The 1984 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 1984. It was the the 88th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1984 VFL season. The match, attended by 92,685 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 24 points, marking that club's 13th premiership victory.
It was a Grand Final rematch of the previous season's Grand Final in which Hawthorn defeated Essendon by a record 83 points. Essendon had come into the Grand Final not having won a premiership since winning the 1965 VFL Grand Final. Interestingly, Essendon won that flag in that year against St. Kilda which was coached by Allan Jeans, who was now coaching Hawthorn.
At the conclusion of the home and away season, Essendon had finished first with 18 wins and 4 losses. Hawthorn had finished second on the VFL ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses.
In the finals series leading up to the Grand Final, the Hawks defeated Carlton by 30 points in the Qualifying Final before meeting the Bombers in the Second Semi-Final, which Hawthorn won by 8 points to advance to the Grand Final. After their loss in the First Semi-Final, the Bombers obliterated Collingwood in the Preliminary Final by 133 points on the back of a 28 goal performance to advance to the Grand Final.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essendon | 2.4 | 3.11 | 5.15 | 14.21 (105) |
| Hawthorn | 6.1 | 8.6 | 10.8 | 12.9 (81) |
Hawthorn dominated the game early and kicked the first four goals on an unseasonably cool day. Leon Baker got one back for Essendon but Hawthorn continued to apply scoreboard pressure and 11 minutes into the second quarter they extend their lead to 33 points. Essendon, despite getting more possession, made little impact in front of goals but a goal, the Bombers' second for the match through the agency of Billy Duckworth, put them within 25 points at the half time break.
The third quarter was a low scoring affair, more notable for the changes to file positions that Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy applied in an attempt to stem the flow of Hawthorn goals. While common today, at the time it was very unusual for a coach to make such radical changes such as shifting backline players to the forward line and vice-versa. Paul Weston was shifted from defence to centre half forward, captain Terry Daniher was moved to defence, while another defender, Peter Bradbury, was moved to half-forward. With these positional changes, Essendon managed to get within three goals of the lead, but Dermott Brereton kicked a late one for Hawthorn to give them a 23 point lead going into the final term.
Baker goaled for Essendon in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter giving Essendon the early momentum, and minutes later Bradbury kicked a goal from the back of a pack. Essendon's charge continued when the ball made its way to Duckworth at half forward who passed the ball to an unmanned Mark Thompson who puts it through, 40 metres out and directly in front. The Bombers won the ball from the following centre bounce and Darren Williams kicked towards the right half forward flank where it bounced favourably for Baker who evaded Hawks defender David O'Halloran to goal and give Essendon the lead nine minutes into the quarter.
Hawthorn were back in front when Peter Curran goaled from a 15 metre penalty but Essendon soon regained their advantage when Roger Merrett took an uncontested mark in the goal square before converting. Weston extended Essendon's lead to 11 points minutes later and then Tim Watson goaled twice to seal the comeback win for Essendon. The Bombers kicked 9.6 in the final term to break free from the Hawks. As of 2008, it is the last time that a team trailing at three quarter time has won the Grand Final.
The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Duckworth for being judged the best player afield.
Essendon's win ended a 17-year monopoly on the flag by Hawthorn, Richmond, Carlton and North Melbourne
The attendance of 92,685 was the smallest at an MCG Grand Final for 29 years. Space for 44,000 MCC and VFL Park members was taken by only 31,000.
10 players from this game went on to become senior coaches.
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Essendon
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Hawthorn
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