of fire" that, according to the recollection of ruckman Geoff Leek, at the time the resting in the forward-pocket, he took two of the most amazing marks that Leek had ever seen: At the tribunal, Caspar's case was heard first. Caspar was suspended for four weeks. Coleman's defence was simple: he had simply retaliated to two unprovoked punches from Caspar (for which Caspar had been suspended). The VFL at that time made no allowance for provocation, the Players' Advocate Dan Minogue was thought to have made a good case for Coleman by arguing that any man, if he were a man at all, would hit back after being hit. Both the boundary umpire, Herb Kent, and goal umpire Allen gave evidence that Coleman had retaliated only after he had been punched twice by Caspar. Given that those who retaliated were thought to have been given more lenient penalties than those who instigated, and given that — because Carlton were not in the finals — Caspar's penalty represented the first four home-and-home games in 1952, and given that Essendon were, indeed, playing in the 1951 finals, it was generally thought by those present at the tribunal that, if Coleman was to receive any penalty at all, he would be given no more than two weeks. The chairman announced a penalty of four weeks. Many years later, the tribunal's chairman, Tom Hammond, agreed that whilst the tribunal had been technically correct in its penalty, given that "there was no precedent" for regarding retaliation as a lesser offence, that he now believed that the tribunal had been wrong and that it easily could have created such a precedent. Coleman broke down and wept with anger, disbelief and disappointment. As his friends and colleagues tried to assist Coleman from the tribunal's building, the impact of the rush of the large waiting crowd hurled Coleman against a traffic signal-box. He struck his head and collapsed on the pavement. He was eventually assisted into one of his friend's cars. Eventually, the Bombers went on, without Coleman—and with Dick Reynolds coming out of retirement as 20th man—to lose the Grand Final by eleven points, and Essendon supporters to this day blame Coleman's suspension for Essendon's failure to win its third successive premiership. Goalless Coleman On Saturday, 28 June 1952, in round ten of the 1952 season, at a very, very muddy (and narrow) Brunswick Street Oval, Coleman