awards and All-Australian honours. – Luke Darcy in a column for AFL.com.au
We felt that if we gave the coach feedback and created a strong, player-driven culture at the Bulldogs then we could resolve the small issues we had and deliver the club’s second flag. Unfortunately, Terry Wallace was not the right character to handle this feedback; he believed that players meeting among themselves would lead to discontent. – Darcy in his column for AFL.com.au
I just think I am an easy target. As much as I have tried to mend bridges with the Dogs in my last press conference, for some people that hasn’t been able to happen. – Wallace in The Age July 30 2010
When you create an environment that doesn’t allow people below you in a team to challenge your ideas, it makes it hard for them to develop and improve. – Darcy in his column for AFL.com.au
We must have been doing something right, we came from 15th to third; to do that you mustn’t have been doing it all wrong. I thought it was grossly unfair. – Wallace in The Age 30 July 2010
It was quite emotional sitting in the crowd a couple of years ago watching the Dogs. Everything went right whereas in 1997, everything went wrong, to be honest – Hudson on This is your Sporting Life with Pete Donegan
I regret it more than any other game because we had control for so long and I just didn’t play a great last quarter. –Brad Johnson in his autobiography
Football is about mistakes. It’s not a perfect game. 36 bodies and mayhem. Controlled mayhem, we hope – Blight, in his bio
THE FINAL WORD BY BLIGHT
It’s one of the specials, isn’t it? – Blight in the post-game interview on the field
Absolutely it was.
