AFL-Round 16 2001: The Comeback (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Sports	Main Menu Audio & Animation Alternate Audio-Choice Of 7Sports Commentary Or 3AW Commentary Notes-Team Lists, Goal Kickers, Scorecard
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	141:06 (Case: 130)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (69:26)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Aust. Football Video Visual Entertainment Group	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	?	Music	None Given

    The Australian Football League (AFL) is certainly well catered for when it comes to DVD titles. There have been numerous discs dedicated to the history or highlights of several of the individual clubs such as Essendon, Hawthorn, Fremantle, and Collingwood, plus many compilation-style titles focussing on spectacular goals, marks, biffs and bumps. One other style of disc also available for those footy fans that need everything ever produced about their team is the full game replay. I am under the impression that you are able to order a disc that contains a full replay of any game from any round during the year for any club. Now while some games really don't deserve to be captured on disc forever and a day, others do - and this disc contains one such game.

    On 22 July 2001, during round 16 of the AFL season, two teams, Essendon and North Melbourne (or the Kangaroos if you follow the lead of the marketing boffins) met for what would normally be considered just another regular season game with nothing more than the four premiership points at stake (I sound like a coach). By the end of the afternoon one team would run out victorious and one would be left licking their wounds - just like any normal fixture. But what makes this match most notable are the extraordinary number of records that would be broken during the game, easily  highlighted by what was the greatest comeback in the history of the AFL/VFL competition.

    It is fairly obvious just by looking at the final score that this was an out-of-the-ordinary game. Essendon 27.9 (171) defeated North Melbourne 25.9 (159), by 12 points. What is extraordinary about this game is the manner in which the teams scored. Essendon led by a couple of points at the seven minute mark of the first term. From then on though it was one-way traffic in the opposite direction as North Melbourne piled on eight unanswered goals to lead by 60 points at quarter time. Most footy followers would have written the Bombers off by this stage, especially when the Kangaroos opened the second term with a couple of quick goals and the lead had blown out to 69 points. But coach Kevin Sheedy isn't known as the most wily and determined of coaches around and whatever changes he made at quarter time made the difference. Essendon slammed on 10 goals to four in the second term and then another seven in the third quarter to be within striking distance going into the last term. From a deficit of more than eleven goals in the second term, the Bombers hit the lead midway through the final quarter, before running out the game for a legendary and record-breaking 12 point win. Not only was the match a record breaker for the greatest ever comeback by a team but it was also the highest number of goals ever scored in a match (52 in total).

    What we have here is a complete replay (minus the commercial breaks between goals - advertisers would have gotten full value during this game when it was originally broadcast wouldn't they!), of this classic game from opening bounce to final siren (plus a brief on-field interview with Essendon spearhead Matthew Lloyd). For someone who has never seen it before, it is a highly entertaining match that showcases all the skills that Australian Rules football has to offer. Other than a disc that any Bomber fan would want in their collection, it is probably just the sort of disc you could send someone in a foreign land (USA, UK, Queensland, or New South Wales) to let them fully appreciate just what makes our national game so special.

Video

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 this transfer is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is of television broadcast quality, circa 2001. It's not as sharp and as vivid as we expect from today's digital based material, but it's not far off.

    Grain is probably the biggest single issue here with a slight covering across much of the picture. It's obvious but not too annoying. There are no issues with shadow detail at all.

    The colours are well rendered and there are no problems to contend with.

    No MPEG artefacts are evident and few artefacts of any other sort exist.

    There are no subtitles.

    This is a dual layered disc with the layer change occurring at 69:26 right on the half time break.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
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Audio

    There are two audio soundtracks available. Both are English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks, with the original Channel 7 broadcast in stereo and encoded at a bitrate of 224 Kb/s joined by the 3AW radio station broadcast of the game. This latter track is 2.0 mono and is encoded at the lower bitrate of 192Kb/s.

    Dialogue is clear and concise at all times and obviously audio sync is not an issue with a sports highlight disc.

    There is no surround or subwoofer use.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Alternate Audio

    Are you bored with the extremely average Channel 7 commentary? Can't handle Footscray legend Doug Hawkins stating "Fair Dinkum" for the tenth time in an hour? Well switch soundtracks and listen to the 3AW radio broadcast of the game. Join Rex Hunt, Robert Walls and co as they give their take on this classic match. The change is a welcome relief.

Notes

    A few static screens of text list out the players for both teams, the quarter-by-quarter scores, and the leading goal kickers for the game.

    This disc is not available in Region 1.

    The Comeback is a replay of the famous AFL game between Essendon and North Melbourne in round 16 2001. It is a full match replay of the game in which Essendon came back to win by 12 points after trailing at one stage during the second quarter by 69 points. That comeback is the greatest ever recorded in AFL history. It is a disc that any self-respecting Essendon fan should have in their library and one that any North Melbourne fan would want buried in the back garden - never to be seen again.

    The video and audio offerings are as expected for a television broadcast from 2001. The inclusion of both the Channel 7 and 3AW audio broadcasts of the game is most welcome.

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Audio
Extras
Plot
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