Balme v Evans

[JK]

Watched a bit of the 84 Granny again recently, and always enjoy watching these two in particular .. The myth has grown with every passing year, but really there wasn't a lot in their skirmishes, certainly no big whacks, just plenty of verbal, a few wrestles and a Timmy haymaker.

Was a pretty good contest between the two with most likely the points split.

Norwood fans probably feel as though Balmey gets the nod for "only" keeping Evans to 4, taking a few late marks and because we won.

Port fans could rightly argue that Evans was a threatening focal point throughout the entire game, and probably should have kicked 6 or 7.

Honours even IMO.

[dedja]

I was there that day ... what ever Balme said to Evans worked a treat, as Tim was wild for for the 1st quarter and a half.

For mine, Craig Balme significantly contributed to Norwood's win.

[RustyCage]

In my opinion the game was a farce and should be stripped from the record books (based on the result alone)

[bays2011]

Amazingly, both players were free to front up for the first Escort Cup game of 1985. Unsurprisingly, Round 1 of the 1985 Escort Cup featured Norwood v Port. For the record, Port won by 2 points and Balme restricted Evans to 1 goal and 3 points. Check out the video to see what happens when the 2 players line up before the opening bounce. Fair to say that Evans wasn't the forgiving type...

[SDK]

Just shows who is the better man.

[SDK]

1984 was the best game of football I have ever seen in my life ... at any level. Maybe that was one premiership that should have been shared. A bee's dick in it.

[GWW]

Without getting into the debate about who is "the better man", we don't know exactly what what was done and said, between the 2 on that GF day in '84. Who knows exactly what triggered it, only the 2 involved would really know I suspect.

And without trying to back Evans up more than he necessarily deserved, I remember hearing a few years ago Evans saying that whilst he hadn't really spoken to Balme in recent decades, he doesn't hold any grudges, and that he would be fine to say g'day if he saw him in the street.

[GWW]

Re the quality of the game, being on the losing end personally, it has never been a favourite of mine, but I would agree that from a Norwood and neutral supporter perspective, it was probably one of the great SANFL grand finals ('78 is clouded by an umpiring decision).

Our version of '89 VFL Grand Final between Hawthorn and Geelong, perhaps.

[JK]

78 imho was miles off being a classic contest .. It was close, dramatic, tense, and will always be remembered and talked about, but I didn't think the football played was over the top special.

84' was a cracking game, and to be honest there's been several times I've watched it, where I thought "HTF did we win that?"

Port had the better of the first quarter, but gave away silly free's that cost them vital goals into the wind.

The 2nd quarter is one of the best you'll ever see, both teams in shootout mode .. The 3rd was Ports as Norwood wasted some opportunities, and the last was a dog fight, but Norwood had one individual who picked his teammates up and plonked them on his shoulders, and as fate would have it, we timed our run to perfection, running the game out strongly.

However if there'd been another 10 minutes, we could very easily have lost as Port were good, VERY good.

[SDK]

When we were kids our coaches used to say a team is like a chain, only as good as its weakest link and never was this truer in this game.
Right near the end a Port player who I will not name, gave up on a hard ball and took the soft option which resulted in a hard ball get to Norwood, fired in to Neville Roberts who took the ball over the back of his opponent and waltzed into goal and seal the match and the flag.
1 player, 1 moment and it cost a premiership.
On the other hand Keith Thomas took that great mark that inspired his team to take the flag.

[Magpiespower]

Thankfully, I live in a parallel universe where Timmy kicked straight and Port won that day...

[Mr66]

1984 was the best game of football I have ever seen in my life ... at any level. Maybe that was one premiership that should have been shared. A bee's dick in it.

Agreed.
Even though I watched it on telly in Melbourne.

[stampy]

weak as piss timmy

[Fricky]

Is the number 6 on the back of Balme's guernsey sewn on crooked?

[nwdfanparade]

Is the number 6 on the back of Balme's guernsey sewn on crooked?

Doesn't looked crooked to me (unless its 9 upside down )

snapshot1.jpg (27.19 KiB) Viewed 1198 times

[Failed Creation]

Is the number 6 on the back of Balme's guernsey sewn on crooked?

Doesn't looked crooked to me (unless its 9 upside down )

snapshot1.jpg

I think Suri was referring to the 1985 Escort Cup game, in which Balme's number on the back of his guernsey does appear to be crooked.

[nwdfanparade]

Is the number 6 on the back of Balme's guernsey sewn on crooked?

Doesn't looked crooked to me (unless its 9 upside down )

The attachment snapshot1.jpg is no longer available

I think Suri was referring to the 1985 Escort Cup game, in which Balme's number on the back of his guernsey does appear to be crooked.

This image was taken from the Utube clip of the R1 Escort cup game in 1985.

15jan12 001.JPG (48.06 KiB) Viewed 1122 times

Doesn't look crooked to me

[Rik E Boy]

It wasn't just Evans who got sucked in that day. The Pies were trying to knock Aishy's block off nearly all day and they gave away a lot of free kicks, much like Geelong did in 1989. Back then I thought no other team could possibly win the flag from the Elimination Final so I wasn't all that happy with Twitt in the 98 Granny.

regards,

REB

[topsywaldron]

Amazingly, both players were free to front up for the first Escort Cup game of 1985. Unsurprisingly, Round 1 of the 1985 Escort Cup featured Norwood v Port. For the record, Port won by 2 points and Balme restricted Evans to 1 goal and 3 points. Check out the video to see what happens when the 2 players line up before the opening bounce. Fair to say that Evans wasn't the forgiving type...

How much time does Balme spend laughing at Evans in this clip?

[GWW]

A similar amount, I imagine, to how much Rick Davies would have laughed when Balme kicked it straight to him 10 metres or so away, when kicking out from Full Back that time