With only seconds left to play, Sydney’s Leo Barry saves the day and wins the Swans a premiership. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Grand Final time is the perfect time for superlatives, isn’t it? And, of course, lists. Best, worst, biggest, narrowest, you name it. The stakes are at their highest, so what better time to wheel out the rankings and the judgements?

I’ve already had a crack at my Top 5 Grand Finals this week on Footyology (here’s the link), so with the big game between Melbourne and Western Bulldogs just hours away, how about we narrow things down a little more and choose our Top 5 Grand Final moments?

Again, though, the proviso (for me) is I’ve actually been there on the day to witness them. Given that my Grand Final experience began only in 1973, that unfortunately rules out one of the most obvious candidates, Alex Jesaulenko’s unforgettable and relentlessly replayed “screamer” in Carlton’s incredible 1970 Grand Final comeback win over Collingwood.

That’s the sort of scale we’re talking, though. The big grabs, the amazing goals, the huge tackles, chases and smothers, the moments most readily identified with this or that grand final.

It’s perhaps not that surprising that several of my best grand final moments are from games I also rate my best grand finals. But if anything, this exercise is harder. Because while a tedious, one-sided contest is never going to contend for a spot in the “games” list, it’s just as capable of serving up an unforgettable moment as a classic.

I’ve got a heap of apologies in my Top 5 moments. Foremost, to Collingwood’s Phil Manassa, whose amazing run around the MCG wing in the 1977 grand final replay was for me, clearly the next cab off the rank in this list.

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With his team almost done, trailing North Melbourne by 25 points late in the last term, Manassa picked up the ball at half-back, took four bounces, running past three North opponents with a final balk for good measure, before at full tilt and from out wide slotting a goal from 40 metres. Had the Pies won, his name would be recalled as often as St Kilda’s Barry Breen. It still should be.

There’s heaps of others who could rightly argue a spot in this list. Matthew Scarlett, for example, with nothing but a deft little toe-poke, which pushed the ball gently to Gary Ablett junior for the play which finished with Paul Chapman’s matchwinner in 2009 for Geelong.

How about Collingwood’s Heath Shaw and his pouncing on St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt in the early going of the 2010 grand final replay, not only thwarting a certain goal, but thrusting a symbolic dagger through the Saints’ heart at the same moment. Or Magpie skipper Nick Maxwell’s desperate dive the week before to prevent another Riewoldt shot and help bring about a replay in the first place?

Daniel Chick’s smother on Sydney’s Ryan O’Keefe then follow-up shepherd to allow teammate Adam Hunter to kick a critical goal for West Coast in 2006? Michael Long’s running, bouncing effort in 1993?

Perhaps this list should have been 10 rather than five. Feel free to add yours, though. Any better-than-average piece of play on grand final has to have some significance. Let alone those special feats.

So here’s my Top 5…

No.1 – 2005: LEO BARRY’S MARK
Sydney defender Barry’s huge pack mark in the 2005 grand final would be memorable enough had it been taken midway through the second quarter. That it came as the very last act of play with his team attempting to break a 72-year flag drought, just four points in front of West Coast and under assault deep in defence, made it arguably the single most important mark in grand final history. Barry launched himself sideways across a pack of no fewer than half-a-dozen players to latch on to this game-saver, no sooner rising to his feet than the siren heralded a historic victory and his immortality.

The siren has sounded moments after Leo Barry’s mark. Football in hand, he is embraced by Tadhg Kennelly. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

No. 2 – 2011: TRAVIS VARCOE’S RUN AND GOAL
It still bemuses me that this incredible solo effort isn’t remembered with the same awe as “Jezza’s mark” or “Gabbo’s run”. At a critical stage in the final term, the Geelong speedster was involved on three separate occasions in all parts of the ground in the goal which clinched the win over Collingwood. First, Varcoe camped under a high ball deep in his defensive 50, creating a contest. He ran to support, his next touch a kick off the ground from the wing. Still Varcoe kept running, finally roving the crumbs from another contest at half-forward, his cool left-foot snap from 30 metres bouncing through. Amazing.

Exhausted but elated after sealing the game for the Cats, Travis Varcoe celebrates his amazing solo effort. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

No.3 – 1984: LEON BAKER’S BLIND TURN
Baker was already close to best-on-ground with three goals for Essendon against Hawthorn, his third having started a last-quarter comeback by the Bombers. At the eight-minute mark, the Dons now just five points in arrears, a hurried centre clearance from “Daisy” Williams bounced up awkwardly. Baker got there ahead of Hawthorn’s Gary Ayres, gathered the ball, gracefully blind-turned around Hawk defender David O’Halloran, steadied, and from 25 metres, put Essendon in front for the first time. The Bombers would storm away to win their first flag in 19 years. I still scratch my head about how Baker didn’t also win the Norm Smith Medal.

Essendon’s Leon Baker, following a sublime blind turn, about to give the Bombers the lead for the first time. Picture: CHANNEL 7

No. 4 – 2012: NICK MALCESKI’S SNAP
Malceski twice kicked the last goal in a grand final. The first time, in 2006, it still left Sydney agonisingly short of West Coast. Six years later, it sealed a 10-point premiership win over Hawthorn. The Swans led the Hawks by just four points as Lewis Jetta’s set shot fell short, leading to a ball up 20 metres from goal with 50 seconds left on the clock. Sydney’s Dan Hannebery got the first clean hands from the resultant ruck contest. His hurried handball went to Malceski, who threw the ball on his trusty left foot. The snap floated up and up, seemingly in slow motion, but with just enough carry to clear the goal line and confirm an amazing win in one of the greatest grand finals played.

With less than a minute to play, a hurried snap from Sydney’s Nick Malceski seals the 2012 premiership for the Swans. Photo: AFL MEDIA

No. 5 – 2018: DOM SHEED’S MATCH-WINNER
Watched in isolation, free of context, this goal is impressive without necessarily being spectacular. But now consider the circumstances – Sheed’s West Coast still trailing Collingwood by two points with (by the time he takes his kick) well under two minutes left. Sheed is hard up against the boundary line, the Magpie hordes raining down a hail of desperate attempts to put him off. The Eagles have squandered several chances already, this will almost certainly be their last. To win, or lose a premiership. From the tightest of angles, with a regulation drop punt, Sheed splits the centre. It’s a goal. And a West Coast flag. And Sheed has just assured his place in football immortality, one ice-cool kick under as much pressure as a player has ever known the reason.

His team trailing, the final siren imminent, Dom Sheed kicks for a West Coast premiership. Picture: CHANNEL 7