A valuable utility for North Melbourne and Collingwood throughout his career, Freeborn is perhaps best known for his feats in the 1996 Grand Final, when he almost single handedly dragged the Roos back into the game against Sydney.
North was 24 points down early in the second quarter when Freeborn kicked three goals before half time to give his side the lead at half time - a lead the club didn’t squander on its way to a third premiership.
PRESS PLAY above to watch Freeborn's three goals | YouTube
After starting the game as a tagger, Freeborn explained to NMFC.com.au how his move to the forward line occurred.
"In the first quarter I had to run with Daryn Cresswell. Towards the end of the first quarter I was benched with Cresswell getting a fair bit of the ball (he ended with 35 disposals in the game),” Freeborn recalled.
“At quarter time Denis (Pagan) threw me up to a half-forward flank which was the position I had played most of the season.
"From there I tried to push up the ground and then double back to be around the feet of the centre-half forward (Wayne Carey)."
Carrying out the revised game-plan to perfection, Freeborn's first two goals came directly from crumbing Carey’s marking contest.
It was his third and the final goal of the half, which proved the momentum swinger. With 44-seconds left at the centre bounce, North trailed by five points. The ball scrambled forward and Freeborn emerged from the pack to snap a goal from 45 metres out on the siren.
Impressively modest, Freeborn says it was quite simple how things turned around for him after quarter time.
"I found a little bit more of the ball in the second quarter and was just in the right place at the right time."
Given his start to the game, Freeborn's feats were somewhat unexpected and even more so when you delve a little deeper into his preparation.
"I used to suffer from nerves and get really anxious. It was a weekly thing. I suffered from it pretty bad and a lot more than the average person. Quite often I used to be sick before a game and feel a little bit flat straight afterwards."
It was the same for him at half time but overall, the feeling in the rooms was positive.
"As a team we felt like we were starting to get on top of them towards the end of the second quarter and we had the momentum at half time," Freeborn added.
That belief enabled North to pile on 11 goals to five and run out 43-point victors in the AFL's 100th year. Freeborn would only play another 27 games for the Kangaroos, but his memories of 1996 and mark he left on the club will never be forgotten.
"It was a great bunch of guys down at the club and a fun time to be around the place with a lot of good quality people."
This story was originally published to NMFC.com.au in 2012
 |
| Freeborn celebrates with Wayne Schwass and Corey McKernan |
