This is my list of the greatest plays ever in no particular order, sport by sport. The criteria are two- significance of the play, so they have to be in big games and big moments, and how brilliant the actual execution of the play was.
League- Three contenders-
*Steve Jacksons try in extra time for Canberra in the 89 GF
*the Queenslanders try at the end of Origin at the SFS in 94 (although the bastards threw at least 3 forward passes- I was there and I'm still bitter)
* My personal fave- Sattlers tackle which won the comp in 03.
Union-
* Lomu's try vs the Poms in the 95 World Cup- the most dominant player ever at his absolute peak
* Eales' conversion to win the Bledisloe in NZ- Typified aruably the greatest all round rugby player ever- Kefu's try to win Eales' last game was great too
* The 91 World Cup QF- Australia score a length of the field try in the last minute to beat Ireland
Cricket-
* Shane Warnes ball of the century, bamboozling Gatting with his first ball on English soil.
* Doug Walters hooking a six off the Poms on the last ball of the day in Perth to score a century after tea
* Glenn McGrath's ridiculous catch in Adelaide a few years back
AFL
* Pluggers record setting goal
* Leo Barry's mark vs West Coast that won the comp for the Swans
Don't know enough about AFL to come up with a third
International sports-
*Soccer- for all Aussies it has to be the penalty from Aloisi to qualify for the World Cup
* NBA- The LeBron shot the other day was great, but the best sequence ever was MJ v Utah, tied game with 18 seconds left, strips Karl Malone, brings the ball up, wicked crossover and an 18 footer to win his 6th championship. Would've been the best ending to a career if he stayed retired.
* NFL- Three plays from the last two SBs- the "Helmet Catch" to keep the game winning drive alive on 4th and long for the Giants, then the 101 yard Int return by James Harrison at the end of the 1st half and the game winning TD catch by Santonio Holmes at the end. Two of the best games ever and 3 great plays in the last two years.
* Baseball- 2003- Boston down 3-0 in the series to the Yanks, after 90 years without a championship, 1 run down in the 9th in Game 4. Dave Roberts steals 2nd by the barest margin, triggering a comeback that led to the Sox beating the Yanks that night, that series and eventually winning the World Series.
* Golf- Tigers putt to win the last US Open after 5 rounds on one leg, and Larry Mize chipping in to best the Shark in the Masters in the late 80s (87 I think)
* Olympics- Kieran Perkins 3rd 1500m Gold and Usian Bolt in the last Olympics are stand outs, an d the Aussies relay team beating the Yanks in Sydney was good too.
Over to you- what have I missed?
Union - Adam Mills for Blue Mountains Rugby vs Hawkesbury Valley. 50m down the sideline running over 4 people to win the match winning try.
ReplyDeleteRoss Kerkham scoring the match winning try 2 mins after full time against St Ives 2 weeks ago. We lost possession after full time only for their winger to try and make a break. He had the ball pilfered by Jacky Daniels. Socket sent the play to the left for a forwards hit up and then socket got the ball hit me, i put Jono through a gap and he Ross who beat the fullback to score. One of the best finishes I have ever been apart off.
Golf - Tigers massive put in the '05 masters I think. The ball stayed on the edge of the hole for a seconds and didn't look like dropping. In the end if fell. Awesome put.
Soccer: Roberto Carlos reverse swing goal from a free kick 30m+ out. Best ever. Can be seen below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Wy6edMYno
Also note that hit from the kick return at the start was good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Wy6edMYno
the last hit in this video is my top 5 best hits of all time.
Ill think of some more tomorrow.
Edit:
ReplyDeleteRoscoe's try was vs Hornsby not St Ives. My bad.
Cricket - Michael Bevans 4 of the last ball vs the Windies.
ReplyDelete-Steve Waugh last ball boundary to bring his hundred
"Australia v England, Sydney, 2002-03
In his last Ashes series, Steve Waugh brought up a memorable hundred with a boundary off the last ball of the second day of the fifth Test. He had gone in to bat under pressure, by his own admission, as his place in the side was under scrutiny, with the media and a few former cricketers suggesting it was time for him to retire. During the course of the innings he went past 10,000 runs in Test cricket, and when the final over of the day came around, he needed five runs to bring up his 29th Test hundred and equal Don Bradman's Australian record for most Test centuries. Waugh dead-batted the first three balls of the over, from Richard Dawson, before square-driving the fourth for three runs past point. Adam Gilchrist handed the strike back with a single to midwicket as the crowd roared in approval. Nasser Hussain, the England captain, then took his time, having a chat with the bowler and adjusting his field as the crowd booed. Then, with a slip and two close-in fielders crowding him, Waugh drove the last ball through cover point for a boundary. "40,000 people went crazy, clapping and cheering, roaring out my name," he wrote later. "I never imagined that this would happen and when it did it was very emotional for me. In terms of personal performance, can it get better than this?"
Hey Deevs, what about the St Loius bloke Mike Jones, pulling down the Titans player 1cm from the line in an amazing tackle which won The Rams the Super Bowl in 1999. Watch it, great tackle, also watch how little attention the coach gets after the win
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a77v5QarcRU
Adam Gilchrists hundred at perth off about 56 balls was phenomonal aswell.
Yes that Hornsby game was a ridiculous comeback George. One of the alltime greats.
ReplyDeleteMy two most outstanding moments include the beforementioned 1991 Rugby WC Quarter Final escape; and
The 1999 Cricket World Cup semi tie against South Africa. Actually that should be in a totally different category: 'World's Greatest Meltdowns' from the Keffers
bad oversight by me- should've counted the runout in the 99 WC. Didn't count innings or I would've counted Pawds suggestion of Gillys ton plus S Waugh's in the same 99 WC game, his 200 in the Windies to dethrone the Windies (his brothers ton in that game too) and of course Dean Jones' pants shitting innings in India.
ReplyDeleteGreat call on the Mike Jones tackle too Pawd- totally forgot about that- the ultimate game saving tackle.
Good call on Bevan's 4 and Tigers Masters putt too George, and as an individual cricket play ,how could I have forgot Waugh at Sydney? They did, however, go on to lose that game didn't they?
afl - pluggers point in 96 final to put swans into gf
ReplyDeletesoccer - david beckhams free kick v greece at old trafford in 93rd minute to put england into world cup - check it out on youtube if havent seen it (england losing 2-1 and not going to 02 wc prior to kick)
soccer - euro 2000 final sylvain wiltord scored in injury time to tie it up (93rd min again) they went on to win after trezeguet scored in extra time
maradonas other goal in hand of god game again check it out if havnt seen it - amazing goal from halfway beating almost everyone (messi almost did a replica in a club game not long ago but diegos was at the world cup)
motorsport - wayne gardner winning the first gp in australia in 1989 in the rain after falling off twice
bradbury winning gold at 2002 olympics
will think of more
perkins only won two olympic gold
tigers putt was a chip, on the 16th at augusta - ball paused on side of cup showed off nike symbol then dropped
nice work frank- good to have you on board
ReplyDelete