Brisbane midfielder Josh Dunkley has revealed it was Fremantle’s Wharfie Time cry late in the fourth term that sparked their miraculous run to a third-straight grand final triumph.
Fremantle had owned much of the last term as Pat Voss slotted his third major of the game from the top of the goal-square to put the men in purple 17 points up with barely five minutes remaining.
Then came the Wharfie Time everyone had waited for as AC/DC’s Hells Bells blared around the MCG, signalling what appeared to be a historic first AFL premiership with less than five minutes to play.
And then in the blink of an eye, it was gone as Dunkley revealed it proved the turning point in what will go down as one of the greatest AFL grand finals of all time.
“Everything we’ve learnt this year about momentum and trying to continue to go at the game when they get momentum...we’ve talked about Wharfie Time and making that our energy” he told 7SPORT post-game.
“I felt like when I looked around at centre bounce and Wharfie Time came on, we all looked at each other, connected and we grew a leg.
“When you talk about it and arises, there’s only one choice and it’s to go at the game. They challenged us.”
Thus began a run of four straight goals in the final four minutes and 18 seconds of the game as Fremantle’s maiden premiership was yanked out of their grasp in the blink of an eye.
From the ensuing bounce after Voss’ goal, Charlie Cameron goaled following an incredible pick-up in the forward 50. Then came Zac Bailey’s miracle goal in the middle of peak-hour traffic to further cut the margin.
When Logan Morris out-marked a valiant Oscar McDonald with around a minute to go, Fremantle fans knew what was coming and the Lions star made no mistake from his set-shot.
Even though Fremantle won the resultant clearance and hoisted the ball forward, the Lions got out of trouble and it was left to Morris to put the icing on the cake.
Lions coach Chris Fagan played Hells Bells and initiated a trial run of Wharfie Time in his final team meeting before the grand final and it appeared to work wonders on the Lions players.
“I played Wharfie Time to them and said this might happen at some stage during the game — and if it does, how are we going to treat it?” Fagan said on 7SPORT.
“The idea was, if it got played, that was going to inspire us rather than Freo.”
But when asked in his post-game press conference whether he would like Wharfie Time to continue, the Fremantle coach came out in defence of it and played down its impact late.
“Of course I would (like it to continue). I don’t think that has any impact,” Longmuir said.
“Did Charlie (Cameron)‘s Country Road celebration have any impact on the game? Probably not.
“I don’t think we can put it down to that. I thin we put it down to one of the better teams of all-time, backs against the wall, they found something, and we didn’t have the answer for that.”
Brisbane star Lachie Neale said Wharfie Time had been spoken about within the Lions camp throughout the week in the build-up to the grand final and when the time came, they executed perfectly.
“We spoke about it quite early in the week. Obviously, they’ve used it a couple of times, and we knew that it had been accepted for today if the game was close, and if they kick the goal,” Neale said on 7SPORT.
“We spoke about using that as fuel for us to put the foot down and go. And if you see the footage, Josh Dunkley’s in the middle, and he’s getting the arms up for our boys.
“It was great leadership. It meant go-time for us as well, I’m sure that Freo were trying to get a lift out of that, but we spoke about making sure it gives us a lift as well.”
Brisbane were smashed at centre clearances all day long, but when the game was on the line late, they found a way to win the ball at the restart, with Dunkley one of several midfielders who stood tall late.
“Fages spoke about it, and the boys as one sort of said if they play Wharfie Time, it means the game’s on the line, so you know we’re going to use it as motivation to work the other way rather for them,” Lions general manager of football Danny Daly said on SEN.
“I was just talking to Josh Dunkley at the end. He said when they played Wharfie Time, the boys just looked at each other and said ‘let’s go.’”
“And like Will Ashcroft, his (Dunkley) last five minutes were phenomenal. They’re an outstanding group.”
Lions forward Cam Rayner joked to SEN the in-stadium activation might make its way up to Brisbane.
“We spoke about it throughout the week, so it was brought to our attention, and obviously we know they use that to try and get going, and we thought, well, if it’s going to ring around the ground, then why don’t we use it as well?” he said.
“Maybe we bring Wharfie Time up to the GABBA.”
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