1984 VFL Grand Final

Hawthorn dominated the game early. Captain Leigh Matthews had the first goal on the scoreboard within thirty seconds of the opening bounce, and Colin Robertson, utilising his pace, added two more.[2] Essendon had hoped to throw Hawthorn off balance early by playing Roger Merrett in the ruck and shifting Simon Madden, by now one of the finest ruckmen in the VFL, to full forward. Hawthorn countered his by putting Ian Paton in the ruck and moving Michael Byrne to full forward. Madden consequently languished in Essendon's forward line doing nothing while the ball was spending more time at the other end of the ground. Sheedy soon moved Madden back to the ruck, but at quarter time Hawthorn led by 21.

Goals to Ken Judge and Matthews saw Hawthorn increase their lead to 32 points.[2] Essendon, despite getting more possession, made little impact in front of goals, but when Bombers kicked their third for the match, by Billy Duckworth, they remained in touch and trailed by 25 points at the half time break.

The third quarter was a low-scoring affair, more notable for the changes to field positions that Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy applied in an attempt to stem the flow of Hawthorn goals. While common today, at the time it was very unusual for a coach to make such radical changes as shifting backline players to the forward line and vice versa. Paul Weston was shifted from defence to centre half forward, captain Terry Daniher was moved to defence, while another defender, Peter Bradbury, was moved to half-forward. With these positional changes, Essendon managed to get within three goals of the lead, but Dermott Brereton kicked a late goal for Hawthorn to give them a 23-point lead going into the final term.

Essendon got off to the perfect start in the final quarter. Madden, who had been ordinary for much of the game, won the opening bounce. The ball fell to Williams, who kicked the ball forward, where Baker was in the perfect position to run onto the spilled ball from a marking contest and kick his third goal of the match. Minutes later, Bradbury kicked a goal from the back of a pack. Essendon's charge continued when the ball made its way to Duckworth at half forward who passed it to an unmanned Mark Thompson who put it through from 40 metres out directly in front. The Bombers hit the front in spectacular fashion when, from the resultant centre bounce, Williams kicked towards the right half-forward flank. The ball bounced favourably for Baker, who evaded Hawks defender David O'Halloran with a brilliant blind turn and booted his fourth goal, to the delight of Essendon fans.

Hawthorn was back in front when Peter Curran goaled from a 15-metre penalty but Essendon soon regained their advantage when Roger Merrett took a pack mark in the goal square before converting. Weston extended Essendon's lead to 11 points minutes later and then Tim Watson goaled twice to seal the comeback win for Essendon. The Bombers kicked 9.6 in the final term to break free from the Hawks. It would not be until 2009 that another team would win the grand final from a three-quarter time deficit. The 23-point three quarter time deficit is the largest ever overcome to achieve victory in a Grand Final in VFL/AFL history. (North Melbourne overcame a 27-point three quarter time deficit to draw the 1977 VFL Grand Final).

The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Duckworth for being judged the best player afield. Watson, Baker, Mark Harvey, Shane Heard and Neil Clarke were also prominent for the Bombers, while Richard Loveridge, Gary Ayres, Peter Schwab, Terry Wallace and Chris Mew were the best for Hawthorn.

Essendon's win ended an 18-year streak during which only Hawthorn, Richmond, Carlton and North Melbourne had won the premiership.

The attendance of 92,685 was the smallest at an MCG grand final for 29 years. The match was the first grand final played in the aftermath of the off-field dispute between the League, which wanted to stage the grand final at VFL Park, and the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Cain state government, which wanted to stage the grand final at the MCG. Under the terms agreed to in early 1984, an area in the Members' and Olympic Stands was set aside for 44,000 MCC and VFL Park members, but only 31,000 attended, leaving a large vacant area at the top of the Olympic Stand. Uncertainty about the new arrangements, accusations that the demand for members tickets had been overestimated, and breezy and cool conditions in the wake of a heavy overnight hailstorm were all considered to have discouraged many spectators from attending.[3]

Ten players from this game later went on to become senior VFL/AFL coaches.

NOTE: Disps = Total disposals (kicks + handpasses)