1989 Panasonic Cup Final
Melbourne vs Geelong
Saturday 18 March
Venue: Waverley
Attendance: 48,720
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.5 | 8.8 | 8.11 | 10.16.76 |
| Geelong | 2.3 | 4.5 | 6.11 | 9.13.67 |
Melbourne win by 9 points
Goalkickers: Darren Bennett 5, Brian Wilson 2, Garry Lyon 1, Alan Johnson 1, Simon Eishold 1
With the night competition now a pre-season only tournament, Melbourne and Geelong battled their way through to the final without having to worry about home and away matches interfering with the business of winning silverware.
The Cats had won their previous two games in the competition easily, but roadworks and traffic meant they were running so late for the final that they had to change on the bus. Not surprisingly after their troubled pre-match they were slow out of the blocks and 27 points behind at half time. The Demons contributed with a strong defensive performance, and heavily tagged Geelong's best midfielders. Steve O'Dwyer also contributed with a heavy bump to opposing ruckman Darren Bourke, who had given Jim Stynes trouble until then.
Poor kicking for goal cost Geelong, but when the Cats finally got into the game they dragged the margin back to two goals at the last break and kicked the first goal of the final term. They had the momentum, and Melbourne were tiring, but two quick goals to the Demons steadied the ship. The Cats weren't done though, with ten minutes to go the margin was back to nine points after a Gary Ablett goal. Northey then threw his wall of defence up and his team held on to win their second straight night flag.
Best were Healy, Johnson and Stynes. Sean Wight and Danny Hughes both injured hamstrings and Grinter was concussed.
Team
B: Johnson, Hughes, Wight
HB: Grinter, Campbell, Rohde
C: Stretch, Eishold, Ahern
HF: Wilson, Spalding, Bailey
F: Lyon, Bennett, Chiron
R: Stynes Newport, Healy
Int: O'Dwyer, S.Febey, Tingay, Jackson
Scoring
Bennett 5.2, Wilson 2.1, Eishold 1.2, Johnson 1.1, Lyon 1.1, Healy 0.5, Spalding 0.1, Jackson 0.1
Video
Notes
Some sources say Wight hurt his ankle
Media
Inside Football - 15/03/1989
Canberra Times - 18/03/1989
Canberra Times - 19/03/1989
Age - 20/03/1989
Inside Football - 22/03/1989
Age - 04/05/1989
Age - 18/03/2006