1993 - Preliminary Final

[Brad]

Was reading Kevin Sheedy's book and he was talking about the Bombers great come back from 7 goals down at half time, one of the reasons he was so fired up and angry at half time was because he had seen Graham Cornes with his feet on the table during the second quarter, was interesting to read.

Watching that game was so bad, a golden opportunity lost.

[Rik E Boy]

Obviously the Blackbirds followed the coach's example!

regards,


REB

[Mr66]

he had seen Graham Cornes with his feet on the table during the second quarter.

Didn't realise the coaches boxes at the MCG, circa 1993, had that much leg room.

[Il Duce]

was a fantastic game

[Wedgie]

I was there that day sitting behind the goals.
Only time Ive ever seen first hand a coach lose a premiership for a club and make no mistake about it that whoever won that day was going to beat Carlton.
The Crows looked great early on, even though Hodges wasnt kicking a lot of goals he was creating beautiful space for Modra and co, it was really evident from where I sat.
Cornes takes Hodges off due to either incompetence or personal feelings and the game and flag was lost.
And when I think of Andrew Jarman's AFL career I'll think of 'that' miss from the edge of the goalsquare as that was the end I was at.
Crows would have had 3 flags if they had a competent coach that day.

[Hondo]

Wedgie, Hodges was taken off at quarter time after kicking 1 goal.

In the second quarter we kicked 5-8 to 2-1 while Hodges sat on the bench. Your theory might have legs if the change was made at half time however we had as many scoring shots without him on the field, as we did while he was on. It was after half time it all turned to poo.

It may still have been incompetent coaching that lost it for us, however the Hodges move was not the cause. If you are going to simplify it into single things then Rehn missed a sitter in the second quarter and Jarman did the same in the last. But, in truth, it was a whole lot of little things that added up to my second worst day in my football supporting life (86 SANFL GF being the worst)

Truth the told, inaccurate kicking across both the Essendon and Carlton finals probably cost us a flag. We had Carlton on toast the week before but kicked 8-20 to 13-8.

[JK]

TBH honest (and obviously we'll never know), I've always thought the Crows wouldn't have beaten Carlton had they made the GF ... The Blues had the Crows measure in most parts of the ground, but particularly in the Crows forward half.

The inaccuracy of the Semi-Final v Carlton was mainly the amount of rushed behinds with Adelaide being forced into plenty of long range efforts, and blokes like Sexton or Silvagni always being on hand to punch the ball through for a minor score.

[Wedgie]

Spot in your last judgement CP as I was at that game too.
I felt the size of Waverly contributed to the amount of long shots and on the shorter MCG would have had more goals and less touched on the line.
And Madden would never kick another one of THOSE goals in his life.

[JK]

Spot in your last judgement CP as I was at that game too.
I felt the size of Waverly contributed to the amount of long shots and on the shorter MCG would have had more goals and less touched on the line.
And Madden would never kick another one of THOSE goals in his life.

Actually, that's an interesting point you make about Waverly Wedgie and one I'd never factored in to my thought ... Waverly in the early 90's didn't seem to suit the Crows as much as the MCG I thought, so you might be onto something there.

[damian]

I believe it may have been a Shaun Rehn 'fart' in the changerooms at half time that had the whole team in stitches and unsettled their concentration and mindset for the second half.

[Rik E Boy]

I believe it may have been a Shaun Rehn 'fart' in the changerooms at half time that had the whole team in stitches and unsettled their concentration and mindset for the second half.

regards,

REB

[Adelaide Hawk]

If Sheedy's attention was directed towards Cornes' legs, no wonder his team was 7 goals down.

[rd]

I have to agree with Wedgie here (amazing!) Hodges - although he never consistently fired at AFL level was too good a player to not be ignored by the opposition and he was the perfect decoy/foil with Modra in many games that season. Modra was in freakish form yet Hodges had to be allocated a quality defender as well and as Wedgie correctly states - Hodges kept out of the way and allowed Modra plenty of room to do his thing. Hodges didnt resume after half time and consequently Ess were able to smother Modra - Crows had no other reliable fwd options and Essendon's Baby Bombers (Hird,Misiti etc..) guided by Watson got them up and running and with a 70,000 crowd behind them they were unstoppable in the last half. Jarman's miss was crucial but Hodges's benching was a mistake. Probably Cornes's worst tactical decision in his time as Crows coach - but over his 4 years in charge he generally got things right.

[AFLflyer]

would like to watch this game again after so many years!

[Hondo]

I have to agree with Wedgie here (amazing!) Hodges - although he never consistently fired at AFL level was too good a player to not be ignored by the opposition and he was the perfect decoy/foil with Modra in many games that season. Modra was in freakish form yet Hodges had to be allocated a quality defender as well and as Wedgie correctly states - Hodges kept out of the way and allowed Modra plenty of room to do his thing. Hodges didnt resume after half time and consequently Ess were able to smother Modra - Crows had no other reliable fwd options and Essendon's Baby Bombers (Hird,Misiti etc..) guided by Watson got them up and running and with a 70,000 crowd behind them they were unstoppable in the last half. Jarman's miss was crucial but Hodges's benching was a mistake. Probably Cornes's worst tactical decision in his time as Crows coach - but over his 4 years in charge he generally got things right.

It was quarter time

With him off the field we struggled along to 13 scoring shots to 3 in the second quarter Hodges and Modra rarely worked well together as FF, FP. Hodges was in the side to replicate the role that Stuart Wigney played in the elim final - a bigger forward staying back as the alternative to the leading Modra. But Hodges played FF the same way as Mods and most times just got in each other's way.

No criticism of Scotty, he is one of my favourite players of all time and he was unlucky not to play more AFL. But Mods kicked 129 goals that year and might have played alongside the Hodges decoy twice? He didn't need Hodges in a pocket to have an impact that season.

The "Hodges move lost us the Prelim final" thing is an urban legend.

In fact, I think Bomber fans would be insulted to be told that their superb 2nd half come-back was nothing to do with their team or Sheeds, but all because of 1 simple move Cornes made at 1/4 time ...!

Relive the pain .... ..... it barely even got down our end it wouldn't have mattered if it was Wayne Carey alongside Mods.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEZfwNH1N4I&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEZfwNH1N4I&feature=related

[Fricky]

Interesting topic, i heard someone ask Cornsey about this on the 5AA sports show this week and he claims that he never had his legs up on the desk at any time of the game. He argued that what coach in his right mind would have his legs on the desk during a prelim. The crows let a great chance slip through

[A Mum]

I remember it well too

Living at Ayers Rock at the time.....

Had heaps of people around for a barbeque... mostly crows fans (Of course )
Start giving it 'big time' to the Bombers supporters that were there

And...well...... the rest is history as they say

[Rik E Boy]

would like to watch this game again after so many years!

Beats watching this year's matches I suppose.

regards,

REB

[rd]

It was half time! I knew my memory hadnt quite gone on me re this 93 Prelim Final. With about 7 mins left in the 2nd qtr Modra kicked Adelaide's 11th goal from a set shot in the fwd pocket having marked in amongst Fletcher, Hird & Hodges. About 2 minutes after that Rehn took one of the great grabs of 93 in the Crows forward lines - used Hodges as the stepladder after Hodges had been bodying with Salmon. Rehn's kick for goal after that mark was only a point. Adel were killing Ess in that 2nd qtr with Smart,Liptak,Brown,Modra all causing headaches whilst Hodges kept out of the way and taking Flood with him.

I have to agree with Wedgie here (amazing!) Hodges - although he never consistently fired at AFL level was too good a player to not be ignored by the opposition and he was the perfect decoy/foil with Modra in many games that season. Modra was in freakish form yet Hodges had to be allocated a quality defender as well and as Wedgie correctly states - Hodges kept out of the way and allowed Modra plenty of room to do his thing. Hodges didnt resume after half time and consequently Ess were able to smother Modra - Crows had no other reliable fwd options and Essendon's Baby Bombers (Hird,Misiti etc..) guided by Watson got them up and running and with a 70,000 crowd behind them they were unstoppable in the last half. Jarman's miss was crucial but Hodges's benching was a mistake. Probably Cornes's worst tactical decision in his time as Crows coach - but over his 4 years in charge he generally got things right.

It was quarter time

With him off the field we struggled along to 13 scoring shots to 3 in the second quarter Hodges and Modra rarely worked well together as FF, FP. Hodges was in the side to replicate the role that Stuart Wigney played in the elim final - a bigger forward staying back as the alternative to the leading Modra. But Hodges played FF the same way as Mods and most times just got in each other's way.

No criticism of Scotty, he is one of my favourite players of all time and he was unlucky not to play more AFL. But Mods kicked 129 goals that year and might have played alongside the Hodges decoy twice? He didn't need Hodges in a pocket to have an impact that season.

The "Hodges move lost us the Prelim final" thing is an urban legend.

In fact, I think Bomber fans would be insulted to be told that their superb 2nd half come-back was nothing to do with their team or Sheeds, but all because of 1 simple move Cornes made at 1/4 time ...!

Relive the pain .... ..... it barely even got down our end it wouldn't have mattered if it was Wayne Carey alongside Mods.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEZfwNH1N4I&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEZfwNH1N4I&feature=related

[Hondo]

It was half time! I knew my memory hadnt quite gone on me re this 93 Prelim Final. With about 7 mins left in the 2nd qtr Modra kicked Adelaide's 11th goal from a set shot in the fwd pocket having marked in amongst Fletcher, Hird & Hodges. About 2 minutes after that Rehn took one of the great grabs of 93 in the Crows forward lines - used Hodges as the stepladder after Hodges had been bodying with Salmon. Rehn's kick for goal after that mark was only a point. Adel were killing Ess in that 2nd qtr with Smart,Liptak,Brown,Modra all causing headaches whilst Hodges kept out of the way and taking Flood with him.

If you've watched the game in it's entirety and Hodges was on the field in the second quarter then fine, I'll stand corrected.

But my main point was that his absence was NOT what triggered the momentum change. I still maintain that's a complete over-simplification which effectively blames Mods for losing the game (ie, he couldn't do after half time what he'd been able to do most of season - play FF without Hodges alongside him). Hodges only played 10 games that season and a lot of those were at HFF. He and Mods were not a good tandem act at all.

It's too easy to look at what your team did wrong and ignore what the opposition did right.

From what you are saying our midfield and defence played as well as they did in the first half, but the ball kept bouncing back after being kicked to FF. That's not what happened. Many things went wrong for us and many went right for them. Not all those things were linked back to Scotty Hodges.