The upcoming round 14 of this AFL season marks the five year anniversary of what can be argued as the greatest home and away match of all time. Famously known as “the unbeatables game”, St Kilda and Geelong faced off in a top of the table clash; both teams entered the match with 13-0 records. The match, along with the 2009 Grand Final between these two teams, marked the crescendo of a ten year rivalry. A rivalry that Geelong would undeniably end up having the better of, even if they didn’t win on this day.
This match was, as Joel Selwood put it in a recent AFL feature, “both sides in their peak and both sides had been compared to each other for so long”. In earnest the rivalry between the Saints and the Cats began with the new millennium, when both sides were stocking up on young talent through the draft. St Kilda had a slew of high picks thanks to years languishing down the bottom of the ladder, while Geelong followed up a first round exit from the finals in 2000 with multiple seasons dedicated to player development. With interstate sides dominating the early 2000s the Saints and Cats became front runners to bring the premiership back to Victoria, and the Cats did it in 2007.
A spiteful 2004 pre-season final, in which St Kilda joyfully took the cup elevated the rivalry as both teams went on to play in tight, but lost preliminary finals that season. Geelong lost form until their spectacular premiership season in 2007, while St Kilda plateaued until Ross Lyon took over as coach in that year. Following their heartbreaking loss in the 2008 Grand Final the Cats were determined to claim a second premiership in their era, while the Saints were successfully implementing a forward press the game had never seen. Both teams were undefeated by round 14, marking the latest such meeting between undefeated teams in AFL/VFL history, the Docklands stadium was sold out with 54,444 fans packing the venue; still an AFL record for the stadium. The time of the match was put back an hour so Channel 7 could telecast it live as a lead in to their news, the stage was set for an epic encounter and for once the game lived up to the hype.
The Saints were generally considered the contenders to the Cats champs, it was the contenders who got the jump. Clinton Jones kicked a celebrated taggers goal and Nick Riewoldt took a typically courageous mark back with the flight on the goal line. Following Sam Fisher’s quick goal, the Saints led 31-1 and the match for the ages appeared headed for a blow out. Gary Ablett got Geelong on the board, but St Kilda’s frontal pressure was immense and completely stifled the Geelong quick movement.
In a surprise move that was never really repeated, Darren Milburn snuck forward to kick three goals, starting in the second quarter, while Jimmy Bartel held on to a screamer of a defensive mark as he compiled 37 touches. Michael Gardiner took a big contested mark in the third quarter – nearly knocking out Justin Koschitzke again – in a sign of things to come. Gardiner converted his shot at goal to push the Saints lead to 21 points, but as only the Cats could do in those years, they reeled off three goals in three minutes to make it a one kick game.
The second of those goals; Cameron Mooney’s 55 metre bomb resulted in Dennis Commetti commenting on “the roar” and it seemed like the roof was ready to burst. The Docklands was packed like never before and they knew Geelong was coming when Mooney converted from Matthew Stokes’ unbelievable pass. Selwood, noticeably fresher faced than now, dribbled a through a goal 20 seconds later and the champs were awoken. A tentative seven minutes followed before Riewoldt burst the ball with a 60 metre goal on the run to give St Kilda a 10 point lead.
Lenny Hayes, amid a typically workmanlike 33 possession performance almost knocked Koschitzke over with a bullet pass, which he turned into a goal from beyond the arc. Young Shame Mumford handballed one into Harry Taylor’s foot deep in defence, which resulted in another Gardiner goal from 15 metres out, a spot he would revisit later. The Saints suddenly held a 23 point lead, which appeared enough. It wasn’t, but it was.
Max Rooke snapped truly from 40 metres, Paul Chapman – who had a game-high 39 touches – torpedoed one as a result of another back with the flight mark from Bartel, that somehow bounced through eight players for a goal and Mooney slammed through another long set shot. The margin was under a goal again. This was footy under the dome as it was supposed to be. Fast paced, highly skilled and inside a stadium that was threatening to jump from it’s foundations. Corey Enright describes the game as “really fast and really brutal’, and it is hard to argue.
With eight minutes to go St Kilda broke free thanks to Hayes and Riewoldt found Stephen Milne in space 40 metres from goal. The Saints opened up their forward line with numbers at the contest, a trademark of that era for them. Milne’s floater somehow cleared Mumford on the line to give St Kilda breathing space. Geelong slipped through the tight zone to find Milburn who brought it to six points.
As the five minute mark ticked by, Stokes found himself in inexplicable space in the forward 50 and converted. With five minutes to go, scores were level. Perhaps the unbeatables would remain so. The final five minutes was played almost exclusively on one side of the ground as both sides kept banging on a door that would not open. There seemed to be no space at either end, but the wing was as open as ever as each team turned it over at their half forward line. Joel Corey received a free kick was was given as advantage, a decision that even confounded everyone in the stadium, including the broadcast vision.
Despite an overly ambitious bounce on the run from Zac Dawson, St Kilda managed to finally break the pattern and switch the play to the broadcast side and Luke Ball came off the bench with all the time in the world. Ball marked the ball on the wing and played on. Gardiner and Mark Blake stood side by side on the 50 metre arc. Ball took seven steps and launched the ball to the goal square. Gardiner kept coming. Milne and James Kelly wrestled, Riewoldt and Taylor came over the top of them from the boundary side. Gardiner came from the middle as Blake languished a step behind. Gardiner flew on the pack rather than over it and clasped the ball in his hands. Hayes found the crowd was “just deafening” as the mark was held. In a manner that has almost never been repeated, he wobbled his hands and elbows around trying to control the ball, inadvertently striking Taylor in the side of the head and knocking him out. A long delay occurred as Taylor was stretchered off, allowing Gardiner time to catch his breath and convert the shot. St Kilda had a six point lead with one minute and change left, it was hard to see them losing.
Geelong has one chance with 45 seconds left thanks to a bizarre free kick against Milne. Mooney would give away a free kick for in the back on the edge of the 50, a scene that would be repeated in more serious circumstances a year later. The resultant free kick would lead to Gardiner taking a towering mark on the wing, “rising like a collossus”, as Commetti put it. Gardiner won the game for the Saints as they held on, he loomed as a huge player ahead of the inevitable September rematch. He would never have such an effect on a game as he did on that Sunday afternoon.
The match itself was a bona fide classic. It’s impossible to recall a home and away match played at such frenzied intensity for its entirety. Bartel puts it bluntly as “in myself and I think a lot of players minds … as pure football, it’s still the best game we’ve played in”. It rightly sits amongst the greatest home and away matches in this millennium, arguably at the top. No match has dealt with such a build up and delivered like it did on the 5th of July, 2009.
Geelong would win the rematch on Grand Final day by two goals in another genuine classic. The Cats would go on to a third premiership in five years in 2011, while the Saints would draw a Grand Final in 2010 and lose the replay. Both teams grew up together in the early 2000s, but it will be Geelong that are remembered as one of the greatest teams of all time, while St Kilda are left to rue missed opportunities. It appears the Saints will never get that flag, with their champions in decline and a full rebuild in process. The Cats have tried to cling to glory and remain a perennial finalist and premiership contender, the difference in approaches following their peak years is stark. A 96-point demolition of St Kilda at the hands of Geelong highlights the gap between the two clubs at this point in time, and the difference five years makes. For one day in 2009 St Kilda were at the top of the footballing world and their win will forever be remembered amongst the greatest of all time.
All quotes are from this video.
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