With his team 33 points up over North Melbourne early in the third quarter, David Myers wheeled onto his raking left foot to pump Essendon into attack.
Seeing Brendon Goddard and Jobe Watson free just outside the Bombers' half-forward line, Myers kicked long and accurately to Watson.
Enter Sam Wright.
Sensing his nearest North teammate, Daniel Wells, could not cut off Myers' kick, Wright left his man and ran forward.
Timing his run to perfection, he blew past a stationary Watson and flew to clunk a one-grab overhead mark.
Mindful that North had moved the ball too slowly and cautiously in the first half, Wright looked to play on.
When he saw no options to his right, he wheeled onto his non-preferred left side and shot a 40m pass to spearhead Drew Petrie on the Roos' half-forward line.
Watch Wright's play of the day here
Petrie could not hang onto the mark, but Daniel Wells pounced on the crumbs and, taking the advantage for a free kick Petrie received for an arm chop, ran in and handballed to Ben Brown in the goalsquare, with the Tasmanian gratefully accepting the 'Joe the goose'.
It was North's first goal since the 17-minute mark of the first term, the first of the Roos' seven for the third term and the first of a 12-goal-to-five run that would get North home by 12 points.
Petrie told AFL Exchange North knew full well how significant Wright's intercept mark had been.
"Sam Wright's mark has been touted internally as the mark that changed the state of the game because Goddard and Jobe Watson were out if the footy had have hit the deck," Petrie said.
Wright told AFL.com.au on Wednesday that the half-time message of North's coaches had been ringing in his ears when he charged towards Watson.
"At half-time we just spoke about how instead of being one-on-one defenders we had to try to help out our teammates," Wright said.
"I felt like Wellsy was under the pump a bit ahead of me, so I just thought I would come up and try to intercept instead of punching it back to them."
Petrie could not hang onto the mark, but Daniel Wells pounced on the crumbs and, taking the advantage for a free kick Petrie received for an arm chop, ran in and handballed to Ben Brown in the goalsquare, with the Tasmanian gratefully accepting the 'Joe the goose'.
It was North's first goal since the 17-minute mark of the first term, the first of the Roos' seven for the third term and the first of a 12-goal-to-five run that would get North home by 12 points.
Petrie told AFL Exchange North knew full well how significant Wright's intercept mark had been.
"Sam Wright's mark has been touted internally as the mark that changed the state of the game because Goddard and Jobe Watson were out if the footy had have hit the deck," Petrie said.
Wright told AFL.com.au on Wednesday that the half-time message of North's coaches had been ringing in his ears when he charged towards Watson.
"At half-time we just spoke about how instead of being one-on-one defenders we had to try to help out our teammates," Wright said.
"I felt like Wellsy was under the pump a bit ahead of me, so I just thought I would come up and try to intercept instead of punching it back to them."
Watch where they won it: the Roos' huge second half
As important as this play was, Wright's performance against the Bombers was far more substantial than one intercept mark.
One of the Roos' best performers in their flat first half, Wright was also instrumental in the third-quarter surge that got North back into the game.
Attacking the ball at every opportunity, he turned defence into attack for the Roos time and time again.
He did not just rely on his precise foot skills on both sides of his body either, taking the Bombers on with a career-high four running bounces.
Wright finished the game with 23 disposals at 82.6 per cent efficiency, five rebound 50s and three inside 50s.
It was an outstanding performance. Especially given the stage (the MCG before a crowd of 78,559) and the stakes (the Roos' credibility was on the line given their poor recent finals record).
Only Daniel Wells, Levi Greenwood and, perhaps, Ben Brown were more influential for the Roos.
North backline coach Josh Drummond told AFL.com.au Wright's performance had not come out of the blue.
"A lot of the game is between the ears and Sam has really benefitted in the second half of this year just being locked in to play in defence," Drummond said.
"He trained down back in the pre-season and then was played forward early in the year, so he's probably been a bit back and forth.
"I know people said it was one of his best games on the weekend, but it was probably more the occasion on which he played it.
"Sam has been really good down back for the last eight weeks. He's just been building all year and last weekend was reward for the effort that he's put in."
After being dropped three times earlier this year – including after North's round 10 loss to its semi-final opponent on Friday night, Geelong – Wright has not missed a beat since earning a recall against Hawthorn in round 16.
Since then, he has averaged 20.6 possessions a game, 4.1 rebound 50s and 2.7 inside 50s.
Wright says his self-belief has grown enormously in the second half of this season, along with his sense of when to defend and when to attack.
"I guess earlier in the season I didn't really know what made me a good player," Wright says.
"I was still inconsistent and lacked confidence, but I feel like I've really found that now and hopefully this has set me up for the next three years or so to play some good, consistent AFL footy."
Showing he is fast becoming a member of the defenders’ union, the former Murray Bushranger says his transition into defence has been made a lot smoother knowing that senior backmen like Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito and Nathan Grima always have his back.
The Roos go into Friday night's clash with Geelong chock full of confidence after their win over the Bombers, their first finals victory since the 2007 semi-final triumph over Hawthorn.
As important as this play was, Wright's performance against the Bombers was far more substantial than one intercept mark.
One of the Roos' best performers in their flat first half, Wright was also instrumental in the third-quarter surge that got North back into the game.
Attacking the ball at every opportunity, he turned defence into attack for the Roos time and time again.
He did not just rely on his precise foot skills on both sides of his body either, taking the Bombers on with a career-high four running bounces.
Wright finished the game with 23 disposals at 82.6 per cent efficiency, five rebound 50s and three inside 50s.
It was an outstanding performance. Especially given the stage (the MCG before a crowd of 78,559) and the stakes (the Roos' credibility was on the line given their poor recent finals record).
Only Daniel Wells, Levi Greenwood and, perhaps, Ben Brown were more influential for the Roos.
North backline coach Josh Drummond told AFL.com.au Wright's performance had not come out of the blue.
"A lot of the game is between the ears and Sam has really benefitted in the second half of this year just being locked in to play in defence," Drummond said.
"He trained down back in the pre-season and then was played forward early in the year, so he's probably been a bit back and forth.
"I know people said it was one of his best games on the weekend, but it was probably more the occasion on which he played it.
"Sam has been really good down back for the last eight weeks. He's just been building all year and last weekend was reward for the effort that he's put in."
After being dropped three times earlier this year – including after North's round 10 loss to its semi-final opponent on Friday night, Geelong – Wright has not missed a beat since earning a recall against Hawthorn in round 16.
Since then, he has averaged 20.6 possessions a game, 4.1 rebound 50s and 2.7 inside 50s.
Wright says his self-belief has grown enormously in the second half of this season, along with his sense of when to defend and when to attack.
"I guess earlier in the season I didn't really know what made me a good player," Wright says.
"I was still inconsistent and lacked confidence, but I feel like I've really found that now and hopefully this has set me up for the next three years or so to play some good, consistent AFL footy."
Showing he is fast becoming a member of the defenders’ union, the former Murray Bushranger says his transition into defence has been made a lot smoother knowing that senior backmen like Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito and Nathan Grima always have his back.
The Roos go into Friday night's clash with Geelong chock full of confidence after their win over the Bombers, their first finals victory since the 2007 semi-final triumph over Hawthorn.
Preview: Geelong v North Melbourne
However, in Geelong, they face the most seasoned finals team in the competition, one that was too good for them in rounds 10 and 19 this year.
Wright says the Roos have learnt a lot from those two losses and will implement some different strategies on Friday night.
"I think at times in those games we just played within ourselves, went back into our shells and didn't really take the game on," he says.
"We finished off our second halves in those games all right, but we'll be looking at them really closely this week.
"Last week's win was massive for our confidence and we enjoyed it, but we've moved on to this week now and are going into the game full of confidence."
Twitter: @AFL_Nick.
However, in Geelong, they face the most seasoned finals team in the competition, one that was too good for them in rounds 10 and 19 this year.
Wright says the Roos have learnt a lot from those two losses and will implement some different strategies on Friday night.
"I think at times in those games we just played within ourselves, went back into our shells and didn't really take the game on," he says.
"We finished off our second halves in those games all right, but we'll be looking at them really closely this week.
"Last week's win was massive for our confidence and we enjoyed it, but we've moved on to this week now and are going into the game full of confidence."
Twitter: @AFL_Nick.
