Sunday 26 June 1994 was a red-letter day for the Brisbane Football Club. After 164 games in the AFL, and 11 consecutive losses to Collingwood, they finally beat the opposition club which had become their biggest bogey side. And they did it in front of a record Gabba crowd.
It was a moment never to be forgotten.
For as long as the AFL competition is in limbo we’ll be looking back each week at home-and-away highlights of the club’s record against our fixtured opponent.
And, for the Fitzroy faithful, we’ll also revisit a famous Fitzroy game against the same opponent where applicable, or another special event in Fitzroy history.
While Brisbane’s grand final wins over Collingwood in 2002-03 will always be extra special for Lions fans, the breakthrough win of 1994 remains a huge moment in club history.
The Bears, new to the competition in 1987, had lost by an average 44 points in their first 11 times meetings with Collingwood. They were the last club the Bears had never beaten after they had ended an 0-10 streak against Essendon a week earlier.
It was standing room only on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the Gabba as a sell-out crowd of 18,881 saw an enthralling contest.
Brisbane, coached by Robert Walls, were 12th. Collingwood, coached by Leigh Matthews, were fifth after they’d beaten ladder leaders West Coast by 33 points in Round 13.
Skipper Roger Merrett, a 34-year-old in his 270th game, was the senior statesman in a young home side, with Martin Leslie the only other player beyond 30. At the other end of the scale were 18-year-olds Michael Voss and Nigel Lappin.
Nathan Buckley, who had played his first season in the AFL with the Bears in 1993, played against his former side for the first time. And Tony Shaw, Collingwood games record-holder in his 304th game, played against Brisbane for the last time.
The Bears led 3-4 to 3-2 at quarter-time. A five-goal second term saw them lead by 20 points at the long break, and after six goals in the third term they were 49 points clear.
It was all but done, but the local faithful held their collective breath until deep into the final stanza, refusing to believe it had finally happened until it actually had.
They won 17-19 (121) to 11-11 (77). It was the first time the club had posted triple figures against Collingwood as Paul Peos led the way with four goals after a career-best five the week before.
Matthew Clarke, in the 16th game of a career that would stretch to 258 and see him play later at Adelaide and St Kilda, had a career-best 21 possessions in a dominant display in the ruck against Damien Monkhorst to pick up three Brownlow Medal votes.
BRISBANE v COLLINGWOOD - FACTS & FIGURES
Brisbane have a 19-28 win/loss record from 47 games against Collingwood, but enjoy a 2-1 record against Collingwood in finals, having beaten them in the 2002 and 2003 grand finals while losing the 2003 qualifying final.
Simon Black, Brisbane games record-holder, has played most games for the Lions against the Magpies at 23, ahead of Nigel Lappin (21) and Marcus Ashcroft (21).
Luke Power has polled most Brownlow Medal votes in games between the two clubs with 15, from Black (11) and Jonathan Brown (9). Power has also polled in most games (6) and polled most three-vote ratings (4).
In the Collingwood camp, Nathan Buckley has polled most votes (14), most times (7) and most three’s (3). Scott Pendlebury has polled six times for 13 votes and three three’s, Steele Sidebottom has polled five times for nine votes, and Graham Wright polled three times for nine votes.
EASTER THURSDAY
Easter Thursday football, now an eagerly-awaited regular on the Lions schedule, was the setting for one of the great Brisbane wins over Collingwood at the Gabba in 2004.
It was the second Easter Thursday game at home after the Lions had beaten the Magpies by 14 points in 2003, and part of a tradition under which Carlton, St Kilda and Richmond have since played Easter Thursday football in Brisbane.
A crowd of 36,467, the Gabba’s third-biggest at the time and now sixth on the all-time list, saw the Lions overcome a slow start to celebrate Chris Johnson’s 200th AFL game with a 10-goal win.
Fifteen points down midway through the second quarter, they outscored the visitors 17-7 to 5-4 thereafter and won 21-11 (137) to 12-5 (77).
Alastair Lynch kicked seven goals, a club record against Collingwood, and Jonathan Brown three in his first game of the season after a suspension incurred in the 2003 grand final win.
The turning point came when coach Leigh Matthews swung Jason Akermanis and Luke Power, who had been playing on the wing and at halfback respectively, onto the ball. Both were brilliant thereafter.
The third part of Matthews’ match-winning positional switch involved young ruckman Dylan McLaren, who was a late inclusion after Daniel Bradshaw suffered overnight calf tightness. He, too, was thrown onto the ball midway through the second term.
“We were struggling a little bit (in the second quarter) and put Luke and Jason into the middle, and Dylan as well. Those three gave us a little bit of life in there.” said the Coach.
Johnson, too, was a standout in his milestone game, with a magnificent ‘look away’ pass to set up a Lynch goal a huge highlight.
A RECORD WIN
Brisbane’s biggest win in 48 games against Collingwood came in Round 17 2007. And it wasn’t at the Gabba, as would be the normal expectation. It was at the MCG.
It was a huge upset, and not just because of the margin. The Lions sat 12th on the ladder with seven wins and a draw from 16 games, while Collingwood were 6th with 10 wins.
But it was over early when the Lions, sparked by a brilliant performance from the enigmatic Jared Brennan, kicked 7-4 to 1-3 in the first quarter. Brennan, who had debuted against Collingwood in the Easter Thursday game of 2003, kicked three first-quarter goals in his 54th game on his way to a career-best seven.
Celebrating his 23rd birthday, Brennan had 15 possessions – all kicks – and headed the Brownlow Medal votes from Jed Adcock, who had 27 possessions and kicked an equal career-best four goals in his 49th game.
Jonathan Brown picked up one vote for 22 possessions and three goals a week after he’d booted 10 against Carlton to prompt the sacking of Blues coach Denis Pagan.
WHAT A COMEBACK
Luke Power, unofficial ‘king’ of the powerful Brisbane-Collingwood rivalry, celebrated his 250th AFL game with a standout performance in one of the club’s very best wins over Collingwood in 2010.
It was Round 10. The Lions were 11th on the ladder with a 4-5 record. And it was no ordinary 4-5 record. They’d won their first four and then lost five in a row as they prepared to host a Collingwood side that sat second with a 7-2 record and were on track to win the 2010 flag.
A Saturday night crowd of 34,512 had had little to cheer about as the Lions trailed at every change and by as many as 20 points in the third quarter before second-year coach Michael Voss found an unlikely match-winner.
Brendan Fevola, in his 10th game with the club, kicked four second half goals to spark a brilliant win.
After Jonathan Brown had cut the margin to 14 points in the third quarter Fevola kicked two in 90 seconds to leave the home side only three points in arrears at three-quarter time.
Dale Thomas kicked a steadier for Collingwood before the Lions kicked three in five minutes. First it was Brown after seven minutes, then Power put the Lions in front, and finally Fevola kicked his third.
Heretier Lumumber pulled the visitors back to within three at the 16-minute mark of the final stanza before Fevola iced it with a magnificent gather/snap.
In a year in which Collingwood won the flag after a drawn grand final with StKilda at least the Lions could say they’d beaten the premiers. And that was something that only three other sides had done.
AN EXTRAORDINARY TURNAROUND
In Round 19 2014 the Lions were hammered by Adelaide by 105 points at the Gabba. Even today it is the club’s biggest ever loss in 273 games at the ground, and the Lions’ fourth-biggest loss post-merger.
The Lions, 15th on the ladder with a 6-13 record, had to travel the following week to the MCG to meet a Collingwood side that was ninth and only outside the top eight on percentage.
First-year coach Justin Leppitsch dropped Nick Robertson to include Claye Beams, but otherwise the 21 players who had been humiliated by the Crows were given the monumental task of turning things around.
Incredibly, six days later the Lions were celebrating a 67-point win. Having started $5.25 underdogs against the $1.15 Magpies, they won every quarter, led by 10 points, 34 points and 59 points at the breaks, and won 123 to 56.
The 172-point turnaround was then and still is the second-biggest in club history, behind only a 205-point form reversal by the Bears in 1993, when they followed a 58-point loss to Hawthorn in Round 7 with a 162-point win over Sydney in Round 8.
Dayne Zorko, in his 58th game, was best afield, picking up three Brownlow votes for a then career-best 32 possessions and two goals. Tom Rockliff, coming off 40 possessions in the Adelaide loss and celebrating his 100th game, received two votes for 43 possessions, and Pearce Hanley one vote for 34 possessions.
Jonathan Freeman, whose AFL dreams had been obliterated on debut by Adelaide a week earlier, bounced back with four goals – one in each quarter – in his second game. And on the MCG. He’d never even been there before.
Stefan Martin had an equal career-best 32 possessions in a stellar performance against a two-pronged Collingwood ruck division of Brodie Grundy and Jarrod Witts. Jed Adcock, in his first full season as captain after taking over from the retiring Jonathan Brown partway through 2013, was also superb with 25 possessions and a goal. And Claye Beams, playing against brother Dayne for the first time, picked up 17 possessions and a goal.
A win like that at headquarters … Leppitsch and his troops could not have been more overjoyed.
FITZROY’S FIRST FINAL
The Fitzroy home ground at Brunswick Street Oval is all of about 2.6km from Collingwood’s Victoria Park. Or a few thumping good kicks with a good roll. The clubs were neighbours from the outset of the VFL turned AFL, and it was only to be expected that they would become rivals. And they did.
It was a rivalry that began in earnest on Saturday 17 September 1898 as the second season of a then eight-team VFL competition kicked into overdrive.
It was to be Fitzroy’s first final, the club’s first blockbuster game against their near neighbours and the start of an enduring rivalry.
Collingwood took a 3-1 head-to-head advantage into the match, having beaten Fitzroy twice in 1897 before the teams split their home-and-away meetings in 1898. The Pies started favorites in a match that would decide which team would challenge ‘minor premiers’ Essendon in the grand final.
Collingwood led 1-2 to 0-3 at quarter-time but, for the second game in a row, Fitzroy held their opponents goalless thereafter and won 2-10 (22) to 1.5 (11).
The Fitzroy goals were kicked by two players who would go on to become premiership heroes and hold a special place in Fitzroy history.
Fred Fontaine, playing just the eighth game in a 110-game career, went on to be the most decorated Fitzroy finals player all time. Also a champion cyclist, he played in a club record four premierships in 1898-99-1904-05 and two losing grand finals in 1900-03. And all after kicking his first goal in the 1898 semi-final win over Collingwood.
Bill Potter, who represented Victoria in football, rowing and lawn bowls, played the 17th game of a 60-game career that included the 1898-99 flags and the 1900 grand final. He kicked his second goal in the 1898 semi-final win over Collingwood.
The side that beat Collingwood that day was the same which seven days later would beat Essendon by 15 points in the grand final at Junction Oval.
It was the beginning of a golden era in which Fitzroy played in seven grand finals in nine years from 1898-1906.
Fitzroy played Collingwood 209 times for 75 wins, three draws and 131 losses. The teams met 18 times in finals, with Fitzroy enjoying a 10-8 advantage. They beat Collingwood in the 1905 and 1922 grand finals, and lost to Collingwood in the 1903 and 1917 grand finals.
BRISBANE v COLLINGWOOD TRIVIA
Who coached both clubs? Leigh Matthews. He was Collingwood coach from 1986-95, coaching 224 games for a 125-94 win/loss record, with five draws and a premiership in 1990. And, Brisbane coach from 1999-2008, he was in charge of 237 games for a 142-92 record, with three draws, and the 2001-02-03 premiership hat-trick.
Which player captained both clubs? Mark Williams. He was Collingwood captain from 1983-86 and, after being the Brisbane Bears’ first signing, was the expansion club’s first signing and inaugural vice-captain. He was acting captain 12 times.
Which player has been club champion at both clubs? Dayne Beams. The Queenslander, who played 58 games with Brisbane and 119 games for Collingwood, was crowned Collingwood’s best player in 2012, and shared the Merrett/Murray Medal in 2015 with Dayne Zorko, Stefan Martin and Mitch Robinson.
Which player not only played for both clubs but has been on the coaching staff at both clubs? Ben Hudson, on the current Lions coaching staff after a stint as Collingwood ruck coach, played 18 games with Brisbane and seven games with Collingwood.
Who can claim a grand final with both clubs? Craig Starcevich. He was a member of the Collingwood 1990 premiership in a 124-game stint with the club and, after 20 games with Brisbane, transitioned into his current position as Brisbane women’s coach, taking them to the grand final in 2017-18.
Who are the 25 players to have played for both clubs? In alphabetical order, Brisbane games and Collingwood games in brackets, are: Colin Alexander (5 Brisbane games-24 Collingwood games), Dayne Beams (58-119), Nathan Buckley (20-260), Blake Caracella (34-27), Anthony Corrie (53-3), Jack Crisp (18-117), Jack Frost (2-54), Brad Hardie (101-2), Ben Hudson (18-7), Patrick Karnezis (21-4), Troy Lehmann (13-31), Mal Michael (140-61), Shane O’Bree (19-227), Cameron O’Brien (44-1), Jackson Paine (10-6), Geoff Raines (59-47), Mike Richardson (81-60), Brad Rowe (14-51), Matthew Ryan (18-45), Gary Shaw (6-32), Heath Shephard (4-11), Craig Starcevich (20-124), Phillip Walsh (60-22), Mark Williams (66-135), Cameron Wood (16-48).
