THE “TOUGH” COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO SUCCESSFUL AFL SIDESBy Andrew Slevison
SEN
7 October 2021Reigning premiers Melbourne played some superb footy in 2021.
They certainly saved their best for last with some huge performances in both the Preliminary and Grand Finals, accounting for Geelong and the Western Bulldogs by 83 and 74 points respectively, breaking a lengthy flag drought in the process.
Retired Cats defender Lachie Henderson saw first-hand what the Dees are capable of after copping a 10-goal second-half blitz in Perth less than a month ago.
Henderson has also been on the receiving end of finals defeats to Richmond, playing in Geelong sides that went under in a Qualifying Final (2017), Preliminary Final (2019) and Grand Final (2020).
As a result, he is well versed to pass judgment on both teams, but admits it is a very “tough” comparison to assess.
“We’ve had a lot of good battles with Richmond over my six years,” Henderson said on Sportsday.
“Look, what Melbourne did in that prelim to us in that third quarter, I’ve never felt so helpless.
“Tough question, (but) I’m going to say Melbourne because it’s so close to me still, the memory is fresh.
“But I don’t want any Richmond supporters or people to get on me because they were incredible and I think they’ll be back there. They were incredible in those last few years.
“When they got going they were very hard to stop.
“What they (the Demons) did was incredible, but they’ve done it over a few games. They’ve still got to prove it over the next two or three years like Richmond did.”
Gerard Healy feels the gap between the Demons of today and the three-time flag-winning Tigers of the last four years is not a big one, backing in Simon Goodwin’s side to achieve more success in coming seasons.
He referenced the sublime finals form of Dustin Martin, particularly against Henderson’s Geelong, as a major reason why he believes the Dees could perhaps bridge the gap.
“I’m not saying they’re going to be able to emulate Richmond’s deeds, (but) I think they’re well and truly positioned to do so,” he said.
“I think Dustin Martin is the best finals player I’ve ever seen in my life. Whilst Max (Gawn) had a brilliant game against you guys (Geelong), I think that they are overall a more powerful unit.
“That may well be because it was recent, but to me, if you took Dusty out, you (Geelong) would have won two flags.
“You wouldn’t have lost the prelim final and you would have won the Grand Final without Dusty.”
Henderson responded: “Yeah ok, when you put it like that it’s a bit different. I’ll take that.”
It’s tricky to compare the two, but one thing they certainly do have in common is breaking lengthy premiership droughts.
The Tigers ended a 37-year drought in 2017, while the Demons put 57 years of pain behind them when claiming the 2021 flag.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/10/07/the-tough-comparison-between-two-successful-afl-sides/
