1994 2nd Qualifying Final
RooTube and kangaroos.com.au presents: Classic Matches. Every week we will discuss and present highlights of a memorable North Melbourne match, starting with the 1994 2nd Qualifying Final between the Kangaroos and Hawthorn. Tell us your favourite memories of the game in our Roo Blog below.
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North Melbourne v Hawthorn
Fourth quarter highlights
Fourth quarter review
FRESH legs were the key in the final term, with the intensity getting the better of Archer whose ankle again forced him from the ground.
Rock was next, but the stretcher was called for the little onballer after he twisted his awkwardly on the turf.
Eight minutes in, ginger-headed Hawk Matthew Young, a late replacement for Shane Crawford, finally made his mark on the game with a goal that put his side further ahead.
King and McAdam then combined to set up Longmire, who converted and could have added another but spilled a sitter in the goal square after a crafty snap from Jose Romero.
Dunstall continued as the Hawks’ prime target and was finding himself well-placed in the contests with Martyn. He kicked his fourth after a ball was sent in by Graham.
North needed a quick response and, when Platten cleared the ball to a swarmed Langford, a dashing McAdam was spotted by Crocker and made no mistake.
Darrin Pritchard continued the see-saw, as Platten worked to make amends for his earlier error, and McKernan – so important all day – was reading high balls like books.
He hit the post as the pressure lifted, but Laidley showed steel nerves deep in defence with a saving mark after another Hawthorn foray forward.
Carey marked and goaled after Longmire won a ball up the ground, but it wasn’t so good off the boot for the latter minutes later.
The forwards were prominent as Dunstall marked on a long lead but couldn’t make the distance, with Laidley again crucial in the clinches. His smother forced a rushed behind and the game was balanced.
Time was evaporating and there was just 10 seconds left when King marked nearly 70m from goal. Whatever instruction he was given by teammates did little to stop Denis Pagan from exploding in the coaches’ box.
King was left to kick after the siren; a booming ball hit the pack and was snuffed and the match was sent into extra time with the scores 12.19 (91) to 13.13 (91).
Craig Sholl had bobbed up in stages of the second half, but his best was saved for the most important passages.
After Allison kicked a behind, Sholl kicked from the arc on the run to put the Roos seven points ahead.
Stevenson – a shadow of the player he was in the first quarter – earned a free for the Hawks, only to have it cut off by Schwass, and in the last attack of the five-minute stanza the umpire overlooked McAdam carrying the ball on the wrong side of the boundary line.
McAdam had found Longmire, who shanked a kick again, but it brought a very handy 10-point lead as the sides changed ends.
The scoreboard read 13.23 (101) to 13.13 (91); Hawthorn hadn’t added.
A lot of the afternoon on the bench made McAdam a key and, after a big punch from Ishchenko, he found Longmire on the lead.
It had been a tough afternoon for ‘Horse’ but this time his kick was a mile better than any that had come before it.
The game had been broken open, and Crocker was probably feeling that way himself when Smith miscued a bump and landed his shoulder square in his ribs.
Sholl was running rings around the Hawks, sending another ball forward after a Blakey handball, but his clearance moments later that ended up with Carey was the sealer.
The final siren sounded, ‘The King’ kicked his fourth and North bounded into a preliminary final against Geelong.
North Melbourne 2.3 6.12 9.12 15.24 (114)
Hawthorn 4.5 5.7 10.11 13.13 (91)
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North Melbourne v Hawthorn
Third quarter highlights
Third quarter review
JUST when North looked to pull away from Hawthorn, buoyed by its 25-point turnaround in the second quarter, the game balanced again.
North's ruck tandem of Ishchenko and McKernan seemed to be dictating terms and the courage of centre half-back Peter Mann, filling the space in front of a
Still, Laidley and Crocker were the stand-outs, with the latter rarely wasting a ball.
But it was Schwass that ended the stalemate, perfectly crumbing a Longmire contest to slam through a goal on his non-preferred foot, and a snap around the body in congestion from Allison sent the Roos 21 points ahead.
Archer, who was earlier troubled by ankle injury, held a crucial role in his move forward, setting up Allison's goal with a clever tap and providing a response from the arc when Dunstall shook off Martyn to kick two goals in succession.
Dunstall had made it 100 goals for the season, and play was stopped as fans rushed the field to congratulate him.
Archer's kick to an open square had granted some breathing space, and it came soon before North's defence sent an errant kick to the hands of Hudson, who cut the margin to eight.
He had the next say as well, marking in front of Laidley and kicking to the goal square to see Dunstall shepherd his roost through.
A mark to Jarman right on the siren put the midfielder in scoring range, and – perhaps to the disbelief of North fans – Hawthorn had snatched back the lead.
And one side was 30 minutes away from drawing curtains on its year.
North Melbourne 2.3 6.12 9.12 (66)
Hawthorn 4.5 5.7 10.11 (71)
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Second quarter highlights
Second quarter review
THE INFLUENCE of Crocker, Carey and Schwass swelled in the second term as the Roos looked to make up for their slow opening.
After spending the first quarter on Jarman, Crocker moved onto Ben Allan and made the most of the room he was given at the stoppages and off a wing.
Carey and McKernan crashed packs and the latter was on the end of a Crocker bomb inside 50, towering over Hawthorn defenders Mark Graham and Scott Maginness.
The resultant goal broke a drought, bettering Blakey's third behind after he was cleverly spotted by Trent Nichols alone in attack.
Alex Ishchenko's aggression in the ruck was getting the better of Stephen Lawrence, while a gritty spoil from Schwass was also worn by the Hawks' big man.
It was around then that Carey, despite the cloud of calf soreness, proved he was too much of a handful for Chris Langford, who was second to most contests and unable to match the motor of the champion centre half-forward.
Carey charged a boundary throw-in and snapped to bring the Roos within two points and, when Longmire and Allison missed their chances, scores were level.
North was dominating play but the smallest break in breathing space for Hudson and Platten, in his 200th game, generated a goal for the little rover.
Laidley and Anthony Stevens had taken the honours in both match-ups to that stage, and King was also creating headaches.
Outnumbered, he won a ball on the boundary line and sent it forward for a mark and goal for Carey, and it could have been replicated by the Crocker-McKernan combination until McKernan opted for a leading Longmire.
'Horse' slewed his shot and Carey's brilliant body work on Langford produced a behind, too.
Errant kicks from Schwass and King followed, with King's behind the ninth of the term, but it paled in comparison to Dunstall's woes – unable to break Martyn's shackles to chase the deliveries of his midfielders.
Hawthorn 4.5 5.7 (37)
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North Melbourne v Hawthorn
First quarter highlights
First quarter review
HISTORY set the scene as two finals heavyweights of the seventies prepared to lock horns in the 1994 second qualifying final.
Shorts were still tight and hair favoured college cuts, while Adam Simpson, Shannon Grant and Brent Harvey were yet to pull on the blue and white.
It was the first year of the McIntyre final eight system too, which pitted third against sixth, and the Hawks swooped on a chance to make amends for their earlier shortcomings.
That attitude was evident from the first bounce, and it took less than a minute for Shayne Stevenson to open the scoring after a lucky flick by Paul Hudson.
Ross Smith, Ian Fairley, Dean Laidley and a youthful Glenn Archer found their positions, while Mick Martyn stood marksman Jason Dunstall – second in the competition's goalkicking that year.
Anthony Rock, David King and Adrian McAdam had started on the pine but gradually filtered into the action and, just as Stevenson was looking to strike again, Wayne Schwass ran him down.
Laidley let
Jason Taylor's emergence from congested play to slot a tight kick on the boundary could have been matched by John Blakey's dash forward; his was a minor score, but a start.
Corey McKernan, playing just his 22nd game, wasted a free kick for a Hawthorn throw with wobbler inside 50, while captain Wayne Carey was in the thick of contests but struggling to have an impact.
That was until he out-sized Andy Collins, but intentions of orchestrating a play were unsuccessful. It was a different story for surprise packet Stevenson who soon kicked his second goal of his first final.
Finally, Brett Allison laced up John Longmire from the centre for North's first and, when a helmet-clad Darren Crocker had a kick to a pack marked by Carey, momentum seemed to be shifting.
Crocker found McKernan 15m from goal when Darren Jarman was caught holding the ball, cutting the deficit to eight, but the combination of John Platten and Dunstall padded it out again.
Blakey had his chance to reply after a high clip from Jarman, but another miss kept the margin to 14 at the first change.
Hawthorn 4.5 (29)
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