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A chronological look at the AFL's best grand finals of all time.
THE TOP FIVE AFL GRAND FINALS
* 1970: Carlton 17.9 (111) bt Collingwood 14.17 (101)
Before a record Australian Rules football crowd of 121,696 at the MCG, Collingwood raced to a 44-point lead at halftime with Carlton's highlight a second-term screamer from Alex Jesaulenko when he climbed on the shoulders of Magpies ruckman Graeme Jenkin for a classic mark. At the break, Blues coach Ron Barassi ordered his players to play on and use the handball - an edict with stunning impact: Carlton booted seven goals to none in the initial 13 minutes of the third quarter with substitute Ted Hopkins kicking four. The Magpies still led by 17 points at the last change but Carlton scored 5.4 to 1.1 in the final quarter for a famous premiership.
* 1984: Essendon 14.21 (105) bt Hawthorn 12.9 (81)
Hawthorn seemingly had the flag in their keeping at three-quarter time, leading by 23 points of a decider punctuated by a series of rolling fights, including an all-in brawl on the outer wing. But Essendon incredibly stormed home with an amazing last quarter, scoring 9.6 to 2.1 - their comeback sets a benchmark: overcoming the largest three quarter-time deficit to win a VFL/AFL grand final. Bombers coach Kevin Sheedy is hailed as a genius, capturing his first flag on the back of a host of positional changes which all turned the premiership gold.
* 1989: Hawthorn 21.18 (144) bt Geelong 21.12 (138)
Hawthorn prevailed in an epic despite Geelong superstar Gary Ablett Snr kicking nine goals in arguably the greatest individual grand final performance ever. This finale was as brutal as it was brilliant, with Hawks ace Dermott Breteton being crunched by Mark Yeates at the first bounce setting a hostile tone - Hawthorn had just 13 fit players left at the final siren. The Hawks made the running, booting eight goals in the first quarter and led by by 36 points at three quarter-time before the Cats kicked 8.5 in the last term to get within six points at the final siren.
* 2005:
2005: Sydney 8.10 (58) bt West Coast 7.12 (54)
A low-scoring epic which sat on a knife-edge the entire second half. West Coast kicked just two first-half goals and trailed by 20 points at the long break but produced a third quarter of sustained excellence - they only booted three majors but held the Swans goalless to be just two points down at three-quarter time. The final term was a classic: pressure-packed, both clubs scored two goals and the result hung in the balance until Sydney's Leo Barry instantly entered grand final folklore. With the Eagles kicking into attack in the final minute, Barry soared in a desperate pack of players to take a sensational mark and the Swans held on to break a 72-year premiership drought.
* 2010: Collingwood 9.14 (68) drew with St Kilda 10.8 (68)
Just the third drawn grand final in VFL/AFL history (after 1948 and 1977) is forever remembered for a fickle bounce of the ball that denied St Kilda a first premiership since 1966. The Saints trailed by 24 points at halftime but clawed their way back. With 100 seconds remaining, and St Kilda down by one point, their forward Stephen Milne appeared to set to collect the ball metres from goal and kick the match-winning goal - only for the ball to take a cruel right-turn bounce to elude him and go through for a point which tied the scores. A week later, the Magpies hammered the Saints by 54 points in the replay to capture the flag.
