By the time Friday rolls it would have been 6,143 days since Essendon won a final, however, it would have also been 10,177 days since the Bombers played for premiership points down at old sleepy hollow.
It was back in Round 21, 1993 when the Essendon Football Club last graced the hallowed Kardinia Park turf to play the Pussy Cats.
Many remember the game these two sides met back in Round 6 of that season, when Gary Ablett snr kicked 14 goals on one end (in a losing side) and Paul Salmon kicked 10 on the other, with Essendon beating the Cats by 24-points, and the re-match down at the Cattery was seen as one of the games of the round.
Heading into the game, Kevin Sheedy’s Baby Bombers had won five games on the trot, and the Malcolm Blight-led Cats there previous two by whopping margins – beating North by 94 points (a game for which Ablett Snr had kicked his 100th goal for the season) and Hawthorn by 82.
We’ve hopped in the Neds company Delorean, set the flux capacitor to Saturday, August 21st 1993 to take a trip down memory lane as to when was the last time the Bombers played in Geelong.
The Baby Bombers were just over a month away from winning the clubs 15th premiership.
20 Year-Old Gavin Wanganeen was a few weeks off winning the 1993 Brownlow Medal.
Four out of the five matches being played at 2:08 pm that Saturday afternoon had an impact on how the final six would shape up.
As a result, the host broadcaster Channel 7 opted to televise all four games at once with a bumper 2.5-hour episode of Footy Replay to air that Saturday night.
Kardinia Park was still called Kardinia Park and looked like this. Not one grandstand remains from when Essendon last played there.
The Venue has had five different names since the Bombers last played there – Shell Stadium, Baytec Stadium, Skilled Stadium, Simmonds Stadium, and now GMHBA Stadium.
Essendon has played games more recently at venues such as Whitten Oval, Princes Park and Waverley than Geelong.
Geelong was on a famous run to make the then Top 6 with Gary Ablett Snr having what many remember as “One Special Season”
However, Baby Bomber Dustin Fletcher (18 years old) kept Snr to just three goals for the game.
Other Baby Bombers included Mark Mercuri (19) and Joe Misiti (18)
In the Footy Record, Joe Misiti was named as the Norwich Rising Star Nominee for Round 20
Veteran Bomber Derek Kickett was named the “Jack Daniels MAN OF THE WEEK” for his brilliant effort in the Dons 13-point win over Footscray
The Footy Record featured a cartoon profile of Geelong’s Ken Hinkley (now Port coach)
As for the game itself, Essendon took a 16-point lead into half-time, but the Cats came home strong in the second half to record a 32-point win at home.
Future Essendon premiership player John Barnes got 3 Brownlow Votes for his Best on Ground performance with 27 disposals.
Rising Star nominee Mark Mercuri was best on ground for the Dons with 31 disposals, 1 goal with Smokin’ Joe Misiti booting with 21 touches to his name.
Essendon coach Ben Rutten was 10 years old.
David Zaharakis was three, Dyson Heppell one, Devon Smith three months old and the majority of Essendon’s playing list hadn’t been born yet.
Jobe’s old man Tim made a comeback for the Bombers in 1993. He was omitted from the side for the game.
Jobe was eight years old.
Fitzroy was still in the League.
The AFL was a 15-team competition, Fremantle and Port Adelaide had yet to join the AFL (and no one even thought about GWS or Gold Coast)
On the same day, over at Waverley, Hawthorn’s Jason Dunstall was stuck on 99 goals and needed just one more to crack the tonne against Adelaide that afternoon.
OTHER THINGS OF NOTE…
Paul Keating was Prime Minister
Jeff Kennett was Premier of Victoria
UB40’s cover of (I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You spent 7-weeks on top of the charts.
Australia was on tour in England for the Ashes Series with day three of the sixth Test at The Oval about to get underway that evening.
Ray Martin was the biggest star in Australian Television. As host of the Midday Show, he won his first (of many) Gold Logie(s)
A Country Practice was the most popular drama on TV.
Full Frontal starring Eric Bana had just premiered on Channel 7.
Australia had just launched a new polymer $5 and $10 note with most currency still in paper bills.
Sydney was in the process of bidding for the 2000 Olympics…the announcement was just under a month away.
Some of the ads in that week’s Footy Record were elite such as…
Plugger promoting White Crow Tomato Sauce
Brian Taylor hosted a late-night call-in footy show on Melbourne radio 3UZ.
Ansett was offering bargain basement prices for flights from Melb – Perth only $849 RETURN and Melb -Adelaide for only $379!!!
This Hungry Jacks competition is AWESOME.
Free footy gear, a collection of 75 matchbox cars, two tickets to the Grand Final, and a complimentary dinner at Hungry Jack’s!
Applies to people aged 5- 11 years old back in 1993. Cut out the form and send it to your local restaurant.
There appears to be no expiry date.
Need a printer? Give Greg Williams or Stephen Kernahan a call at Moody Printing in Melbourne, or if you’re in Adelaide why not get in touch with Mark Bickley?
