The end of the 1996 season saw Melbourne and Hawthorn play each other in the last round of that season. The "merger game", as it was called, was a spirited contest as it was a likely possibility that it would be the last Hawthorn vs Melbourne contest and, as the result that Melbourne could not make the finals and Hawthorn needed to win the game by any margin to have any chance to contest the 1996 finals series, many supporters saw this game as a last chance to see their team play football.