1984 VFL Grand Final
| 1984 VFL Grand Final | |||||
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| Date | 29 September 1984 | ||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia | ||||
| Attendance | 92,685 | ||||
| Broadcast in Australia | |||||
| Network | Seven Network | ||||
| Commentators | Peter Landy, Lou Richards, Bob Skilton | ||||
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The 1984 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 29 September 1984. It was the 88th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1984 VFL season. The match, attended by 92,685 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 24 points, marking that club's 13th premiership victory.
It was a Grand Final rematch of the previous season's Grand Final in which Hawthorn defeated Essendon by a then record 83 points.
Essendon topped the home and away season ladder a game clear of their Grand Final opponents; however, Hawthorn won both home and away contests between the two teams. Despite having won 12 premierships, Essendon came into the match without a premiership since their 1965 victory over St Kilda, who were coached by current Hawthorn coach Allan Jeans.
In the finals series, the Hawks defeated Carlton by 30 points in the Qualifying Final, and beat the Bombers by eight points in the Second Semi-Final to advance to the Grand Final. Essendon faced Collingwood in the Preliminary Final, demolishing the Magpies by 133 points on the back of a 28-goal performance to advance to the Grand Final.
Hawthorn dominated the game early. Captain Leigh Matthews had the first goal on the scoreboard within thirty seconds of the opening bounce, and Colin Robertson, utilising his pace, added two more. Essendon had hoped to throw Hawthorn off balance early by playing Roger Merrett in the ruck and shifting Simon Madden, by now one of the finest ruckmen in the VFL, to full forward. Hawthorn countered his by putting Ian Paton in the ruck and moving Michael Byrne to full forward. Madden consequently languished in Essendon's forward line doing nothing while the ball was spending more time at the other end of the ground. Sheedy soon moved Madden back to the ruck, but at quarter time Hawthorn led by 21.
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