1988 VFL grand final

Grand final of the 1988 Victorian Football League season December 2017 December 2017 1988 VFL Grand Final 1988 VFL Grand Final Football Record cover.tif 50px HAW 50px MEL 4.4 (28) 10.9 (69) 14.16 (100) 22.20 (152) 1.5 (11) 2.8 (20) 5.14 (44) 6.20 (56) 22.20 (152) 6.20 (56) 24 September 1988 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia 93,754 Gary Ayres () Alan Joyce Seven Network 1987 1989 The 1988 VFL grand final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 24 September 1988. It was the 92nd annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1988 VFL season. The match, attended by 93,754 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 96 points, marking that club's seventh premiership victory. Background 1988 VFL season It was Hawthorn's sixth successive grand final appearance, while Melbourne was competing in its first since winning the 1964 VFL grand final. At the conclusion of the home and away season, Hawthorn had finished first on the VFL ladder with 19 wins and 3 losses. Melbourne had finished fifth with 13 wins and 9 losses. In the finals series , Melbourne defeated West Coast by two points in the elimination final, then defeated Collingwood by 13 points in the first semi-final, then Carlton by 22 points in the preliminary final. Hawthorn had a much easier finals run, winning the second semi-final against Carlton by 21 points to advance straight to the grand final, thus having played only one game in the four weeks preceding the grand final. In the two meetings between the teams in the regular season, Melbourne defeated Hawthorn by 21 points in round 7, and Hawthorn defeated Melbourne by 69 points in round 17. Match summary Hawthorn rover Chris Wittman broke his arm early in the game and played no further part. The game was fairly competitive for the first quarter, Hawthorn leading by 17 points at quarter time. Hawthorn completely dominated the game thereafter, leading by 49 points by half time, 56 points at three-quarter time, and ultimately winning by 96 points. The win set a new VFL record for the greatest winning margin in a grand final, surpassing the record of 83 points which Hawthorn had itself set in 1983. This margin remained a record until Geelong's 119-point defeat of Port Adelaide in 2007. The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Hawthorn defender Gary Ayres for being judged the best player afield, with 22 disposals despite sustaining a fractured cheek bone in the first quarter. Ayres nullified dangerous Melbourne player Greg Healy and set up many of Hawthorn's attacks from the defensive line. Jason Dunstall kicked 7 goals, Paul Abbott kicked 6 goals and Dermott Brereton kicked 5 goals for Hawthorn. Irish player Jim Stynes, in just his full season of VFL football, was best on ground for Melbourne.The life and times of Jim Stynes https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/32758/the-life-and-times-of-jim-stynes 2021-09-30 melbournefc.com.au 19 March 2012 en Hawks coach Alan Joyce, who replaced an ill Allan Jeans for the 1988 season, said: "I have never seen a more awesome, more inspiring passage of play than the 15-minute mark of the second quarter. I saw about a dozen Hawthorn players in a wave going down the field. It was a human chain, crashing through a desperate opposition and forcing the ball forward." In a lesser-known streaker incident, a woman ran naked across the ground during the last quarter and was promptly arrested.http://demonwiki.org/tiki-index.php?page=Grand%20Final%201988 Demonwiki | Grand Final 1988 Teams _brown_stripes_copia _goldsides _hoops_gold FBBF15 823f00 823f00 Hawthorn _red_v_top _redsides 061A33 061A33 ff0000 Melbourne #4D2004 Hawthorn Hawthorn Football Club #FBBF15 40 Andrew Collins 24 Chris Langford 7 Gary Ayres 20 Scott Maginness 2 Chris Mew 17 Michael Tuck (c) 9 Robert DiPierdomenico 30 Peter Schwab 6 Tony Hall 10 Chris Wittman 23 Dermott Brereton 34 John Kennedy 39 Paul Abbott 19 Jason Dunstall 35 James Morrissey 14 Greg Dear 11 Gary Buckenara 44 John Platten 29 Russell Greene 18 Darrin Pritchard Alan Joyce #CC2031 Melbourne Melbourne Football Club #061A33 9 Alan Johnson 18 Steven Stretch 14 Rod Grinter 34 Stephen Newport 28 Jamie Duursma 17 Brett Lovett 12 Todd Viney 7 Brian Wilson 8 Graeme Yeats 3 Garry Lyon 5 Earl Spalding 15 David Williams 11 Jim Stynes 27 Sean Wight 45 Ricky Jackson 10 Danny Hughes 16 Andy Lovell 33 Greg Healy (c) 37 David Flintoff 21 Steven Febey John Northey Goal kickers Hawthorn Dunstall 7 Abbott 6 Brereton 5 DiPierdomenico 1 Kennedy 1 Morrissey 1 Schwab 1Melbourne Lyon 2 Williams 2 Healy 1 Johnson 1 References External links Match details at AFL Tables See also 1988 VFL season Grand final Category:VFL/AFL Grand Finals Category:Hawthorn Football Club Category:Melbourne Football Club