Colliwobbles


In the Australian Football League, the "Colliwobbles" refers to the period between Collingwood's 1958 and 1990 premierships, where the Magpies reached nine AFL/VFL Grand Finals for eight losses and a draw in 1977.
This era was dubbed as the Colliwobbles in partly because Collingwood sometimes lost by small margins; in this way, "Colliwobbles" is a specific term for choking when it is done by Collingwood.
The term was coined by Lou Richards, and is a play on the words "Collingwood" and "".
The main period of the Colliwobbles ended in the 1990 AFL Grand Final, when Collingwood defeated to win their first premiership since 1958. Lou Richards ceremoniously announced the end of the Colliwobbles, and the club marked the occasion with the burial of a memoir of the hitherto trying times in front of a large crowd at Victoria Park.
After losing the 2018 grand final after leading most of the day, there was talk in the media that the Colliwobbles have returned.
Nevertheless, the term remains in common usage to describe any upset losses by Collingwood in finals.
1958 is Collingwood's last September premiership as of 2018; the 1990 and 2010 premierships were won in October due to drawn finals, which are no longer possible, and Collingwood have won only two of the sixteen Grand Finals they have appeared in since their 1958 premiership.

Grand Final appearances during the main "Colliwobbles" period

Grand FinalPremierRunner-upScoreMarginVenueAttendance
1960MelbourneCollingwood8.14 – 2.2 48MCG97,457
1964MelbourneCollingwood8.16 – 8.12 4MCG102,469
1966St KildaCollingwood10.14 – 10.13 1MCG101,655
1970CarltonCollingwood17.9 – 14.17 10MCG121,696
1977North MelbourneCollingwood9.22 – 10.16 0MCG108,244
1977North MelbourneCollingwood21.25 – 19.10 27MCG98,366
1979CarltonCollingwood11.16 – 11.11 5MCG113,545
1980RichmondCollingwood23.21 – 9.24 81MCG113,461
1981CarltonCollingwood12.20 – 10.12 20MCG112,964
1990CollingwoodEssendon13.11 – 5.11 48MCG98,944

Grand Final appearances since the main "Colliwobbles" period

Grand FinalPremierRunner-upScoreMarginVenueAttendance
2002Brisbane LionsCollingwood10.15 – 9.12 9MCG91,817
2003Brisbane LionsCollingwood20.14 – 12.12 50MCG79,451
2010CollingwoodSt Kilda9.14 – 10.8 0MCG100,016
2010CollingwoodSt Kilda16.12 – 7.10 56MCG93,853
2011GeelongCollingwood18.11 – 12.9 38MCG99,537
2018West Coast EaglesCollingwood11.13 – 11.8 5MCG100,022

Trivia and statistics since 1958