Two-time Premiership Captain Mark Bickley has plenty of never-before-told stories, following a 13-year AFL career spanning across 272 games, and three years within the coaching ranks.
This year, Bicks will be lifting the lid on those stories with us, taking you inside the four walls at West Lakes, with an aim of giving an insight into football life.
Take a read this week’s tell all, in which Bicks chats with inaugural Senior Coach Graham Cornes to help him recall that famous victory against Collingwood in Round 22, 1993.
It was Round 22, 1993, the final minor round game of our third season in the AFL.
We were hosting Collingwood at Footy Park and we entered the game just inside the top six (before the top eight made finals) with 11 wins.
The Magpies, who beat us when we played them at Victoria Park in Round Seven that year, were also on 11 wins and vying for a finals berth, along with West Coast and Geelong.
The math was simple, we needed a win to make the finals.
Despite being almost five goals behind at quarter-time, we managed to rally, with the crowd right behind us, kicking seven goals in the second and third terms, while holding them to 2.4 and three goals, respectively.
We ended up winning the match, 19.21 (135) to 17.9 (111) in front of what was then a record crowd of 48,522, to end the minor round in fifth spot and book a finals appearance.
Tony Modra starred with five goals, while Tony McGuiness finished with 32 disposals, two goals and three Brownlow votes.
I can remember with a few minutes left to play, when it was evident we were going to play finals, the crowd started chanting “we are in the finals’ and it was so loud. It was a great feeling to know we had done it.
This week, I spoke with our inaugural Senior Coach, Graham Cornes, and we reminisced on that game ahead of this weekend’s clash with the Magpies.
After all these years, Graham still has his pre and post-game notes from that match and he was kind enough to share them with me.
In his opposition analysis, Graham stated “Their strength is their running players, both on the ball and around the ground. They are well served in key positions , but whilst the names are impressive, the form has been remarkably inconsistent”.
“The Collingwood trademark has been fierce, aggressive attack on the ball and around the ground. However, in recent months, they have been extremely vulnerable to one-on-one pressure and their skill level under constant pressure has been found wanting”.
The notes continued;
KEYS TO WINNING THIS GAME:
- It is critical that we play OUR game, with recognition and emphasis on the things we do well.
- Desperate attack on the ball
- Fierce contest
- First quick handball
- Stamp our physical presence on the game with strong, aggressive attack on your opponent.
ENJOY EVERY MOMENT. IT’S GAMES LIKE THIS THAT MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT REAL FOOTBALL, REAL ACHIEVEMENT IS ABOUT.
Some of Graham’s post-match notes said this:
- Obviously this was a great result given the significance of the four points and in the end we can all be pleased with the contribution that we made, despite the fact that not everyone dominated
- Our start was a little perplexing. We seemed to have enough of the ball but couldn’t convert. On the other hand, they scored their goals easily, particularly when they were able to push the ball in the open behind centre half back to allow their quick running players to swoop on it.
- When we started to move the ball quickly with first time handballs, we cut them to pieces. However, too many of us are trying to create plays that aren’t there and hold on to the ball too long rather than give it immediately.
It’s always great to look back at intense games like this, with the result meaning so much to not just us players, but our supporters.
We went on to upset the Hawks in our first final by 15 points and that was another amazing experience.
Let’s hope we can beat the Magpies this week!
