Line in the sand match

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Hawthorn experienced a golden era, making every Grand Final from 1983 to 1989 and again in 1991, and were victorious on five occasions.

During this time, they came up against the Bombers on three occasions – 1983, 1984 and 1985. The Hawks comfortably won in 1983 and the Bombers followed up with back-to-back wins in 1984 and 1985. Throughout this decade, both clubs were known to play hard, attacking brands of football resulting in many biffs, bumps and brawls.

Essendon continued to intimidate opposition clubs in the 1990s and into the early years of the 21st century, resulting in more premiership success in 1993 and 2000, and a dominant era over Hawthorn. Essendon entered the match having won nine of the previous ten meetings between the two clubs, by an average margin of 39 points. They were also heavy favourites to win this match, having a 7–3 win–loss record for the season and were considered a top-four contender, while Hawthorn was bottom of the ladder with only two wins.

The fallout from the match was significant, with a record 18 players reported on a record 26 charges. Some players were reported by umpires on the field,[6] while the rest were cited on video evidence by Video Reports Officer Ian Robinson[7] and after an investigation conducted by the AFL's Investigations Officer Rick Lewis.[8]

The Tribunal decisions were severe with five players suspended for a combined total of 16 matches[9] and players involved in the melee fined a combined total of $70,700,[10] the most from a single match in VFL/AFL history, and described by Tribunal Chairman Brian Collis, QC, as bringing "football into disrepute".[11]

Both teams struggled for the remainder of the season. Hawthorn did not win another match until round 19, and finished the season with four wins, narrowly avoiding the wooden spoon to Richmond on percentage. Essendon, meanwhile, won just four more matches for the regular season to qualify for the finals, in eighth place. They defeated fifth-placed Melbourne by five points in the first elimination final, but then lost to Geelong by ten points the following week.

In the years following this match, the clubs' fortunes reversed sharply. Essendon dropped to 13th the following season, missing out on the finals for the first time since 1997, and would not make another finals series until 2009, doing so after they defeated Hawthorn by 17 points in the final round of the 2009 season.[12] It still, however, managed a two-point win over the Hawks early in the 2005 season, courtesy of a controversial goal to Dean Solomon;[13][14] it marked the Bombers' tenth consecutive victory over the Hawks dating back to 1998.[15] Following that, Essendon would not beat Hawthorn again until round seven, 2009, but would beat the Hawks three consecutive times within twelve months, including a resounding 43-point victory in round six, 2010, in which the Hawks copped criticism for a performance described as "embarrassing".[16]

Hawthorn, meanwhile, gradually started to rise up the ladder under new coach Alastair Clarkson, reaching the semi-finals in 2007 and winning the premiership the following year; it has subsequently won three more premierships, in succession between 2013 and 2015.

The clubs have maintained a strong rivalry, but only one match has turned particularly violent since: in the final round of the 2009 season, with the two sides battling for eighth place on the ladder, a brawl was sparked by a remonstration from a head-high shirtfront from Essendon captain Matthew Lloyd on Hawthorn midfielder Brad Sewell at the start of the third quarter, which was to be the turning point in the match. Lloyd had been subject to a half-time spray from coach Matthew Knights after the Bombers and Lloyd individually had played poorly in the first half, and he had wanted to make a statement against the reigning premiers.[17] Essendon won the match by 17 points after trailing by 22 points at the time of the Lloyd-Sewell incident.[12][14][15]

• List of sporting scandals
• Battle of Brookvale

• Bigpond TV "Hawks vs Bombers" – Video clip of Channel 10's television coverage, replayed on Fox Footy.