Cat. No. DVDS 1149: 1985 AFL PREMIERS - ESSENDON. AFL AFVD089.

COLOUR                    RUNNING TIME: 150 MINS.

REVIEW: If there were any lingering doubts from 1983 and any amount of retribution hadn’t been exercised the following year, 1985 was the year Essendon gave Hawthorn everything it had.

It was Essendon’s turn this year to defeat Hawthorn in the second semi-final and with that win came a degree of confidence not often felt by a side going into a Grand Final. The Bombers knew they were going to be hard to beat.

Impossible…as it turned out. Hawthorn was hanging on by its fingertips in the first half after a mighty all-in brawl on the outer wing, but once the players returned to the field after the long break the Bombers slipped a gear.

They’d stretched the margin to four and a half goals by the final change and as if by design they kept the Hawthorn faithful believing that a win was still possible, and with Dermott Brereton playing a stunning lone hand in attack anything might have been possible.

The reality was crushing. Essendon kicked eleven goals in the final term to defeat Hawthorn. It wasn’t pretty and the Bombers toyed with their rivals as they pounded their beaten foe. It was a tragic way for Leigh Matthews to end his career, but football can be a harsh game and the Bombers remembered 1983 all too clearly. Back-to-back flags purged that pain once and for all and by the game’s end in 1985 the Baby Bombers had well and truly come of age.

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