The off-season grants me something I just don’t get while the rounds of a footy season tick on by – time.
Today, I am at home, in between contracts. The kids are at school, Mrs Mongrel is at work, and I have… time. It’s funny – it feels like one of those times when I actually don’t know what to do. The house is clean(ish), the yardwork has all been done, except for throwing some bird netting over the apricot tree, and I’ll be buggered if I am going to do that in the rain.
It leaves me to my own devices, and like the tragic I am, I have grabbed out a hard drive containing about a hundred vintage footy games, and picked one to pull apart.
Yes, some people would sleep. Some would play a game, or read a book. All great ideas. However, I am not a man with good ideas, and whilst I know I will lament this lost day, is it really lost if you’re doing something you enjoy?
I often use the line “to truly appreciate the warmth, it is important to have experienced the cold”. I apply this to footy, sometimes. People enjoy the modern game, and many speak of the increased skill and tactical levels. But to truly appreciate it, you have to know where the game came from.
Thankfully, as much as I do love the game as it is, I love the game as it was, as well. I appreciate the warmth, but what some would consider the cold… is not that cold to me.
And so, after rambling on for a few hundred words, it is time to jump into a vintage game, and apply modern stats to those in it.
We jump in The Mongrel Time Machine, and head back to 1986, in one of the last glimpses of success for the Fitzroy Football Club before they started their decline, and eventually ended up becoming what we now know to be the mighty Brisbane Lions.
It was Fitzroy’s last finals win, and for the Swans, it was a case of being so close, yet so far to a Prelim date with the Hawks.
FITZROY VERSUS SYDNEY – FIRST SEMI-FINAL, 1986
WHAT WENT DOWN IN A SNAPSHOT
The Roys jumped out of the gate in this one, recording seven inside 50s before the Swans even threatened to score. They were dominant, and should have built a bigger lead in the first quarter than their eight-point quarter time lead. Best for the Lions was a young man in game number ten, named Mark Dwyer. Playing on the wing against Merv Neagle, he was everywhere, with five inside 50s in the opening period.
The Swans fought back in the second, with Merv Neagle providing the spark. He turned the tables on his young opponent and gave the Swans plenty of drive from the wing. With Tony Morwood finding the footy inside 50, the Swans looked the better side, and gained a nine-point advantage at the main break.
A bit of rain made things slippery (thanks Captain Obvious), and the contest became more frantic. The Swans were able to extend their lead to two goals at the final change, with Anthony Daniher making a cameo and kicking two in two minutes, despite being soundly beaten by Paul Roos, who was everywhere in defence.
And then, the final quarter; pulsating, desperate, and with plenty of heavy work off the footy. I’ll cover this more in detail, but a crucial miss by Gerard Healy opened the door for a goal on the rebound to the Roys, and at that point, you can actually feel the momentum change.
The Swans try their guts out – Greg Williams lifts, Mark Bayes moves onto Roos and gives him trouble with his pace, and David Murphy is much better in the air than I remember, but it is the hard run of Bill Lokan, Scott McIvor, and Bernie Harris off the bench, that carries the Lions home by five points.
Heaps to get through in this one – I loved watching it.
THE STARS
PAUL ROOS
If you want to see a player who is before his time, this game from Paul Roos encapsulates exactly why he made such a good coach.
Again, my stat keeping is probably not 100%, but as a one-man crew, I go alright. In doing so, here is what Roos returned in this game.
20 disposals, 14 intercepts, nine rebound 50s, and five spoils.
What.
A.
Game!
His tag team with Gary Pert was so polished in this contest, as the two continued to control defensive fifty. Roos continually put himself in the right decision, and I thought he was a certainty to record a defensive double-double in this one at three-quarter time. However, he had Mark Bayes moved onto him as more of a mobile threat in the last quarter, and Roos started to find the going a little tougher.
Still, he was one of those players that, even when it got a little slippery, never lost his feet. His zoning off to assist teammates was top notch, and I had him as the best player on the ground. A class Roos performance that made me want to watch more game where he racks up disposals, as I would not be surprised to see him with 15+ intercepts in other games.
MARK DWYER
This is the first time I have written about Mark Dwyer. Given he played 14 career games, it will likely be the last. That said, this game is well worth the time and effort to track down in you’re a Fitzroy die hard, or someone who knows Mark – he was fantastic!
Best on ground in the first quarter, he went on to record 19 disposals, seven inside 50s, and a direct goal assist to Richard Osborne.
He was challenged, both with hard run, and with physicality, after his first-quarter blast, with Merv Neagle elevating his game (see below), and Mick Conlan flattening him with a perfect hip and shoulder that completely knocked the stuffing out of him.
Dwyer got up, though… he kept working, and was integral to the Lions getting over the line, here.
He was quiet the following week, and would not play in another win for Fitzroy, but this was a game for the ages, from him.
MERV NEAGLE
He was the game changer in the second quarter. Sadly, I didn’t keep stats quarter-by-quarter, but what I did do was look at the way he adjusted his role, played more accountable footy, and took control of the wing position away from Mark Dwyer, after his opponent had his way in the first.
At a guess, I’d say Neagle had ten touches in the second, as he continually helped the Swans build a wall across the centre line, and often worked back inside defensive fifty to provide the Swans run and carry.
Such was his influence, that Tom Hafey decided he wanted more of Neagle where the action was – he moved him onto the ball in the third quarter.
Was it a wise move?
Far be it from me to question a legendary coach, but Neagle was way on top of the contest on his wing, and moving him into the middle again allowed Dwyer back into the contest. It also removed Neagle from the role he had made his own. His two clearances for the game probably don’t justify the move, especially when you consider what was lost.
Neagle finished with 28 disposals, ten marks, 11 intercepts, six rebound fifties, and five inside 50s, in a display that absolutely justified his move from the Bombers to the Swans.
As an aside, I am sure I have mentioned it, but when he played for Essendon, he lived in Moonee Ponds, and we were neighbours. He occasionally had a kick of the footy with me and my friends, and was always fantastic to the local kids. Still remembered, Merv – thank you.
THE MATCHUPS
WARWICK CAPPER V GARY PERT
Pert owned this contest. No question about it.
Capper was not aided by some terrible delivery inside 50, which often left him attempting to wrestle with Pert, and he was never going to win those contests.
Pert got under Capper’s skin, and after a tackle that saw the glamour full forward dumped over the boundary Line (and slung onto his back pretty bloody hard), Capper gave away a free for what looked like a knee to the back of Pert, who was still on the deck.
Capper managed to kick two from six touches and two marks, and did hit the post from 45 out on the boundary, at one stage, but Pert was a top-line defender, and there were little in the way of highlights from the Wiz in this one.
BERNIE QUINLAN V ROD CARTER
This was fantastic. The ageing Quinlan was in his final season, and I reckon one line of commentary from Peter Landy summed up where he was at at this stage of his career.
Lou Richards remarked about Quinlan being able to cover the distance from around 55 metres out, stating that he’d kicked them from further out before.
“Not recently,” added Landy.
And he was spot on. Quinlan’s legs were failing him at this stage, so it is a testament to how good he is that he managed to provide a forward target and snag three goals against a high-quality defender, in ‘Tilt’ Carter.
By the way, there are about a dozen clear examples in this game, alone, as to why Carter was called Tilt. Always makes me smile, watching him with his head at 45-degrees as he goes to kick the footy.
As for the clash, itself, Carter is very good in the body-to-body clashes, but Quinlan, as all great forwards can, produces a couple of moments where his class just rises above.
Interestingly, Quinlan looks pretty banged up after a marking contest, where Richard Osborne falls on top of him, and Quinlan, who is on his backside, has Osborne land on the back of his neck, and crumples him up like an accordion. I have no question that if this happened in the modern game, Quinlan would be stretchered off and taken to hospital for scans on his neck.
However, due to the miraculous restorative powers of playing footy in the fucking 80s, he spends about a minute on the deck, then is helped to his feet and plays the game out!
My rudimentary stat-taking tells us that Quinlan’s three snags are accompanied by three contested grabs and two inside 50s,
Meanwhile, Carter manages nine one-percenters to go along with eight rebound 50s. It should also be noted that I am NOT including the defensive 50 exits from kick outs, as those kicks were not counted as disposals. If they were (like they are now), Carter would have approximately 15-17 R50s for the game.
THE SURPRISES
I had a whole section on Mark Dwyer, above, so I’ve covered him. He was the biggest surprise of all in this contest.
TONY MORWOOD
I probably shouldn’t have been surprised by Tony Morwood, but I was. He just made things happen, even with limited opportunity. He kicked four goals and added three direct goal assists to his totals, as he made the most of everything that came his way. Was matched up on Paul Roos for a while, which takes some of the gloss off the Fitzroy star’s game, but the chopping and changing defence of the Lions meant that he often found space where there was little to be had. A high-quality outing from him.
DARREN MCASEY
I’d forgotten about McAsey. I mean, I remembered the name, but if you had asked me who the Swans player was that played 34 games and wore number 12, I would not have guessed his name.
Anyway, his defensive work in this game was very good, especially in the aerial contests. He had eight spoils and three intercept marks for the game. Drifted out late, but was very prominent in the first half.
BILL LOKAN
Lokan played 87 games in the league, and this would be right up there with his best.
He and Tim Pekin were everywhere in the last quarter, as they continually pumped the Lions forward and repelled the frantic Swans’ attacks.
He had eight inside 50s for the game, and managed three clearances in the last quarter, alone.
THE DISAPPOINTMENTS
GERARD HEALY
Oh boy… he wasn’t bad, but he had moments where he fluffed his lines.
In the intro, I mentioned that Healy missed a shot at goal that basically led to a 12-pooint turnaround.
Wide open and running into goal from 30 metres out, Healy had the chance to put the Swans three goals up early in the last quarter. I reckon he’d kick that goal right now if you threw him the footy and gave him another shot, and I wonder how many times that moment played over in his mind following this game?
It was a standard shot for him. A dolly.
I don’t know whether it was the implied pressure, or maybe he just rushed it, but the shot sprayed wide, and from the kick-in, the Lions went coast-to-coast and reduced the margin to seven points.
Game right on.
If that shot from Healy sails through, given the way the game was being played (two goals for the Swans for the quarter to the Lions’ five), it may have finished Fitzroy off.
It didn’t.
The Lions responded.
And later in the quarter, Healy missed again, this time from a more difficult shot under pressure. Not his finest quarter of footy in an otherwise decent game.
THE STATS THAT DIDN’T MATTER… THEN
Righto, as I said, my stat-taking is probably not 100% accurate, as I watch, pause, take note, and sometimes, I get a little lost in the action. That said, with these games available, I reckon Champion Data should get their experts to crunch number for all of them and give us a better understanding of how things played out by modern standards.
Here are the leaders in categories that were not kept back then.
TACKLES
Scott Turner had four, Doug Barwick, Tim Pekin, and Gerard Healy all had three apiece.
INSIDE 50S
Bill Lokan had eight, Mark Dwyer, Mark Bayes, and Paul Hawke had seven, and Doug Barwick, Richard Osborne, and Mark Browning had six.
CONTESTED MARKS
Four for Merv Neagle, and three each to David Murphy, Richard Osborne, Tony Morwood, and Bernie Quinlan.
CLEARANCES
Greg Williams had seven (with five after halftime), Scott Clayton had six, and Ross Thornton and Tim Pekin had five apiece.
REBOUND 50s
Paul Roos had nine, Rod Carter had eight,a nd Merv Neagle had six. Again, I did not count defensive 50 exits from the kick in, as these were not counted as disposals at the time.
GOAL ASSISTS
Tony Morwood had three, and both Richard Osborne and Mark Bayes had two each.
ONE-PERCENTERS
Gary Pert led the way, with 11, Rod Carter had nine, whilst Darren McAsey and Ian Roberts had eight each.
QUICKIES
I love watching Mick Conlan play. At the time, I remember him being one of the few players who looked after their body, and genuinely looked like an unstoppable force. However, we are looking at the end of his prime, here, as the next three years see him fighting with injury.
Conlan kicked four in this one, so it is tough to be disappointed, but there were several moments where he seemed to spend the footy before he got it, and fumbled as a result. Probably could have made this game his own, with six or seven.
A quiet start from Greg Williams, with a fair bit of complaining to the umpires over the first quarter and a bit, but once the game opened up, he started to find more of the footy. Finished with 26 touches and seven clearances, but I failed to keep track of turnovers, and there were a few of those at stoppages that led to the Roys running off with the footy. Still had only 58 games to his name, here.
Interesting to see the umpires simply not paying free kicks to players who ducked into tackles. 40 years later, and the assessments of these moments is actually worse than it was back then. The way it seems is that if a player contributes to a high tackle, the umps don’t reward him. Good to see.
Geez, Mark Browning could kick a footy. That said, he did seem to fall in love with kicking long, and the Lions knew he was going to do it.
The commentary team of Peter Landy, Lou Richards, and Bob Skilton is fun to listen to. You can tell the media training was done on the job, with some small arguments during the game. At one point, Skilton makes a point that Lou doesn’t agree with, and Landy points out they have three Brownlows between them, as a way to shut Lou up.
The move of Mark Bayes to Paul Roos was an interesting one. It took Roos out of his comfort zone, and allowed Bayes to become a weapon over the last quarter and a half.
Richard Osborne was in game 84 of 280 in this one, and there were moments where he looked like a star – clean hands, no double grabs even with a slippery footy. However, it was clear that he and Conlan were more likely to get in each other’s way than they were to work cohesively in this game. Both wanted the footy, but on a few occasions, one should have been doing the shepherding for the other.
Speaking of shepherding… some big hits in this one, but I will tell you something… no players stayed down, and often, they moved to protect themselves.
Some people bemoan the lack of the hip and shoulder in the modern game, and when you watch this game – no contact to the head – there is a string argument that the game has lost a heap from the conditioning of believing every hard act should be punished.
Conlan’s hip and shoulder on Dwyer is the best of the bunch, but there are legitimately three or four other hard clashes that the crowd loved.
And that be it.
If you’d like to watch this game, you can do so at the following link thanks to the wonderful Rhett Bartlett, who is doing more to preserve the history of the game than the bloody AFL is. They should hire him.
https://youtu.be/tu7ZF6mv8Wc?si=srNIVHIzyd-pWC2c
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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