Fremantle’s Wharfie Time was supposed to be signal the coronation of the Dockers’ first premiership, but Brisbane Lions midfielder Josh Dunkley said after Saturday’s memorable grand final it had the opposite effect.
The Dockers led by 17 points with barely four minutes to play when the bells rang out around the MCG. Immediately afterwards, the Lions scored four late goals to pull off an improbable victory in one of the great AFL grand finals.
Dunkley said the Lions had prepared themselves for just this kind of situation, and seeing the purple wave go on the big screen steeled them for the match-winning finish. “We talked about Wharfie Time and making that our energy,” he said.
“When I looked around at centre bounce and Wharfie Time came on we all looked at each other and we connected and we grew a leg and then got it done, it’s unbelievable.”
The almost inconceivable finish was underscored by the awarding of the Norm Smith medal. Fremantle’s Shai Bolton was surprised and appeared reluctant to walk on to the stage to receive it or give a speech.
“I just want to say congrats to the Brisbane boys, you’ve been a benchmark for a couple years now,” he said. “To our boys, heads up, we’ll be back better and stronger. And to our fans, thank you for coming out. We appreciate you all.”
It is the first time since West Coast’s Chris Judd in 2005 that the Norm Smith had been awarded to a player on the losing side.
Dockers midfielder Caleb Serong said the finish was “horrific” but the experience would “galvanise” the side.
“[Coach Justin Longmuir] just said he was so proud of us, we held ourselves up today aside from that last two or three minutes, which we didn’t get right,” he told Channel Seven.
“Aside from that, we showed up today and played Fremantle footy and we’ve got to be proud of that.”
Lions coach Chris Fagan complimented the Dockers afterwards. “I know you’ll be feeling tremendously disappointed right now, but if I was being completely honest you guys probably deserved to win the game today,” he said.
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“But my boys, they’ve got a stack of heart and they know how to fight their way right to the end, and we’ve been able to do that two weeks in a row, and now we’ve got three premierships in a row to show for it.”
The Lions were only in the grand final after their last-minute comeback win over Hawthorn in the preliminary final last week.
Dunkley said Wharfie Time was the turning point. “When you talk about it and it arises, I mean there’s only one choice and it’s the go at the game,” he said.
He also praised 21-year-old Logan Morris, the forward who kicked two of the Lions’ four goals in the final four minutes, including the premiership-sealing six-pointer.
“He’ll probably tell you that he was off all game with his set shots and stuff like that,” Dunkley said. “But for him to stand up in that moment and kick that goal, I mean it’s won us a grand final so it’s incredible.”
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