Appleton's Army of 1973
After a similarly poor start to 1973, Hobart under coach Allan Appleton managed to cobble together enough wins to scrape into the Final Four. After a series of thrilling victories during the finals series, the Tigers were to face up to the might of the Rodney Olsson led Sandy Bay machine.
The Seagulls, on the back of Premierships in 1971 and 1972 had won 20 consecutive matches in 1973 (24 in a row since 1972) and were considered the hottest premiership favourites in TFL history.
So confident of success were Sandy Bay, that their banner read "21 Today! 21 Today!" and they had organised a Premiership Dinner for several hundred people at Wrest Point for that evening.
Hobart came out and put relentless pressure on Sandy Bay, and as history would have it, Appleton's Army stunned the 14,720-people on Grand Final Day. Sandy Bay were to crack in monumental circumstances as Hobart raced away to win the 1973 premiership by 20-points in the greatest boilover in Tasmanian football history.
Read more about this topic: Hobart Football Club
Famous quotes containing the words appleton and/or army:
“Good Americans, when they die, go to Paris.”
—Thomas Appleton (1812–1884)
“Olivia Dandridge: You don’t have to say it, Captain. I know all this is because of me. Because I wanted to see the West. Because I wasn’t, I wasn’t army enough to stay the winter.
Capt. Brittles: You’re not quite army yet miss, or you’d know never to apologize. It’s a sign of weakness.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)