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In Round 6, 1989, an Australian rules football home-and-away match was played between Hawthorn and Geelong at Princes Park on 6 May 1989. The match saw one of the highest-scoring games and comebacks in VFL/AFL history, with Hawthorn winning by eight points despite trailing by 56 points during the second quarter.^[1]

Hawthorn were defending premiers at the time, having defeated Melbourne by a record margin of 96 points in the 1988 VFL Grand Final, and were on top of the ladder with a 4-1 record and a superior percentage of 151.1%. Geelong had started the season with a 3-2 record, however both defeats occurred with a combined margin of just three points.^[2]

Hawthorn were seen as one of the most dominant teams during the decade, as the team had played in every Grand Final since the 1983 VFL season, winning handily in 1983, 1986, and 1988. Geelong, on the other hand, had not won a Grand Final since 1963, and had last played in one in 1967.

Hawthorn would make just one change to their team after their victory over Carlton the previous week; Chris Wittman was brought in to replace Peter Schwab, who had suffered a thigh injury during the previous game^[3]. Geelong would make three changes as Tim Darcy, Damian Drum, and Andrew Rogers were brought in for the injured David Cameron, the omitted Darren Flanigan, and the suspended Dwayne Russell. Drum, initially placed on the interchange bench, would later be replaced by Michael Kol.^[4]

Hawthorn opened the scoring with a goal by Dermott Brereton in the first two minutes. After Hawthorn's third goal, Geelong would break the game open, kicking the next four goals to take a 13 point lead. After a quick goal in response by Hawthorn, the game stagnated. However, in the last two and a half minutes of the quarter, Geelong would kick three goals to one, the first of which was kicked by Gary Ablett Sr. from well inside the centre square (according to commentator Drew Morphett at the time, a distance of 70 metres). Additional goals to Billy Brownless and Gavin Exell in the final minute gave Geelong a 19 point lead at the first change.

Hawthorn kicked the first two goals of the quarter to get within seven points of Geelong. In response, Geelong took full control of the game and proceeded to kick the next seven goals of the match to take a commanding 49 point lead. Geelong would soon reach the century, and when Exell kicked his sixth goal for the match with seven minutes left in the quarter, the Cats were leading by 55 points. A behind extended the margin to 56 points, which would ultimately be the highest deficit of the match. Hawthorn were able to trim the deficit to 49 points at halftime with a goal to Robert DiPierdomenico.

Looking to respond, Allan Jeans moved Gary Ayres from the backline to the centre of the ground. The move proved to be a devastating blow to Geelong's progress, as Hawthorn took immediate control of the game. The Hawks piled on six unanswered goals, cutting Geelong's lead to just 12 points. Geelong were able to regain control with Exell kicking his seventh goal, followed by a goal to Garry Hocking to push the lead back out to 25 points. Gary Buckenara brought up Hawthorn's century with his fifth goal, however he appeared to be limping with a suspected knee injury. Both clubs would add just one behind for the remainder of the quarter, leaving Geelong with a 19 point lead at the final change.

Mark Yeates left the field early in the quarter after colliding with Brereton, leaving Geelong a man down. Garry Hocking and Exell extended Geelong's lead to 24 points. However, Hawthorn immediately responded with three goals to cut the margin to a single goal, and after a behind to Geelong, John Kennedy Jr. reduced the margin to a single point. In a repeat of earlier proceedings, Garry Hocking and Exell (with a career-best ninth goal of the game) goaled again to give Geelong breathing space. Hawthorn responded with a goal through Jason Dunstall, but were hampered after Tony Hall lost control of the ball while running into goal, eventually leading to a rushed behind. Another behind to DiPierdomenico reduced the margin to five points.

With eight and a half minutes left, Hawthorn pushed forward again. DiPierdomenico snapped the ball into the forward pocket, which was collected by Dunstall. Pursued by Tim Darcy, Dunstall immediately handballed the ball towards the goal square, where James Morrissey kicked the ball off the ground to give Hawthorn the lead for the first time since the first quarter. Morrissey followed up his effort with another goal to extend Hawthorn's lead to seven points, and Hall made up for his earlier mistake by marking and kicking truly from close range. Ayres, who had been moved to the middle of the ground as a tactical play, would then kick Hawthorn's final goal of the match, moving them to a 20 point lead.

Geelong refused to give up, and with goals to a recovered Yeates and Michael Schulze, reduced the margin to nine points with 1:20 remaining. Yeates then marked the ball ten metres out on a slight angle with just under a minute left, but in his haste, shanked his kick left and only registered a behind. Had Yeates been successful, Geelong would have had forty seconds to rush the ball out of the centre and potentially win the game. Yeates would take another mark within scoring distance with seconds left, but conceded a free kick to Hawthorn in doing so.

Hawthorn cleared the ball onto the wing as the final siren sounded, with the Hawks winning by eight points.