Biggest Comebacks in VFL/AFL history

[Betfair Pro Punter]

I was reading an article on The age about the greatest comebacks in VFL/AFL footy by Rohan Connolly in the Age.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/the-greatest-comebacks/2007/04/15/1176575680482.html?page=2

Cansomeone just tell me what are the biggest comebacks at QTR time, Half Time and 3/4 time?

Now if memory serves me right

QTR Time: 58 points Ess V Kangaroos rd 16, 2001

HALF TIME: Im not sure but the biggest ive looked up is 44 points coll v carlton at HALF TIME 1970 Grand final (I May be wrong)

3/4 TIME: 45 points Brisbane against Hawks, rd 16 1995

 

[bring it on]

essendon vs roos is right.......... wouldnt west coast be up there somewhere..........from last years comebacks

 

[red+black]

QTR Time: 58 points Ess V Kangaroos rd 16, 2001

HALF TIME: Im not sure but the biggest ive looked up is 44 points coll v carlton at HALF TIME 1970 Grand final (I May be wrong)

3/4 TIME: 45 points Brisbane against Hawks, rd 16 1995

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/teams/allteams/gamer.html#15

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/teams/allteams/gamer.html#16

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/teams/allteams/gamer.html#17

 

[DapperDon]

Essendon were 69 points down in the second quarter. I miss that team

 

[Betfair Pro Punter]

DapperDonEssendon were 69 points down in the second quarter. I miss that team

still the best game I have ever seen. Its like South Africa chasing down 438, it will only happen once in our lifetime

 

[Hodges]

Yep same. I remember watching that game with my Dad and we couldnt believe our eyes. Awesome game.

 

[DarwinRoo]

I was there too. It was awesome from my perspective giving that the final margin was only 12 points. I bet that most supporters would have gone to that game thinking that the Bombers were going to flog us.

 

[DeeHughMan]

remember the game were the dons came back from 41 points down at 3/4 time the dees were 48 points up into the last quarter then long just tore us a new one

 

[strategy]

Yep , it was Essendon as i remember emailing them and critising Sheedy for doing it .Why ?
Well because i thought it would hurt some players, mentally draining them and i was right .
No player should be expected to do that only if it was an elimination final or the grand final.
The pressure is immense and to try and achieve something like that and not to expect repercutions is stupid.
Some young players in teams are pushed too much too soon and that just leads to fatigue and burn outs .

 

[Donnybrook]

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/teams/allteams/gamer.html#15

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/teams/allteams/gamer.html#16

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/teams/allteams/gamer.html#17

Thanks for that. Some crazy results over the years.

 

[PowerForGood]

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/teams/a.../gamer.html#15

Meaningless sidenote: Noted that in the history of VFL/AFL football there have been 19 games where the losing team has had 11+ more scoring shots than the winning team.

In the SANFL Round 3 this year, there were 2 such games on the same weekend.
Glenelg 12.20.92 def by West Adelaide 15.6.96
Port Adelaide Magpies 16.18.114 def by Sturt 20.3.123.

 

[davey_magik]

It isn't VFL/AFl, but I remember reading last year a side came back at 3/4 time from over 10 goals down in a GF.
Must have been some game.

 

[david_345]

There was a game I went to when I was 13 (1980), Magpie vs Fitzroy at VFL park. We were down by 25 pnts at 3/4 time. Start of the 4th and Fitzroy booted the first two or three (can't remember) putting us about 40 points down well into the quarter. My old man decided it was time to go home and no amount of whining from me was going to change his mind (I still hate leaving games early).


By the time we got to the car we were about 10 points down and eventually went on to win it by 9 points.

Needless to say, I didn't talk to my old man for about two weeks after that.

 

[thylacine60]

There was a game I went to when I was 13 (1980), Magpie vs Fitzroy at VFL park. We were down by 25 pnts at 3/4 time. Start of the 4th and Fitzroy booted the first two or three (can't remember) putting us about 40 points down well into the quarter. My old man decided it was time to go home and no amount of whining from me was going to change his mind (I still hate leaving games early).


By the time we got to the car we were about 10 points down and eventually went on to win it by 9 points.

Needless to say, I didn't talk to my old man for about two weeks after that.

If you'd hurried back to watch the end of the game, today you could say you were part of the greatest comeback of all...............all the way back from the carpark.

 

[Merv]

remember the game were the dons came back from 41 points down at 3/4 time the dees were 48 points up into the last quarter then long just tore us a new one

I will never forget that one either.

Makes me laugh...carlton RAVE about there come back from 48 down in the second quarter against us....it's their greatest ever come back in their history.....quite sad really

 

[Chewy]

Call me biased, but I preferred Hawthorn's comeback vs St Kilda from 63 points down to Essendon's comeback vs North from 70 points down. For starters, it was a lower scoring game and there was more intensity. I remember watching that Ess v NM game and thinking how much it resembled a game of basketball (no manning up, both sides scoring at will.) Essendon was also the best side in the league at the time, while North were at the end of their golden era.

The great thing about that Hawthorn comeback versus St Kilda was that we were a pretty mediocre side, full of youngsters and hacks, while the Saints were a finals side. They were expected to cane us. Crawford and Harvey went head to head. Banger was dominant in the first half, then Crawford tore him a new one in the 2nd half. It was one of the greatest Hawthorn wins ever.

 

[Blues_Man]

There was a game I went to when I was 13 (1980), Magpie vs Fitzroy at VFL park. We were down by 25 pnts at 3/4 time. Start of the 4th and Fitzroy booted the first two or three (can't remember) putting us about 40 points down well into the quarter. My old man decided it was time to go home and no amount of whining from me was going to change his mind (I still hate leaving games early).


By the time we got to the car we were about 10 points down and eventually went on to win it by 9 points.

Needless to say, I didn't talk to my old man for about two weeks after that.

Mate..he made you a Pies supporter ..thats reason enough to never talk to him again

 

[Merv]

Call me biased, but I preferred Hawthorn's comeback vs St Kilda from 63 points down to Essendon's comeback vs North from 70 points down. For starters, it was a lower scoring game and there was more intensity. I remember watching that Ess v NM game and thinking how much it resembled a game of basketball (no manning up, both sides scoring at will.) Essendon was also the best side in the league at the time, while North were at the end of their golden era.

The great thing about that Hawthorn comeback versus St Kilda was that we were a pretty mediocre side, full of youngsters and hacks, while the Saints were a finals side. They were expected to cane us. Crawford and Harvey went head to head. Banger was dominant in the first half, then Crawford tore him a new one in the 2nd half. It was one of the greatest Hawthorn wins ever.

You're biased

 

[Chewy]

You're biased

Yeah, but you can't really argue with anything I said, can you?

When we played the Saints, they were 5th on the ladder and made the finals in 97/98.
We were 12th and had been a bottom four side in 97/98

After your win over North, you were on top with a 14-2 record, while they were 11th with an 8-8 record.

In 2001, the Bombers came back from 70 points down and kicked 171 to 159
In 1999, the Hawks came back from 63 points down and kicked 109 to 96
Your game was a shoot out, while the game at Waverley featured some tackling and manning up.

If you want to talk about great comebacks in high scoring shootouts, then you can't go past the Hawthorn vs Geelong game in round 6, 1989. The Cats were on FIRE! Ablett was in the peak form of his whole career. Him, Brownless and Exell were just destroying us. Geelong led by 10 goals during the second quarter, then Jeans switched Gary Ayres to the centre and the tide turned. Hawks won 26 goals to 25.

But I'm biased.

 

[Betfair Pro Punter]

I havent seen enough football in the 80's but the ones i have seen in the mid 90's to present are ranked as follows:

1. Essendon coming back from 69 V roos in 2001 . best game I have witnessed, roos coming into the game undermanned with no carey, and odds stacked against them and roos came out blasting. then we know the rest of the story.

2. West Coast coming back from 54 down midway through the 3rd v geelong in 2006 continuing their trend of coming back from the dead that season

3. Adelaide losing a heart breaker when they had grasp of their first grand final in 1993, and leading by 42 points at half time. What do you know? essendon went on to win the flag, when we all know adelaide could have easily been holding the cup aloft

4. Brisbane coming back in 95, from 45 down at 3/4 time from nowhere. To be honest I reckon this win set up brisbane as a geniune threat to the comp within the next 10 years. without a doubt it was the first building block or stepping stone as they say

5. West coast versus Doggies in 98, dogs off to a flying start 52-4 head start, but u never write off the coasters at home.

6. Kangaroos on a soggy SCG night coming from 40 points behind at 3/4 time. Sydney just stopped playing, and kangaroos ran on top of them.

 

[DarwinRoo]

I havent seen enough football in the 80's but the ones i have seen in the mid 90's to present are ranked as follows:

1. Essendon coming back from 69 V roos in 2001 . best game I have witnessed, roos coming into the game undermanned with no carey, and odds stacked against them and roos came out blasting. then we know the rest of the story.

2. West Coast coming back from 54 down midway through the 3rd v geelong in 2006 continuing their trend of coming back from the dead that season

3. Adelaide losing a heart breaker when they had grasp of their first grand final in 1993, and leading by 42 points at half time. What do you know? essendon went on to win the flag, when we all know adelaide could have easily been holding the cup aloft

4. Brisbane coming back in 95, from 45 down at 3/4 time from nowhere. To be honest I reckon this win set up brisbane as a geniune threat to the comp within the next 10 years. without a doubt it was the first building block or stepping stone as they say

5. West coast versus Doggies in 98, dogs off to a flying start 52-4 head start, but u never write off the coasters at home.

6. Kangaroos on a soggy SCG night coming from 40 points behind at 3/4 time. Sydney just stopped playing, and kangaroos ran on top of them.

Also no stevens and martyn.

 

[Chewy]

Kangaroos on a soggy SCG night coming from 40 points behind at 3/4 time. Sydney just stopped playing, and kangaroos ran on top of them.

You've reminded me of a night game at the SCG between Sydney and Geelong, in 1987, I think.

The Swans had played the Cats off the park and well into the final term, they led by about 7 or 8 goals. Then Geelong just went ballistic. However it wasn't an Ablett inspired comeback. It was their other freak, Bruce Lindner. He was everywhere. He hit the biggest purple patch you've ever seen, dobbing goals from the centre, kicking 80m torps. He was in such great form, he demanded to take all the kickouts in the dying minutes. He was launching bombs from the goal square that cleared the halfway mark. The poor Swannies had no answer. Cats kicked about 8 goals in the last 10-15 minutes.

There was also a similar finale at the SCG between Sydney and St Kilda, the day Plugger went mad.
I reckon the Saints also came back from about 8 goals gown late in the game.

 

[winty]

6. Kangaroos on a soggy SCG night coming from 40 points behind at 3/4 time. Sydney just stopped playing, and kangaroos ran on top of them.

Wasn't that the game where one of the Swans trainers died on the sidelines?

I think a couple of years ago the Geelong VFL side were the best part of 10 goals down at 3/4 time, but kicked something like 9.7 to 0.2 in the last quarter and won by a point or something.

Well, the thread topic did say VFL history.

 

[natlovestheswans]

Wasn't that the game where one of the Swans trainers died on the sidelines?

Yeah, 2004. Sad stuff.

 

[Blues_Man]

I will never forget that one either.

Makes me laugh...carlton RAVE about there come back from 48 down in the second quarter against us....it's their greatest ever come back in their history.....quite sad really

It wasn't so sad sitting there watching the faces of the smug bummer fans getting longer and longer ...it was absolutely brilliant ..i wish we could play your bunch of chokers every week