The very first game North Melbourne ever played at StarTrack Oval was commemorated by Winston Abraham taking the Mark of the Year.

Back in 1998, the Kangaroos travelled to Canberra to face the newest team in the competition, Port Adelaide. In what was likely one of the earliest starting games in the AFL’s history, play got underway at 11:40am.

PRESS PLAY above to watch Abraham’s mark | YouTube

Abraham was in his first season at Arden Street. Traded from Fremantle in 1997, the small forward quickly became a fixture of the North side, missing only four games in the next three seasons.

Not only did he hit the scoreboard regularly – 104 goals in 72 North Melbourne games – Abraham also had a flair for the spectacular. A regular in the highlight packages, it was only a matter of time before the former number 15 took a mark as remarkable as the one on this afternoon.



Leigh Matthews was stunned at Abraham’s leap in the commentary box.

“My first instinct was that he was going to give away the free because he leapt too early, but he just hung up there and stayed up there until the ball came.

“That’s about his sixth nomination for the category of Mark of the Year I reckon. He’ll win it on weight of numbers.”

View more Flashbacks | YouTube