Former Hawthorn defender Campbell Brown has issued an apology to Brendan Fevola.
Back in 2008, Fevola was left marooned on 99 goals at the conclusion of the season, thanks mostly to Hawthorn flooding their backline in Round 22 to stop him getting the last goal he needed.
Lance Franklin had brought up his 100th goal earlier in the game, while Fevola had booted seven and needed one more to raise the bat.
It’s well known that Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson sent players into defence to stop the Blue from reaching the milestone, despite being 12 goals up and the game being over, and Brown believes they got in the way of a historic moment that may never be recreated.
“Buddy had kicked his 100th earlier in the night at the night was all about Buddy. We didn’t need Fev ruining the parade so Clarko, we were up by 10 goals, Fev was one off (100) and we dropped a couple of men back into the hole,” Brown told SEN Breakfast.
“For the last eight or nine minutes Carlton were trying to get the ball to him and we wanted none of it.
“Fev was just saying ‘give me a goal boys, you’ve won, seriously’.
“In hindsight I would have loved for him to have kicked his 100th.
“How many times will two players on the one night have kicked their 100th, we’ll never see it again.
“In the moment, in the competitive moment, we were like nah, he’s not doing this. I’m sorry Fev.”
No one has kicked 100 goals since Franklin in 2008 and many experts believe we won’t see a player reach the milestone with the game being played the way it currently is.