I get that a lot of you don’t like living in the past. It’s okay… I like it enough for all of us!
A funny thing happened on the way to writing this article.
You see, I love going back and finding gems. Sometimes, you hit a diamond, and other times, you find a lump of coal. Looking at this game – a 15-point win to the Saints on a blustery day at Waverley in 1998 – you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a piece of coal… but there was some gold in them-there hills!
You see, I originally opted to watch this game because it contained the career-high number of marks in a game from Stewart Loewe… whose name I misspell all the damn time and have to rectify in an edit. This article is no exception.
I figured that Loewe would have a good chance, given the way he operated, of matching, or breaking, the official contested marks record, currently held by Wayne Carey.
Contested marks were not officially retained as a statistic until 1999, and in 2000, The King went to town on the Pies, with ten of his 12 grabs coming in the contest.
Could ‘Buckets’ out-do him?
It took about 20 minutes of game time to realise that Loewe, in terms of individual brilliance, would likely be overshadowed in terms of his aerial work, but there were also others stealing limelight in other aspects. Robert Harvey was brilliant, picking up 11 kicks in the first quarter, and was seemingly able to wade through traffic without anyone able to get a finger on him.
However, it was the contested marking of another that captured my attention.
So caught up was I in the fact this was Loewe’s career-high game for marks, I neglected to realise that it was also Chris Grant’s career-high game, as well.
Let me lay this out for you.
Between Loewe and Grant, there were 35 marks taken for the day, and 16 of them were contested.
But here’s the kicker – Grant took ten of them!
Yep, a year before contested grabs became official, Grant was out there snatching ten out of the air.
I have reviewed several classic games for this site, and this is the second time a player has equalled Carey’s record, but the AFL does not recognise it. The other was Carey, himself, in 1996, as he monstered Glen Jakovich for ten contested marks, but that is another story.
On this day, it was Chris Grant writing his name into the unofficial record books with a scintillating display across half-forward, which was largely wasted by poor-discipline, and some woeful decision-making from the Dogs.
Here are a few more notes from the game.
WAS CHRIS GRANT A LESS MARKETABLE VERSION OF WAYNE CAREY?
If you ask a Bulldogs supporter, I am sure they’ll let out an exhausted “yes!” but Grant never delivered that premiership glory, and thusly, doesn’t get the plaudits Carey has.
That said, he was incredible in this game. I am not sure of the criteria Champion Data uses to determine contested marks, but I definitely had him for ten, and was tempted to add an 11th, as well, but for the fact he was only contesting against his own teammate.
Late in the game, the Saints switched David Sierakowski onto Grant, and he was able to nullify the forward in a couple of big contests, which proved pivotal.
Still, Grant’s hands were incredible, and one of his marks with the flight belongs on a lot more highlight reels. This was the first time I’d seen it. Whether he was crashing packs, or marking out in front of his face with a defender hot on his heels, he was the standout forward, in my eyes,.
PETER EVERITT COULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING SPECIAL
It’s funny watching Sam Darcy running around now, because in a game featuring his old man, it was actually Spider Everitt that I found myself most comparing him to.
Everitt was beaten in the first quarter, as I will get to below, however, in moving him forward, the Saints not only gave themselves a target to take the heat off a struggling Jason Heatley, but also forced the Dogs to send Scott Wynd back at points to defend him.
It was a disrupting move.
Everitt was an excellent player – finished on 291 games – but I get the feeling his ceiling was so much higher than the level he reached. He looked like a legitimate threat in this one, with five of his seven grabs coming via the contest, and some poor kicking at goal costing him a bit of a bag.
Imagine a world where Everitt had his head screwed on right all the time? He could have been scary.
MATTHEW CROFT IS UNDERRATED
Another funny thing, given my pre-game thoughts were so focused on Loewe – Matty Croft did a great job on him in the first quarter!
Now, you may look at this and screw your face up, given Loewe finished with 19 marks for the game, but Loewe was up the ground and away from dangerous situations when he took those marks. When it was against Croft, the Dogs’ defender got the better of him.
Croft was a bit of a beast – he knew how strong he was, and would simply use his power to break tackles, as he changed angles and dared the opposition to stick tackles they were unable to execute.
I had him for nine intercepts and five spoils.
I do believe his kid has some real talent, and even though the Dogs have lost Jamarra, I reckon it is the safety net of having Jordan Croft preparing for a serious assault on the senior team that makes that hurt a little less.
STAN ALVES’ SWITCH OF EVERITT AND LOEWE WAS A MASTERSTROKE
At quarter time, Stan Alves gave Peter Everitt a bit of a spray. Playing in the ruck, Everitt was being soundly beaten by Scott Wynd, who was out there doing the usual Scott Wynd-like things. You know, like marking, dishing intelligent handballs… the sort of things that people forget.
He didn’t win a Brownlow by accident.
But rather than just wait for Everitt to turn it around, Alves got on the front foot, sent him forward, and put Loewe into the ruck.
This changed the game.
Loewe was strong enough to match it with Wind and Luke Darcy. At stoppages around the ground, he was more than happy to lock up and nullify the Dogs’ mids at stoppages.
This also meant that Loewe became a massive figure around the ground, with his work ethic seeing him take a heap of uncontested grabs across half-back.
His final stats for the game are brilliant – 25 touches, 19 marks (six contested), and 14 hit outs, earned him three Brownlow votes.
I really liked Alves as a coach. Just 12 months after coaching in a Grand Final, he was gone from the role, replaced by Tim Watson… and didn’t that turn out brilliantly!
BRAD JOHNSON AT HALF-BACK
This was an interesting one, as my memory has kind of failed me when it comes to remembering Johnno running off half-back. Of course, with so many goals to his name, it is easy to solely remember him as a potent forward, but this game proves that he could play anywhere.
He was classy with the ball, did not fumble, and in tricky conditions, looked a cut above most of those around him.
PAUL HUDSON…
Sometimes, I reckon Paul Hudson got a raw deal based solely on his surname. I loved what he did at Hawthorn, and was disappointed to see him go. This was year two at the Dogs, but he really demonstrated the worst of his game in this one – always trying to be that little bit too tricky.
There were points where he needed to just grab the bloody footy, but he was paddling it, toe-poking it, trying to formulate something… and the pressure would arrive and he would be out of the contest.
He finished with just eight touches, and no scoreboard impact.
THE MAKINGS OF THE ST KILDA DEFENCE
When I looked at the Saints got to work in this one, it would have been easy to focus on Harvey, Loewe, Everitt… as you can see by who I wrote about. However, there is the makings of a fine defence, here, and you can see it coming together.
The Wakelin twins, Max Hudghton, and Austinn Jones all have moments in this game where you watch them and think they could be something. Of course, we know they went all the way to the Grand Final the year before, but I really enjoyed watching this group go about it in this game.
JAMES COOK – TEN YEARS TOO LATE
Putting it out there, this bloke came into the league a decade too late.
He did not look in shape, and despite an elite ability to use his body and push off at exactly the right time, this time period started asking full forwards to do a bit more.
And I am not sure Cook could.
He kicked 3.2 for the game and whilst kicking with the wind, made the decision to dish off when within scoring range. Those passes were intercepted, and scoring chances were left on the table. He also gave away silly, Brian Taylor-esque, free kicks, at points.
Had he been around in 1988 instead of 98, I reckon we’re looking at a 50+ goal kicker, easily. In this game, though, you see evidence as to why his time at the Dogs, and as part of the league, was limited.
SHOULD THE AFL AND CHAMPION DATA USE HISTORICAL FOOTAGE TO INFORM THEIR RECORDS?
It’s an ask, I know, but if the vision is there, why not use it?
The AFL may have lost/destroyed the majority of the full games it had (or Channel Seven may be at fault) but with the games actually available, why not have advanced stats applied to them?
I mentioned about Grant not being spoken about in the same breath as Wayne Carey – things like this actually aid the legacy of a player like Grant. In this game, he was as good in the role of centre-half-forward as you’ll see. Why not celebrate it?
There are other games I am going to attempt to track down to see whether the “official” records are missing some pretty important performances. If you know of any, please give me a heads up.
ROBERT HARVEY DID SOMETHING NO ONE ELSE WAS DOING
Teams were blessed with great mids during this period, but in watching Harvey, and this was particularly apparent in the first half, his ability to change direction whilst running at top speed is elite.
He grabs the footy, takes off, and then seemingly pivots, mid-stride, and the opponent is left wondering what the hell happened?
There is probably two or three occasions where I was thinking just tackle him! And when I jump back 10-20 seconds, I realise why they couldn’t. The opponent was giving his all just to stay with Harvs, and then the Brownlow Medallist would just change lanes and leave them for dead. In a straight line, they may have caught him, but Harvey’s one step change of direction made their wheels come off.
When he did that, the chase was over. Harvey was gone.
He had 30 kicks amongst his 34 touches, and worked both ends of the ground with 14 combines Inside/Rebound 50s.
A FEW QUICKIES
Terry Wallace looked like he was about to tear out what little hair he had left watching this game. The number of chances the Dogs blew were huge. If I didn’t know better, I reckon it might have made him spew up!
Cameo from Nathan Brown, who did some nice things in the second half, after a first half spent riding the pine.
Nathan Burke took a while to get going, and had a slow first quarter, but he was motoring in the second half, and found space easily.
Nicky Winmar looked great at times, but let himself down here and there with poor disposal. That said, he was one of the few whose defensive mindset looked ‘on’, and his tackles stuck all day long. He finished with six to lead all players.
And lastly, this is now 27 years ago… feels like yesterday to me. The amount of off-the-ball shepherds – legal shepherds – compared to the modern game, is stark. It seems that players now are conditioned to run to receive, whereas players then were conditioned to protect the player with the footy. It is something I miss.
I’ll finish on that one.
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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