1990 - The Dream is Real!

TORIS' SPECIAL MEMORIES

Sports journo and �Magpie hater from way back�, Ron Reed, had this to say about the hallowed Collingwood flag of 1990 : �We all wondered, all these years, what it would be like when it happened. The scenarios were all to do with mayhem, chaos and disorder. In fact it was the opposite. Calm. Serene. A religious encounter . . . It electrified the emotions, maybe more than any other single event in the great stadium�s long and colourful history�.

It took twenty one minutes for Collingwood to kick its first goal of the 1990 Grand Final. It came from the foot of The Master of �79-93, Peter Daicos, tucked tight against the pocket from a seemingly impossible angle. It spliced the goals before anyone knew what was happening. In one deft touch of opportunism, the Pies were suddenly in the game, only six points shy of Essendon, who had started dangerously with two early goals from Paul Salmon. Gavin Brown kicked our second goal on quarter time, curling his way from the pocket to the goal square, to put us three points clear � 2.5.17 to 2.2.14.

The quarter time brawl broke at three o�clock. Every player was involved, so too were officials. It stirred the emotions like few events do. And that was all before it was evident a Collingwood player was down. Before it emerged that it was Gavin Brown lying motionless on the turf. The stakes were high. Essendon targeted the man who had kicked five goals against them in their last two meetings with Collingwood. Terry Daniher was the man with the job. He�d get eleven weeks on the sidelines for this one. Six players were booked on a total thirteen charges. This game was ready to erupt. The MCG was alive, like no other time in this Surfer�s memory. Still gives the body a nice chill thinking about it. A resonance that only a Collingwood supporter can really appreciate. It�s what makes us different.
Matthews implored his players to focus on the ball in the second quarter. The Pies slammed on five goals in ten minutes. Starcevich kicked the first goal, then Scotty Russell, at his damaging best in the midfield, and Gavin Crosisca, playing as a defensive forward, added two apiece. Essendon scored a �raffle� goal from the foot of Derek Kickett, before Doug Barwick added Collingwood�s sixth goal for the term, brought closer to the big sticks after an undisciplined crunch in the ribs from Darren Bewick. At half time Collingwood looked to have the match in its grasp � 8.8.56 to 3.5.23. The second quarter was all �black and white�. A lesson on how to win, and how to lose, a Grand Final.

Craig Starcevich was looming as the danger man up forward. He was released from interchange at the 13 minute mark of the first term and up to the five minute mark of the third quarter, when he was knocked unconscious from a Terry Daniher coat-hanger, he amassed 10 kicks, 7 marks, 3 handballs, and kicked one goal. A Norm Smith Medallist in the waiting. Daniher would get three further weeks on the sidelines for this one. McGuane stepped in to take the resultant pressure kick at goal. He popped it through. The next goal in the match was twelve minutes in the making. And it was pretty special, another Daicos pearler, one that often gets lost in the shadow of his Grand Final opener, but one that appreciates further with time. A beautiful snap on his wrong side, on his wrong-everything. Things were looking sweet. At the 17 minute mark of the third quarter, we led easily, 10.9.69 to 3.5.23 . . . And then Essendon kicked two quick goals, and all those nerves flooded back. The lead was down to 34 points, and there was plenty of time for one of those run-ons to cut the deficit to a horrible three goals by the last change. We needed the next goal. Desperately. Hell, even thirty four points would do us going into the last quarter. This was crunch time in the Grand Final. Enter Gavin Brown, back on the field, and letting Terry Daniher know all about it, soaking up an Essendon defensive bungle, and snapping his second goal through. It was a heart-wrenching moment, pure adrenalin. Down but not out. An inspirational goal to the Collingwood team and supporters. Not a time for theme songs, but the fat lady was slowly slipping from Felipe�s grip.

The last quarter passed like air from a leaky valve. All we needed was the first goal. And kick the first goal we did, a Doug Barwick snap, his second for the day. The problem was it did not come until the 19 minute mark. In the meantime we watched nervously, as Essendon added five behinds without cracking through for a major. Simon Madden could have got Essendon off to a dream start, but hit the post from only twenty five metres out, then later kicked into Michael Christian standing the mark. This was to be our day. Our premiership. At the 25 minute mark, when Monkhorst kicked our thirteenth goal, it was finally safe to pronounce Essendon dead. The Premiership was ours. Now all we needed was the final proclamation � the final siren. And in those minutes leading up to the bestowment, every Collingwood supporter waited, with hearts beating fast and proud, left ventricles willing time to speed up, right ventricles wishing time would freeze forever. It was a beautiful moment. And then the siren sounded, with the football resting against a fractured thumb. It was official. AD1 had arrived. Collingwood had won the 1990 Premiership.