1985 VFL Grand Final

Essendon	Hawthorn
26.14 (170)	14.8 (92)

	1	2	3	4
ESS	6.4 (40)	11.9 (75)	15.11 (101)	26.14 (170)
HAW	5.1 (31)	9.3 (57)	11.5 (71)	14.8 (92)

Date

28 September 1985

Stadium

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia

Attendance

100,042

Accolades

Norm Smith Medallist

Simon Madden (Essendon)

Broadcast in Australia

Network

Seven Network

← 1984

VFL Grand Final

1986 →

The 1985 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1985. It was the 89th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1985 VFL season. The match, attended by 100,042 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 78 points, marking that club's 14th premiership victory.

Background

Main article: 1985 VFL season

It was the third consecutive year in which the two clubs met in the premiership decider, with Hawthorn having won the 1983 VFL Grand Final and Essendon having won the 1984 VFL Grand Final

At the conclusion of the home and away season, Essendon had finished first on the VFL ladder with 19 wins and 3 losses. Hawthorn had finished third (behind Footscray) with 15 wins, 6 losses and a draw.

In the finals series in the lead-up to the game, Hawthorn defeated Footscray in the Qualifying Final before meeting the Bombers in the Second Semi-Final, which Essendon convincingly won by 40 points. The Hawks then met Footscray again in the Preliminary final, which they won by 10 points to advance to the Grand Final. The Bombers advanced straight to the Grand Final on the back of their Second Semi-Final win.

Match summary

The Grand Final is often remembered for a bench-clearing brawl which broke out on the wing soon after the opening bounce.

Essendon edged ahead early and increased its margin slightly at each of the changes, leading by nine points at quarter time, 18 points at half time and 30 points at three quarter time. The Bombers then scored a record 11.3 (69) in the final quarter to completely blow the game open. Paul Salmon kicked six goals for Essendon and Roger Merrett five.

Team	1	2	3	Final
Essendon	6.4	11.9	15.11	26.14 (170)
Hawthorn	5.1	9.3	11.5	14.8 (92)

Forward Dermott Brereton starred for the Hawks with eight goals, the most ever in a losing Grand Final side (a record that stood until Gary Ablett's current record of nine goals in Geelong's losing 1989 VFL Grand Final against Hawthorn). Brereton was also reported three times in the game: he received a four match suspension for rough conduct and two counts of striking arising from the brawl.

The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Essendon's Simon Madden for being judged the best player afield.

At the conclusion of the game, the 332nd and final game of Hawks great Leigh Matthews' 16-year career, Matthews was chaired off the ground by his teammates.

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said after the game to his players "It took you five years to play four quarters of football, but I'm patient. It was a wonderful effort of football, the way football should be played."

Hawthorn would play in five of the next six grand finals including winning the 1986 VFL Grand Final, while Essendon would have to wait until the 1993 AFL Grand Final before their next Premiership success.

Teams

Essendon
B:	26 Mark Thompson	28 Paul Weston	22 Billy Duckworth
HB:	10 Garry Foulds	30 Kevin Walsh	33 Glenn Hawker
C:	2 Bryan Wood	32 Tim Watson	8 Neil Clarke
HF:	5 Terry Daniher (c)	25 Roger Merrett	38 Mark Harvey
F:	4 Leon Baker	3 Paul Salmon	18 Paul Van Der Haar
Foll:	27 Simon Madden	13 Darren Williams	14 Tony Elshaug
Int:	17 Stephen Carey	15 Alan Ezard

Coach:	Kevin Sheedy

Hawthorn
B:	7 Gary Ayres	2 Chris Mew	30 Peter Schwab
HB:	15 Russell Morris	6 Rod Lester-Smith	29 Russell Greene
C:	9 Robert DiPierdomenico	16 Terry Wallace	4 Peter Russo
HF:	34 John Kennedy	23 Dermott Brereton	1 Ken Judge
F:	20 Michael McCarthy	19 Jason Dunstall	3 Leigh Matthews (c)
Foll:	28 Chris Langford	37 Robert Handley	22 Richard Loveridge
Int:	17 Michael Tuck	8 David O'Halloran

Coach:	Allan Jeans

Goalkickers

Essendon

Salmon 6
Merrett 5
Harvey 4
Watson 3
Baker 2
Ezard 2
Williams 2
Duckworth 1
Thompson 1

Hawthorn

Brereton 8
DiPierdomenico 1
Judge 1
Lester-Smith 1
Loveridge 1
Matthews 1
McCarthy 1

References

The Official statistical history of the AFL 2004
Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

Victorian/Australian Football League Grand Finals

VFL Grand Finals	1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

AFL Grand Finals	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Essendon Football Club 1985 VFL premiers

Essendon 26.14 (170) defeated Hawthorn 13.8 (92), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

2. Wood 3. Salmon 4. Baker 5. Daniher (c) 8. Clarke 10. Foulds 13. Williams 14. Elshaug 15. Ezard 17. Carey 18. Vander Haar 22. Duckworth 25. Merrett 26. Thompson 27. Madden 28. Weston 30. Walsh 32. Watson 33. Hawker 38. Harvey

Coach: Sheedy

Essendon Football Club

History Premierships and records Players Captains Coaches Awards W. S. Crichton Medal Leading goalkickers Captain: Jobe Watson Coach: John Worsfold Nickname: Bombers

Home grounds	East Melbourne Cricket Ground (1897–1921) Windy Hill (1922–91) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–present) Docklands Stadium (2000–present)

Premierships (16)	1897 1901 1911 1912 1923 1924 1942 1946 1949 1950 1962 1965 1984 1985 1993 2000

Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Related articles	Anzac Day clash Carlton–Essendon AFL rivalry Dreamtime at the 'G Archer–Hird Medal Line in the sand match Round 16, 2001 comeback vs. North Melbourne Supplements saga

Hawthorn Football Club

History Records Players Captains Coaches Current squad Peter Crimmins Medal Leading goalkickers Captain: Luke Hodge Coach: Alastair Clarkson Nickname: Hawks

Stadiums	Glenferrie Oval (1925–73) Princes Park (1974–91) Waverley Park (1992–99) Melbourne Cricket Ground (2000–present) York Park (2001–present)

Premierships (13)	1961 1971 1976 1978 1983 1986 1988 1989 1991 2008 2013 2014 2015

Seasons (93)	1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Related articles	Blue Ribbon Cup Beyond Blue Cup Line in the sand match Kennett curse Melbourne Hawks

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