Miser Martyn saw Roos home

DESPITE his own influence, Shannon Grant recalls a third-quarter effort by full-back Mick Martyn as the sign that North Melbourne wouldn't surrender its lead to Carlton

in the 1999 grand final.

The indefatigable Martyn was rock solid in defence all afternoon but, with the Roos 31 points ahead, his attack on a stray ball generated the goal that put the game beyond the Blues' reach.

"There was a passage of play where Mick came out off his man, ran at the ball, broke through three players and cleared the football out of the backline," Grant said.

"At that stage I knew we weren't going to lose it.

"[He] kicked it out to the wing. We got the ball, the ball went down forward and I think it might have been Peter Bell who ended up kicking the goal."

Martyn's bullocking clearance had sent the ball out to Adam Simpson, who spotted a leading Scott Welsh and Bell in turn.

For Grant, it was his third grand final in four years; representing the Sydney Swans in the 1996 loss to North, he was also part of the 1998 heartbreaker against Adelaide – his first year in the blue and white.

"The finals games before that (the 1999 grand final) I'd played well in," he said. "You always want to go into games like that playing good footy and with good form under your belt. It certainly helped.

"I was pretty pumped up. They tried to rough me up a bit at the start and that probably spurred me on a bit more, and from that point on I got a couple of early touches. I felt pretty comfortable and confident that things were going to go well and, luckily, they did."

Grant, then 21, had an impact from the opening bounce. He kicked the Roos' second goal of the match, laying a tackle on Anthony Koutoufides before pushing through Ang Christou, and had three by half time.

Too much of a handful for Carlton stopper Ben Nelson, Grant moved on to Scott Camporeale after North vice-captain Anthony Stevens was forced from the ground with an elbow injury.

"He went off so we were sort of one short in the midfield," he said. "I pushed into the middle and we were playing on one another for a quarter or two. I can't remember how long.

"We both got a bit of the ball but it worked out quite well."

Grant finished with 19 possessions and four goals, plus the Norm Smith Medal as the Roos celebrated their second flag in four seasons.

"You're always surprised," he said of being named best-on-ground.

"It was pretty open sort of a game [and] three or four of us could have got it. I'm just glad it was me."

North Melbourne 3.3 9.4 15.6 19.10 (124)
Carlton 1.3 5.8 7.11 12.17 (89)

Stay tuned to kangaroos.com.au for the next episode of Classic Matches.