Essendon

ESSENDON

(1999-2001) Essendon had been somewhat unheralded prior to 1999, as the previous couple of years had been rather mediocre by club standards. Kevin Sheedy was beginning to feel some pressure as head coach. Things started very badly as James Hird suffered stress fractures in his foot that ended his season after just two games, and threatened to end his career. Following an anemic loss to West Coast in round 4 (in which the Dons could only manage three goals in perfect weather conditions), the playing group managed to come together and went on a tear throughout the rest of the home and away season, led by breakout performances from full-forward [|Matthew Lloyd], who dazzled with a 13 goal haul against the [|Sydney Swans], and Mark Mercuri, who just narrowly missed out on winning the [|Brownlow Medal]. Essendon finished on top of the ladder and emerged as prohibitive premiership favourites, having beaten powerful co-contender North Melbourne twice in convincing fashion. They disposed of Sydney easily in the first week of the finals and took a week off to rest. Up next was Carlton in the preliminary final. The Blues had been thrashed in a previous final by Adelaide and were considered little more than a bump in the road to the Bombers' next flag. In an epic preliminary final, a spirited Carlton stunned and shocked the football world by pulling off a dramatic one-point upset over a complacent Essendon side. At times the Bombers appeared cocky and almost appeared to be toying with the Blues, dominating long passages of play. However, terribly inaccurate kicking (0.5 in the second quarter and 14.19 for the day) ultimately sealed their fate as they could not put the Blues away despite 14 scoring shots during the third quarter. The final blow came with just seconds left when defender Dean Wallis failed to spot a leading Dustin Fletcher deep in the forward 50 and got caught holding the ball. This would be the fourth final lost by a point under Sheedy, and of particular embarassment as it occurred at the hands of their hated and bitter arch rivals. To this day, Carlton celebrates this victory as much, if not more, than many of their premiership victories. The failure of 1999 caused the players to redouble their efforts, having resolved to use that prelim defeat to motivate them like nothing else could. As a result, the 2000 season would prove to be the best Essendon, or perhaps any side in the league, has produced since Collingwood provided the league's only undefeated Home and Away season in 1929. Essendon would lose just one solitary match during the home-and-away season, winning 20 consecutive matches before losing to the Western Bulldogs in round 21 denying Essendon an undefeated season. Essendon finished the home and away season at 21-1 and faced North Melbourne in the Qualifying Final. Many felt the Kangaroos had backed into the '99 flag due to Essendon's preliminary final stumble, and the Bombers unleashed all of their pent-up fury upon the hapless Kangaroos, kicking 31 goals and obliterating North to the tune of 125 points, at the time a finals record margin. Essendon then drew Carlton again in the Preliminary Final, but lightning would not strike twice for the Blues. The Dons easily accounted for them by 45 points, then coolly dismissed an overmatched Melbourne by 60 points in the Grand Final the next week to win a record equalling 16th premiership, completing one of the most dominant single seasons in AFL/VFL history. It was especially sweet for James Hird, who had come back from his career-threatening injury to win the Norm Smith medal. The side looked set to repeat their success the following year. Early on, it appeared Essendon would once again dominate the competition, opening their 2001 campaign with another thrashing of North Melbourne. However, some cracks began to appear. Carlton shocked the Bombers again in Round 3, but a worse defeat at the hands of the Brisbane Lions several weeks later ultimately signalled that change was in the air. It was prior to this match that Brisbane coach [|Leigh Matthews] famous stated "If it bleeds, you can kill it". Suddenly the aura of invincibility surrounding the Bombers began to fade, and opposing sides lined up to try and throw everything they could at Essendon. The "invincibles" of the 99-01 era produced one more dramatic thrill in Round 16, when, against North Melbourne, they produced the greatest comeback in AFL/VFL history, winning by 12 points after trailing by as many as 69 at one point in the second quarter. However, the Bombers were a spent force. Form became patchy, late season injuries piled up, and the Bombers stumbled into the finals. Essendon disposed of Richmond easily, but narrowly scraped by Hawthorn in a controversial preliminary, and went into the Grand Final battered and bruised. The Lions, who had not been beaten since the teams' earlier encounter, overran an underdone Bomber side in the second half, and the repeat dream was dashed.

Brownlow Medal winners
 * [|Dick Reynolds] (1934, 1937 & 1938)
 * [|Bill Hutchison] (1952 & 1953)
 * [|Graham Moss] (1976)
 * [|Gavin Wanganeen] (1993)
 * [|James Hird] (1996)

[[|edit]] Coleman Medal winners

 * [|Ron Evans] (1959, 1960)
 * [|Ted Fordham] (1966)
 * [|Matthew Lloyd] (2000, 2001, 2003)

[[|edit]] Norm Smith Medal winners

 * [|Billy Duckworth] (1984)
 * [|Simon Madden] (1985)
 * [|Michael Long] (1993)
 * [|James Hird] (2000)

[[|edit]] Michael Tuck Medal winners

 * [|Gavin Wanganeen] (1993)
 * [|Gary O'Donnell] (1994)
 * [|Mark Mercuri] (2000)

[[|edit]] Mark of the Year winners

 * [|Gary Moorcroft] (2001)
 * [|Matthew Lloyd] (2008)

[[|edit]] Goal of the Year winners

 * [|Michael Long] (1993)
 * [|Matthew Lloyd] (2007)

[[|edit]] National team representatives

 * [|Justin Blumfield] (2000)
 * [|Chris Heffernan] (2000)
 * [|James Hird] (2000, 2004)
 * [|Jason Johnson] (2001)
 * [|Matthew Lloyd] (2001)
 * [|Adam Ramanauskas] (2001)
 * [|Adam McPhee] (2004)
 * [|Mark McVeigh] (2004)
 * [|Kepler Bradley] (2005)
 * [|Dustin Fletcher] (2005, 2006, 2007)
 * [|Andrew Lovett] (2005)
 * [|Brent Stanton] (2006)


 * 1 [|Jay Neagle] 2 [|Ricky Dyson] 3 [|Scott Gumbleton] 4 [|Jobe Watson] 5 [|Brent Stanton] 6 [|Angus Monfries] 7 [|Leroy Jetta] 8 [|Jason Winderlich] 9 [|Brent Prismall]10 [|Mark McVeigh]11 [|David Zaharakis]12 [|Andrew Welsh]13 [|Mark Williams]14 [|Sam Lonergan]15 [|Courtenay Dempsey] ||  || 16 [|Tayte Pears]19 [|David Hille]20 [|Henry Slattery]22 [|Michael Hurley]23 [|David Myers]26 [|Cale Hooker]27 [|Jason Laycock]28 [|Darcy Daniher]29 [|Alwyn Davey]30 [|Patrick Ryder]31 [|Dustin Fletcher]35 [|Michael Still]36 [|Tyson Slattery]37 [|Kyle Reimers]38 [|Jarrod Atkinson] ||   || 39 [|Heath Hocking]42 [|Nathan Lovett-Murray]43 [|Bachar Houli]44 [|Tom Bellchambers]**Rookies:**41 [|Michael Quinn]46 [|Christian Bock] ||