In Round 16 of the 2001 AFL season, an Australian rules football home-and-away match was played between Essendon and the Kangaroos at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 22 July 2001.

[2] In addition to the notable outs for the Kangaroos, full-back Glenn Archer covered as stand-in captain for the injured Carey.

Thereafter, the Kangaroos dominated scoring in the opening quarter, with Byron Pickett, Saverio Rocca, and Brady Rawlings piling on three straight goals in less than five minutes to lead 4.0 (24) to 1.1 (7) by the 12th-minute mark.

Chris Heffernan managed a steadier for Essendon to stem the bleeding, but the Kangaroos went on a rampage, kicking the next eight goals to lead by 58 points at quarter time, 12.1 (73) to 2.3 (15).

[3] Essendon's champion full-back Dustin Fletcher began the game in the forward pocket as an experiment, but he was moved back to the backline after only fifteen minutes as the Kangaroos built up a solid lead.

The second of those goals, a dribbling shot by Hird from a tight angle after being crunched while taking a mark, was said to have been one of the main inspirations for the comeback.

The Kangaroos quickly responded, with McKernan moving from the ruck to the forward line and kicking two goals in a minute to bring the margin back to seven points at the 23-minute mark.

McKernan took a big pack mark 40 metres from goal in the 28th minute, but he only managed to score a behind to narrow the margin to six points.

He had 31 disposals, 13 clearances, 10 inside-50s and kicked four goals to be the most valuable in Essendon's comeback[10] despite dealing personally with the bereavement of having lost a friend in a car accident days earlier.

They qualified for the 2001 Grand Final but lost against the Brisbane Lions, which marked the end of an era, as they dropped out of the top four the next season.

So high was the interest in the game, that it was replayed in full on Channel Seven in Melbourne the following day, following The Weakest Link,[14] something which had never previously occurred.

[2] Writing for the Herald Sun, Mark Robinson declared: “Amid the euphoria of victory and emptiness of defeat, there’s only one question to be asked: was this the greatest game of all time?

During the call, Lyon had made a prediction early in the second term that Essendon would come back and win despite the margin already exceeding 10 goals.