Hawthorn champion Gary Buckenara has looked back on his famous after-the-siren goal in the 1987 Preliminary Final against Melbourne at Waverley Park.
Buckenara’s set shot was made easier when late Demons great Jim Stynes ran through the mark, conceding a costly 15 metre penalty.
The four-time premiership Hawk cooly converted from 40 metres out to put his side into a Grand Final in the most dramatic of circumstances.
“I didn’t hear siren go,” Buckenara told SEN’s This Is Your Sporting Life thanks to Tobin Brothers Funerals
“I was thinking to get the ball forward quicky, we’ve got to keep moving this.
“Not long after that, ‘Stynsey’ (Jim Stynes) goes through the mark not seeing where the mark was and ‘Dippa’ (Robert DiPierdomenico) had run down about 20 or 30 metres and he was free inside 50, so Stynsy ran to go and pick him up not knowing that he’d run through the mark.
“After the 15 metres was paid, Russell Greene comes up to me, puts his arm around my shoulder – and I still hadn’t heard the siren - and says, ‘for God’s sakes ‘Bucky’ kick the goal, the siren’s gone’.
“There’s a bit of pressure for you.
“I got on with it pretty quickly, I didn’t leave myself time to ponder and think, ‘geez if I mis this’. That never came into my mind thank goodness.”
Hawthorn would go on to lose the 1987 Grand Final to Carlton by 33 points.