We are all still catching our collective breath after witnessing one of the greatest weekends of finals football in VFL/AFL history.
It was certainly one of the very best first weeks of all time, and was one of the standouts since the introduction of the top eight 28 years ago and the advent of four finals taking place on the opening weekend.
On Thursday night, the Brisbane Lions and Richmond played out a memorable shootout involving 32 goals and 17 lead changes, before Brisbane ultimately prevailed by two points thanks to Joe Daniher’s match-winner.
And there was no shortage of drama either with Richmond forward Tom Lynch’s late goal, which would’ve put the Tigers up by nine points with two minutes to go, controversially overturned by the score reviewers despite a lack of conclusive evidence.
Twenty-four hours later, Sydney turned the finals series on its head when they stunned Melbourne by 22 points at the MCG, sending the Demons into the opposite side of the draw and on a collision course with minor premiers Geelong, if they manage to beat Brisbane this week.
Then on Saturday, we were treated to two more epics.
Firstly, Geelong survived an almighty arm wrestle with Collingwood, which featured no fewer than eight lead changes, to win by six points after the margin failed to exceed 19 points all game.
The Magpies headed into the game with an 11-1 record in games decided by 11 points or fewer, but received a taste of their own medicine from the Cats in what was an instant September classic.
And secondly, Fremantle fought back from 41 points down, after conceding the first six goals to the Western Bulldogs, to pull off one of the greatest finals comebacks in history to win by 13 at Optus Stadium.
It really had it all, and prompted calls from many footy fans and pundits alike that it was the best first weekend of finals the league had ever produced.
But was it?
There’s no doubting it’s in the conversation, but for those of us of an older vintage, there’s one other memorable weekend that rivals and - at least in this writer’s opinion - slightly edges what we were treated to first up this year.
And that weekend was none other than the first week of the 1994 finals series which was arguably the greatest collection of finals matches ever assembled in the 29-year history of the top-eight system, and quite possibly the No.1 weekend of finals in the 126-year history of the league.
Coincidentally, it was the first season of the top eight, and boy did it get a christening for the ages.
The first game, the third qualifying final, between North Melbourne and Hawthorn out at Waverley Park ended in a draw, resulting in the first ever VFL/AFL final to be sent into extra time, after the abolition of drawn finals (except for grand finals, which eventually occurred in 2016) in 1991.
The Kangaroos overwhelmed the Hawks in the additional two periods, outscoring them 3.5 to 0.0, to win by 23 points.
And North were led magnificently by captain Wayne Carey who, at 23 and after a stellar home-and-way campaign, announced himself on the big stage, finishing with a team-high 32 disposals, 10 marks and 4.4 from centre-half forward.
And if that wasn’t enough drama, a couple of hours later in the fourth qualifying final, the MCG almost played host to another drawn final in regulation time.
With seconds remaining, and his Cats trailing Footscray by one point, Billy Brownless marked and goaled after the siren to hand Geelong a thrilling five-point win.
But if two finals decided after the final siren didn’t provide enough thrills and spills, along came Sunday.
Under the old top-eight system, in the first week of the finals, first played eighth, second played seventh, third played sixth and fourth played fifth.
So, what loomed as two lopsided contests proved to be anything but.
First up, at the MCG again, seventh-placed Melbourne faced second-placed Carlton in the second qualifying final, and after trailing by two points at half-time, the Demons went on the rampage in the second half, with the electrifying Sean Charles (five goals) leading the way to propel them to a shock 27-point victory.
And later that day out west, top-of-the-ladder West Coast hosted Collingwood, who finished in the top eight only on percentage.
Things appeared to be going as scripted as the Eagles took a commanding 24-point lead into the final quarter, but that's where things took a dramatic turn as the underdog Magpies, who finished four games behind West Coast, erupted, kicking six goals to get within two points.
With nine seconds to go, Collingwood full back Gary Pert pumped a long ball forward and found teammate Mick McGuane 40 metres out from goal. But unfortunately for McGuane, instead of lining up after the siren to kick the match-winning goal, like Brownless the night before, he dropped the easy mark, and eventual premiers West Coast avoided the ignominy of one of the biggest boilovers in finals history.
Now, that’s how you open up a finals series.
The first week of the 2022 finals is certainly in the same league as 1994. In fact, there’s not that much separating the two years both from an excitement and statistical point of view.
As far as the cumulative margin goes after regulation time, only nine points separate 1994 and 2022, and they are ranked first (34 points) and third (43) respectively in the top-eight era.
However, in this writer’s opinion, there was something truly magical about the way the 1994 finals began, and it still remains the best opening of the past three decades, despite the incredible entertainment that this year’s first four games produced.
Cumulative first-week finals margin in the top-eight era (in regulation time) by year, ranked smallest to biggest
1994: 34
2020: 35*
2022: 43
2015: 65
2006: 90
2010: 101
2013: 113
1996: 122
2018: 125
2021: 126
2003: 127
2014: 129
1997: 132
2011: 138
1998: 142
1995: 144
2009: 145
2016: 147
2007: 150
2017: 152
2005: 154
2002: 155
2019: 170
2008: 175
2000: 177
2012: 179
2004: 181
1999: 191
2001: 222
*shorter quarters
