An historic VFL win in 2006

As told in Inside Football

Who'd have thought 8 400 people would brave the biting winds and intermittent showers that descended on Princes Park on Sunday? Had it been a sunny spring day there would surely have been 15 000 people at the 2006 VFA/VFL grand final. Yet despite the wind devastating Geelong's big marking game and stacking the odds in favour of Sandringham it truly was a grand final in the image some of the VFA greats.

After fumbling its way to 34-point deficit at ¾ time and looking gone, it was the Geelong we all knew that kicked five consecutive goals to come within a kick of taking the lead. And how appropriate that the VFL-listed Andy Biddlecombe should dribble through two goals, one assisted by his indefatigable captain Chad Liddell, to stop the Cats surge? Relegated to the interchange bench under the weight of quality players Biddlecombe could not have wished for a more glorious role in Sandringham's historic victory. Of all the 55 games the 24-year-old Biddlecombe has played this will surely rank amongst the most cherished. With three premiership medals around his neck he has already carved his name among the Zebras greats.

A tale of two coaches

If the emails are any indication there is no shortage of Geelong supporters who think I should be drawn and quartered. And my crime? For repeating the commonly held view that Geelong's selection policy undervalues a VFA/VFL premiership and is at odds with football culture. Why would Geelong take so many talls into a grand final that was going to be won at ground level? Why did coach Leigh Tudor leave Adam Cook out of the team when he'd been so hard at the ball and crucial in their win over Williamstown?

I don't care whether Geelong supporters are miffed by these observations. My throwaway line ‘then get a new coach' in response to the suggestion that the decision to play every eligible AFL player was club policy should not be seen as an attack on Tudor. It was a plea for football sanity. Grand finals aren't playthings. They are the culmination of months of hard work and the event by which footballers are judged. And what about the expectations of the people who barrack for Geelong? If Geelong supporters think I'm being too hard they ought to run their eye over a website or ask a few VFL coaches what they think.

Whilst it's true that Geelong's team had less AFL experience than Sandringham it was good enough to win. The five consecutive goals in the last quarter proved that. Spare a thought for the captain James Byrne, who almost plucked victory from the jaws of a defeat fashioned on the selection table. If only the inspiring Byrne had been offered some ground level support for the battle against the Zebra midfield of Phillip Read, Peter Summers, David Gallagher, Shannon Motlop and Guy Rigoni.

If the Cats AFL coach ‘Bomber' Thompson were to have taken such a side into an AFL grand final in similar conditions he'd have had a snowflakes hope in hell of avoiding criticism. If it is Geelong policy to play every available AFL player then club CEO Brian Cook ought to conduct a review. It is a laughable policy that in the eyes of many supporters strikes at the heart of the integrity of the VFL. Not surprisingly, the eligibility rules governing Geelong will be changed next year.

With three consecutive flags Mark Williams has carved out a unique piece of VFA/VFL history. Whereas clubs such as the Bullants have struggled to muster 10 quality VFL players the Zebras list is unrivalled. What club can boast players of the spirit and talent of Liddell, Biddlecombe, Summers, Rigoni, Ezra Poyas, Nick Sautner, Rod Crowe, Chris Lamb and Shane Valenti? Yes, Williams has the talent. However his attention to detail is why he's the champion coach of the moment. The choice of Ryan Ferguson on Nathan Ablett was a masterstroke. And who can overlook the improvement he's fashioned in full-forward Nick Sautner, who now has five premiership medals in the glory box?

In a perfect world Port president Peter Saulty would have offered his mate Gary Gilchrist an outstretched hand and said ‘Well done Gary, you deserved that'. Sadly, the Sandringham president didn't make it to the grand final. But whenever this premiership is talked about the late Gary Gilchrist's name will only ever be a breath away. Like the Seagulls of the 1950s and Port in 1980/81/82 the Zebras are now in a class of their own. And so too was Gary. And isn't there a lesson in that?

Phil Cleary was a member of Coburg's 1979 premiership and 1980 grand final sides. He was captain-coach of the 1986 grand final side and coach of the 1988/89 premiership sides.