[2] Essendon had hoped to throw Hawthorn off balance early by playing Roger Merrett in the ruck and shifting Simon Madden, by now one of the finest ruckmen in the VFL, to full forward.

[2] Essendon, despite getting more possession, made little impact in front of goals, but when Bombers kicked their third for the match, by Billy Duckworth, they remained in touch and trailed by 25 points at the half time break.

The third quarter was a low-scoring affair, more notable for the changes to field positions that Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy applied in an attempt to stem the flow of Hawthorn goals.

While common today, at the time it was very unusual for a coach to make such radical changes as shifting backline players to the forward line and vice versa.

Essendon's charge continued when the ball made its way to Duckworth at half forward who passed it to an unmanned Mark Thompson who put it through from 40 metres out directly in front.

The ball bounced favourably for Baker, who evaded Hawks defender David O'Halloran with a brilliant blind turn and booted his fourth goal, to the delight of Essendon fans.

Watson, Baker, Mark Harvey, Shane Heard and Neil Clarke were also prominent for the Bombers, while Richard Loveridge, Gary Ayres, Peter Schwab, Terry Wallace and Chris Mew were the best for Hawthorn.

Uncertainty about the new arrangements, accusations that the demand for members tickets had been overestimated, and breezy and cool conditions in the wake of a heavy overnight hailstorm were all considered to have discouraged many spectators from attending.