Round 22, 1995
Brisbane Bears vs Melbourne
Friday 1 September
Venue: Gabba
Attendance: 11,842
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Brisbane Bears | 5.3 | 8.4 | 12.6 | 16.14.110 |
| Melbourne | 4.4 | 7.8 | 11.10 | 13.11.89 |
Brisbane win by 21 points
Goalkickers: Garry Lyon 4, Shaun Smith 3, Adem Yze 2, Jeff Farmer 1, Andy Lovell 1, Glenn Lovett 1, Andrew Obst 1
Brownlow Votes:
Nil
Milestones:
First game
Trent Ormond-Allen
Last game
Sean Wight
Last MFC game
Kevin Dyson
Andy Lovell
After recovering a poor start to the year to be in position to play finals, Melbourne fell apart at the end of the year, losing four games in a row that left them having to win in Brisbane to qualify. If Melbourne won they were in, otherwise if Collingwood lost to Sydney the Bears would qualify for their first ever finals series.
Brisbane had won five of their last six to become a finals threat, but conversely Melbourne had been seriously affected by injuries during the run-in. With Stephen Tingay and Todd Viney both missing Melbourne were forced to blood debutant Trent Ormond-Allen in hot conditions - with rookie Michael Polley the only player on standby in case of an emergency.
Needing a win to play finals the Demons pushed the Bears for three quarters. They wasted a three goal start in the first quarter buttThe margin was less than a goal at the end of each term, before Brisbane ran away with the game in the last. Despite Shaun Smith climbing high to take what is widely considered a contender for 'Mark of the Century', they capitulated in the final term and were eliminated from the race for the '95 flag.
Collingwood did the Bears a favour, losing by four goals and ensuring that they would play finals, but Melbourne's season was over. Neil Balme said "I thought Brisbane were terrific. They were hard at the ball, and when it really counted, they were that little bit better than us".
Best were Seecamp, Yze and Kowal. Damien Gaspar was reported on video evidence for unduly rough play in that he deliberately fell into the back of an opponent.
Reserves
Richmond 16.15.111 d. Melbourne 8.15.63
Goals - Norman 2, Butterworth 1, Clarke 1, Dooley 1, Heppell 1, Irving 1, Sampson 1
Best - Rohde, Lamprill, Heppell
Reports - Hall (abusive language towards an umpire)
Lists
Tribunal
Media
Age - 31/08/1995
Age - 02/09/1995
Age - 03/09/1995
Football Record 1995 finals