AFL Toyota Premiership 2011

Match 1: Rd 18, 2007, Docklands
Western Bulldogs 12.13 (85) drew with St Kilda 12.13 (85)

The Saints needed a win to keep their slim finals chances alive when they met the Bulldogs at Docklands late in 2007 and things seemed rosy when they held a 23-point buffer 10 minutes into the final term.

But the Dogs stormed back. Four goals on the trot had them in front by a point and sniffing an unlikely win when, deep into red time, Jason Gram burst from a pack on St Kilda's half-back line and sunk the slipper into a booming torpedo.

It found the safe hands of Nick Riewoldt, who lined up from 50m and wide out. Off the boot the kicked looked high and handsome but the ball fell to earth too quickly for those of the red, black and white persuasion and was punched through for the behind that tied the scores and left fans feeling emptier than Elvis Presley's fridge.

Match 2: Rd 6, 2003, Docklands
St Kilda 15.10 (100) d Western Bulldogs 12.13 (85)

The record book shows St Kilda won the match but the result – in terms of the rivalry between the two clubs, at least – was made irrelevant by what went on at the quarter-time break. They say hindsight has 20-20 vision but even in retrospect it is difficult to know how it all actually started.

What began as a bit of push and shove a few minutes before the siren quickly turned bitter and, as the teams began to approach their respective huddles, it became the biggest donnybrook of the modern era.

Players, trainers and officials were all involved in what is affectionately known in footy circles as a 'melee'. It was so 1970s that, if you squinted your eyes hard enough, Saint Heath Black looked to have mutton chops when he was felled by Bulldog Ryan Hargraves' right hand. If only the players had worn tighter shorts, the illusion would have been complete.

Match 3: Rd 9, 2000, Docklands
Western Bulldogs 16.9 (105) d St Kilda 16.8 (104)

The first eight rounds of season 2000 had not been kind to St Kilda, which entered its round-nine match against the Dogs winless, friendless and given little chance of victory. And so it's fair to say that the eight-goals-to-two third quarter that propelled the Saints to a 31-point lead at the final change raised an eyebrow or two.

One of those eyebrows (or possibly both) must have belonged to Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace, because his three-quarter time address certainly had the desired effect. The Dogs came out snarling, evening the scores before champion forward Chris Grant kicked the all-important point with 90 seconds left on the clock. The Saints couldn't muster another score and went down by the narrowest of margins.

The loss hit hard but it was left to Max Hudghton to show just how hard. The Saints defender wandered through the middle of the ground, hands on head, tears streaming down his face. St Kilda supporters knew just how he felt; they'd been feeling that way since 1966.