By Tyler Lewis
A sun-soaked Edwin Flack Reserve was the scene of something special on 22 September 2012.
Narre Warren and Cranbourne played out one of the most extraordinary matches of football, with an astounding 41 majors kicked across four quarters.
It came as a surprise to all, not because 41 goals in a game is intermittent, but because it was a curser to a game that grossed just 18 a fortnight earlier, between the same teams, on the same ground, in the same conditions.
Narre Warren made its way into the grand final with a win in the second semi, defeating Cranbourne in one of many nail-biters between the two outfits, 9.8 (62) to 9.7 (61).
A fortnight on, both sides had exceeded their previous scores against each other before the main break, before the Pies ran away 22.13 (145) to 19.9 (123) winners.
Celebrating their 2012 glory, Magpies coach Chris Toner and captain Michael Collins reflected on the history-making clash.
First on the agenda: the break-neck pace of the game.
“I think you always hope so (the game slowing down), because you’re just sprinting all the time” Collins recollected.
“I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted how many goals were going to be kicked.
“I still remember speaking to Jock Holland earlier in the season and he just said ‘call the season now’, because Cranbourne and Narre were that far in front.
“For someone that’s been a part of the league for so long to think that those two teams are that far in front, it just shows the sort of footy we (both teams) were playing.”
From a tactical point of view, Toner believed an attempt to halt the game would’ve been detrimental, as the speed felt out of his control.
“I am not sure if anyone could have,” he said.
“We had a discussion on the way here, both sides had impeccable defences, but to see 145 v 123, it’s unheard of – it’s never happened before and it won’t happen again.
“Both sides had fantastic defences, ours was fantastic, theirs was equally as good, we’re splitting hairs talking about the two sides.”
Despite leading at the first change, the Pies were up against it in the second term.
Cranbourne pantheon Marc Holt had banged through goals three, four and five in the space of six minutes to the 14-minute mark of the second, shifting the ascendancy well and truly in the Eagles favour.
When number five sailed over the umpires cap, Lee Boyle – who was standing at the other end of the ground – raised his hand to take onus of the challenge.
To that moment, Holt had snared 24 goals in the finals series alone, after a stunning 11-goal haul the week before, and was simply deflating the football when he clamped his hands around it.
While knowing a change needed to be made, Collins was quietly hopeful it wasn’t to be him who drew the short straw.
“What were my thoughts? ‘Please don’t send me down there’,” the eight-time Narre Warren best and fairest winner joked.
“He was in that sort of form; you didn’t want to go near him… I knew if it kept going that way I was probably one of the options down the track.
“But luckily Boyley put his hand up and I didn’t have to… I was on the bench when he stuck his hand up and just started walking down there; it was probably the best move on the day.”
Though the magnet shift is one that will go down in Narre Warren folklore, Toner had a confession to make…
“I can honestly say that Lee did that on his own accord… the best move of the day and I had nothing to do with it” he said.
As the half-time siren blew, the Pies trailed by 10 points and Toner famously had one man in his sights.
He called ruckman Nick Shannon into the toilets to have a ‘man to man’ with ‘Shags’, who later declared his true feelings to his coach.
“I could’ve been arrested for what happened,” Toner recalled.
“Shags has since told me that he actually hated me, and it took five years for him to tell me that, and we’re only just coming together again now.
“He was an exceptional talent, I didn’t feel as though he was maximising that, I think now we all appreciate each other’s company.
“He was a good player, but he needed to show a bit more of a physical presence.
“I punched past his ear and told him ‘I promise you I won’t miss if you don’t get up and get this first tap of the second half’, he got the first tap and everyone ran to him!”
Collins couldn’t help but laugh as Toner spoke on the incident, before divulging the reaction on the other side of the wall.
“I think we were all sitting around in the rooms and Chris took him into the toilets,” he said.
“No one actually knew what had happened until you heard the cubicles shaking from Chris whacking it.
“It just went dead quiet, so we thought ‘we have to start talking to drown him out a bit’.
“We started our warm-up five minutes earlier than we wanted to in the second half.”
Shags obliged to his coach’s demand, winning the opening tap and ultimately becoming a part of history alongside Collins and the man he hated.
While it’s hard to find additional theatre in a local rivalry between the two best teams in the competition, Toner and Cranbourne coach Doug Koop had an excellent coaching box rivalry.
Koop and Toner were fierce rivals a decade ago, but the two-time Pies premiership coach explained the two have since seen each other and have moved on from the tactical competitiveness.
“He’s a brilliant coach,” he said.
“We had two sides just trading blows and to be separated by just one point with half a second left (2013) is probably appropriate.
“It could’ve gone either way, that’s how good we were and that’s how good they were, we were just really fortunate that we were on the right side of the ledger.
“I have ran into him a few times (since), we shake hands, say hello and it’s all good… back then, it probably wasn’t quite as friendly, but he’s a good fella.”
2012 CASEY CARDINIA GRAND FINAL
NARRE WARREN 4.4 9.6 14.11 22.13 (145)
CRANBOURNE 4.2 11.4 14.5 19.9 (123)
Narre Warren Goals: K Baskaya 6, A McIver 4, N Scanlon 3, M Collins 2, C McNamara 2, C Collins, D Quirk, M Lee, J Marriott, J Parker. Best: M Collins, J Parker, C Collins, K Baskaya, S Watson, A McIver.
Cranbourne Goals: M Holt 8, J Berry 5, M Fletcher 2, M Davey, M Theodoridis, C Barker, A White. Best: M Holt, J Berry, M Rus, C Barker, M Thompson, M Boland.
VCFL Medallist – Best on Ground
Jackson Parker – Narre Warren.
