1983 VFL Grand Final

Hawthorn	Essendon
20.20 (140)	8.9 (57)

	1	2	3	4
HAW	5.6 (36)	12.10 (82)	16.18 (114)	20.20 (140)
ESS	3.0 (18)	4.1 (25)	4.3 (27)	8.9 (57)

Date

24 September 1983

Stadium

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia

Broadcast in Australia

Network

Seven Network

← 1982

VFL Grand Final

1984 →

The 1983 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 24 September 1983. It was the 87th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1983 VFL season. The match, attended by 110,332 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 83 points, marking that club's fifth premiership victory.

Background

Main article: 1983 VFL season

It was Essendon's first Grand Final appearance since losing the 1968 VFL Grand Final, while it was Hawthorn's first appearance since winning the 1978 VFL Grand Final. The Bombers had not won a flag since winning the 1965 VFL Grand Final.

At the conclusion of the home and away season, Hawthorn had finished second on the VFL ladder (one game behind North Melbourne) with 15 wins and 7 losses. Essendon had finished fourth, also with 15 wins and 7 losses, but with an inferior percentage.

In the finals series leading up to the Grand Final, the Bombers defeated Carlton by 33 points in the Elimination Final before defeating Fitzroy in the First Semi-Final by 23 points. They advanced to the Grand Final after comfortably beating North Melbourne by 86 points in the Preliminary Final. The Hawks defeated Fitzroy in the Qualifying Final by just 4 points and then defeated North Melbourne by 40 points to progress to the Grand Final.

Match summary

Team	1	2	3	Final
Hawthorn	5.6	12.10	16.18	20.20 (140)
Essendon	3.0	4.1	4.3	8.9 (57)

The Hawks asserted their strength early, leading by 2.6 at quarter time, and then completely dominated the rest of the game, scoring seven goals to one in the second quarter and holding the Bombers goalless in the third quarter, whilst adding four goals of their own. Captain Leigh Matthews kicked six goals and the Hawks had nine other goal kickers. The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Hawthorn's Colin Robertson for being judged the best player afield.

The margin of victory was at the time the biggest in Grand Final history, beating the record which had been set by Richmond in the 1980 VFL Grand Final, and stood until it was broken by Hawthorn in the 1988 VFL Grand Final.

This match was the first in what was to be an all-time record run of seven consecutive Grand Final appearances by the Hawks. It was also the first of three consecutive Grand Finals to be contested between these teams, with the Bombers winning the 1984 VFL Grand Final and 1985 VFL Grand Final.

Teams

Hawthorn
B:	7 Gary Ayres	46 Chris Mew	8 David O'Halloran
HB:	29 Russell Greene	20 Michael McCarthy	34 John Kennedy
C:	30 Peter Schwab	16 Terry Wallace	26 Rodney Eade
HF:	11 Gary Buckenara	23 Dermott Brereton	24 Peter Knights
F:	3 Leigh Matthews (c)	21 Michael Byrne	22 Richard Loveridge
Foll:	12 Ian Paton	17 Michael Tuck	32 Colin Robertson
Int:	9 Robert DiPierdomenico	1 Ken Judge

Coach:	Allan Jeans

Essendon
B:	9 Shane Heard	28 Paul Weston	17 Stephen Carey
HB:	10 Garry Foulds	30 Kevin Walsh	36 Peter Bradbury
C:	33 Glenn Hawker	1 Merv Neagle	2 Bryan Wood
HF:	23 Rene Kink	25 Roger Merrett	43 Alan Ezard
F:	42 Darren Williams	5 Terry Daniher (c)	18 Paul Van Der Haar
Foll:	27 Simon Madden	32 Tim Watson	20 Tony Buhagiar
Int:	24 Stephen Copping	12 Cameron Clayton

Coach:	Kevin Sheedy

Goalkickers

Hawthorn

Matthews 6
Byrne 3
Greene 2
Judge 2
Loveridge 2
Kennedy 1
Knights 1
O'Halloran 1
Tuck 1
Wallace 1

Essendon

Daniher 2
Copping 1
Ezard 1
Kink 1
Madden 1
Walsh 1
Wood 1

References

Hawks Headquarters page on the 1983 Grand Final
The Official statistical history of the AFL 2004
Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

Victorian/Australian Football League Grand Finals

VFL Grand Finals	1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

AFL Grand Finals	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Hawthorn Football Club 1983 VFL premiers

Hawthorn 20.20 (140) defeated Essendon 8.9 (57), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

1. Judge 3. Matthews (c) 7. Ayres 8. O'Halloran 9. DiPierdomenico 11. Buckenara 12. Paton 16. Wallace 17. Tuck 20. McCarthy 21. Byrne 22. Loveridge 23. Brereton 24. Knights 26. Eade 29. Greene 30. Schwab 32. Robertson 34. Kennedy 46. Mew

Coach: Jeans

Hawthorn Football Club

History Records Players Captains Coaches Current squad Peter Crimmins Medal Leading goalkickers Captain: Luke Hodge Coach: Alastair Clarkson Nickname: Hawks

Stadiums	Glenferrie Oval (1925–73) Princes Park (1974–91) Waverley Park (1992–99) Melbourne Cricket Ground (2000–present) York Park (2001–present)

Premierships (13)	1961 1971 1976 1978 1983 1986 1988 1989 1991 2008 2013 2014 2015

Seasons (93)	1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Related articles	Blue Ribbon Cup Beyond Blue Cup Line in the sand match Kennett curse Melbourne Hawks

Essendon Football Club

History Premierships and records Players Captains Coaches Awards W. S. Crichton Medal Leading goalkickers Captain: Jobe Watson Coach: John Worsfold Nickname: Bombers

Home grounds	East Melbourne Cricket Ground (1897–1921) Windy Hill (1922–91) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–present) Docklands Stadium (2000–present)

Premierships (16)	1897 1901 1911 1912 1923 1924 1942 1946 1949 1950 1962 1965 1984 1985 1993 2000

Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Related articles	Anzac Day clash Carlton–Essendon AFL rivalry Dreamtime at the 'G Archer–Hird Medal Line in the sand match Round 16, 2001 comeback vs. North Melbourne Supplements saga

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