Carlton and Collingwood fans have debated it for 45 years. Now newly uncovered vision has shed fresh light on Wayne Harmes’ matchwinning play in the 1979 grand final.
A newly unearthed video of ABC’s coverage of that famous grand final moment appears to have solved one of footy’s great mysteries.
That digitised footage of the Carlton-Collingwood decider – unveiled by footy historian Rhett Bartlett – makes clear that Harmes’ tap to teammate Ken Sheldon hadn’t crossed the MCG boundary.
With the Blues leading by four points 18 minutes into the last quarter, Harmes famously chased his own kick then dived headlong to knock the ball to Sheldon in front of goal.
Sheldon’s goal won the grand final despite howls of protest from Pies fans that the ball crossed the line before Harmes knocked it back in.
As revealed by Bartlett, son of Richmond great Kevin Bartlett, the ABC had its own cameras at the ground in 1979 while Seven broadcast the grand final as per the tradition of that time.
Seven’s cameramen were on strike so management manned the cameras, while the ABC angle was captured from a slightly better angle in the Blues’ five-point win.
Under AFL rules all of the Sherrin needs to be over the boundary line to be called out, with the new angle showing the ball on the line but not over it before Harmes made contact with his swinging fist.
So um …. when ABC also televised 1979 GF, their camera was tighter and ever-so-slightly to the right of Ch7s.
That means Harmes doesn’t obscure the ball as much on their version.
I’ve slowed it down and zoomed in pic.twitter.com/8hozjNO66p
— Rhett Bartlett (@rhettrospective) May 13, 2023
Bartlett, who runs the @rhettrospective Twitter handle sourcing rare and rediscovered footy vision, said the vision looked conclusive.
“I was digitising ABC footage from the late ’70s and early ’80s when I realised that often ABC would broadcast the grand final as well separate to Channel 7. So I got access to the ABC 1979 broadcast, which rarely ever gets screened anymore,” he told the Herald Sun on Sunday.
“ABC would also use their own cameras, and in the case of 1979 grand final, their camera shot was tighter and slightly more to the right of Channel 7, therefore Harmes’ body doesn’t block the ball as much as in Channel 7 footage.
“I think what this resurfaced footage shows is that, unless it‘s an optical illusion, the ball is not over the entire line. While Harmes swinging arm may be over the line, the footage appears to show the ball landing on the boundary line, in between his swinging arm and his body – something we can’t view on Channel 7’s footage.”
Wayne Harmes makes a flying spoil in the 1979 Grand Final.
Carlton premiership player Mark Maclure was only metres away from Harmes as he made that decisive play and told the Herald Sun on Sunday he had never known whether the ball was in or out.
“Does it actually matter? It’s the history of a million years ago. It’s OK to taunt Collingwood fans but the whole thing is over. How could there be an issue? They can’t take the flag off us,” he said.
“I was five or 10 metres away and the only thing I know is we won. Harmesy couldn’t give a f—.
“It was one of the great plays I have seen. He kicked it from the centre, it went off the side of the boot, he ran over to it and punched it in and we kicked a goal. It should be treated as one of the great plays of history in a grand final.”
Harmes once said in an interview about that moment that he always asks fans who they barracked for when they asked his opinion.
“If they say Collingwood, I tell them it was in the Jolimont rail yards, if they say Carlton, I tell them it was in. And if they’re neutral, I say ‘Does it really f…ing matter?’.
“In truth, I never saw the line but the goal umpire was right on it. He was positioned, he was crouched, and I could have shook hands with him. And if he thought it was out, he would have called it out.”