I watched the 2001 SF on the weekend. I know they said on the commentary it was breezy that day but I don't think I've seen so many unforced turnovers in a final. No wonder both sides went into the wilderness for the rest of the decade
. The only thing you wished the current Tiges side had from that game was the desperation and hardness at the footy and the gang tackling. These days you would get reported for a number of those front on hits.
Looking back we should've buried Carlton in the first half if we could kick (nothing's changed
) but after half-time we were very lucky to win. We were just able to kick crucial goals to stay just enough in front despite the Blues having all the play and kicking points.
A fair bit of comedy that day. Hilton playing for frees and conning the ump. Duncan's mongrel floater on the run that somehow countered the breeze and floated through lol. Bourkey coming off the bench for the first time in the game in the 3rd qtr and kicking the ball straight out on the full before being sent back to the bench by Spud
. Whitnall making Ben Holland look like Ulsain Bolt. Seeing a dud like Simon Fletcher run around in blue and then scratching your head as to why o why we recruited him
.
On a serious note losing Benny Gale at the end of 2001 was a bigger loss than we realised in hindsight. He only retired because we couldn't afford to keep him on under the salary cap with Gas and Holland asking for big pay rises. It all unravelled from there
. Benny taking the No.1 ruck role and still being fairly mobile for a big guy in the middle of the ground allowed Ottens to play forward and dominate over the second opposition defender (Richo of course had the best defender on him).
