Essendon v Kangaroos (2001 AFL season)

2001 AFL Round 16

Essendon	Kangaroos
27.9 (171)	25.9 (159)

	1	2	3	4
ESS	2.3	12.4	19.8	27.9
KANG	12.1	16.1	22.4	25.9

Date

22 July 2001

Stadium

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Attendance

51,878

Broadcast in Australia

Network

Seven Network

The Round 16, 2001 match played between Essendon and the Kangaroos^{Note 1} was an Australian rules football home and away match played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 22 July 2001. The match saw the greatest successful comeback in the history of the Australian Football League, with Essendon winning by twelve points after trailing by 69 points midway through the second quarter.

Background

Essendon went into the match placed first on the ladder with a record of 13–2, while the Kangaroos was placed ninth with a record of 8–7. The match was crucial to the Kangaroos' chances of reaching the finals in 2001.

Essendon and the Kangaroos had been two of the best teams of the era, winning three of the previous five premierships between them (the Kangaroos in 1996 and 1999, and Essendon in 2000), and both clubs had finished in the top four for the previous two seasons. The 2001 season was seeing a decline for the Kangaroos, whilst Essendon was on target to win a third consecutive minor premiership.

Essendon had comfortably won the previous two encounters between the clubs, by 125 points in the previous year's qualifying final, and by 85 points in Round 1. This form and their respective positions on the ladder meant that Essendon was a warm favourite to win.

Match summary

Essendon full-forward Matthew Lloyd kicked nine goals in the match.

The Kangaroos kicked twelve goals to two in the first quarter, to lead by 58 points at quarter time, 12.1 (73) to 2.3 (15). After kicking three of the first four goals of the second quarter, the Kangaroos extended the lead to 69 points, leading 15.1 (91) to Essendon's 3.4 (22).

Essendon then kicked 9 unanswered goals to reduce the margin to only 15 points, before the Kangaroos kicked a goal after the half time siren to make the margin 21 points at half time, 12.4 (76) to the Kangaroos' 16.1 (97). An even third quarter saw Essendon kick seven goals to the Kangaroos' six. The Kangaroos led 22.4 (136) to Essendon 19.8 (122) by 14 points at three quarter time.

Essendon kicked eight goals to the Kangaroos' three in the final quarter to complete the greatest comeback in AFL history, winning the match by twelve points, 27.9 (171) to the Kangaroos' 25.9 (159). The win ensured Essendon remained on top of the ladder, and kept the Kangaroos outside of the top eight.^[1]

Essendon full-forward Matthew Lloyd kicked nine goals and Jason Johnson kicked four. Corey McKernan kicked five goals for the Kangaroos.

Aftermath

Essendon's win set a new record for the greatest comeback in AFL history, breaking the record of Hawthorn, who had come back from a 63-point deficit to beat St Kilda by 13 points in round 12, 1999. The match was also the highest aggregate scoring match since 1993, with the teams scoring 52.18 (330) between them; ironically, the Kangaroos had taken part on the previous occasion as well, defeating Sydney 35.19 (229) to 16.9 (105) in round 6, 1993. As of August 2013, it remains the highest scoring match since quarters were shortened to 20 minutes in length in 1994.

Both clubs would finish the season indifferently after this match. Of Essendon's last six matches in the regular season it won just three, enough to secure the minor premiership (1st place after the regular season). They would lose the Grand Final to the Brisbane Lions, the end of an era as they would drop out of the top four the next season. The Kangaroos, by contrast, won just one more match for the season and slid to 13th on the final ladder. They would rise again to 7th in 2002 before missing the finals in the next two seasons. Significantly, after this game, the Kangaroos won their next six matches against Essendon; it was not until Round 1, 2008 that Essendon would beat the Kangaroos again. Additionally, Kevin Sheedy would never taste success against the Kangaroos as a coach ever again; as the coach of the Greater Western Sydney Giants in 2012 and 2013, the club lost three times to the Kangaroos during this period.^[2]

Footnotes

1.^ The club is most commonly known as the North Melbourne Football Club, using 'the Kangaroos' as its nickname; however, from 1999 until 2007, the club was officially known as the Kangaroos Football Club.

References

↑ AFL Tables - 2001 Season Scores
↑ "Sheeds still baiting the crowd on marshmallow anniversary". AFL Website. Retrieved 12 September 2014.

External links

Round 16 2001 Essendon vs North Melbourne - FinalSiren.com

Essendon Football Club

History Premierships & 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

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 controversy

North Melbourne Football Club

History Records Captains Coaches Players Current Squad Syd Barker Medal Leading Goalkickers Captain: Andrew Swallow Coach: Brad Scott Nickname: Kangaroos

Home grounds	Arden Street Oval (1925–64; 1966–85) Coburg City Oval (1965) Sydney Cricket Ground (1979; 1999–2002) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1984–99) Manuka Oval (1998; 2001–06) Docklands Stadium (2000–present) Bellerive Oval (2012–present)

Premierships (4)	1975 1977 1996 1999

Seasons (89)	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

Related articles	Murray Kangaroos North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast Proposed relocation Round 16, 2001 collapse against Essendon

known as Kangaroos Football Club from 1999–2007

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