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Melbourne vs Essendon

Scoreboard | Match report | Match statistics

GF   Venue: M.C.G.   Date: Sat, 02-10-1948 2:50 pm   Crowd: 86,198  
Melbourne 3.0.184.5.296.8.4410.9.69 C:  Frank Hughes
Essendon 0.6.62.15.276.21.577.27.69 C:  Dick Reynolds
  MELB by 12MELB by 2ESS by 13Scores level  

Match Report

ATROCIOUS KICKING MADE ESSENDON LUCKY TO DRAW

By DICK REYNOLDS, Captain and Coach of Essendon

ATROCIOUS kicking on Saturday almost cost Essendon the VFL premiership for the second year in succession. In fact, we were fortunate to tie with Melbourne.

Although the grand final was anything but a brilliant exhibition of football, it will be remembered always for its dramatic last quarter. In that quarter both sides wasted golden opportunities to take the 1948 title. When Essendon began the last term with a lead of 13 points I thought we were in a handy position. Many of our players who had been quiet in the first half had improved sufficiently in the third quarter to put us ahead, and that applied particularly to Ted Leehane, centre half-forward. Leehane had found Denis Cordner's measure.

BIG TALLY OF BEHINDS
Melbourne's bustling tactics and our own hurried kicks gave us a big tally of behinds early in the game. It was worse in the last quarter, when we had the ball in our forward zone for most of the time, but from at least eight direct scoring shots could score only one goal six behinds. About four other shots went out of bounds, although some were from difficult positions. In the closing stages of the game, when Essendon held a 12 points' advantage, I thought we were playing well enough to win. Then Melbourne unleashed a last-minute burst, and long kicks from the centre found Mueller and Dullard. With two accurate kicks that pair wiped out our hard earned advantage.

ROAR WAS DEAFENING
Never before have I heard such a deafening roar as that which echoed across the ground when the umpire bounced the ball for the last time. The scores were level, and I shall not forget my feelings when Melbourne sent the ball forward again and Norm Smith marked it less than 50 yards out. I thought we had lost another premiership, but instead of taking his kick Smith ran on. It was a great relief to me when the ball went out of bounds.

MELBOURNE'S BIG CHANCE
From the throw in the ball eventually went again to Smith, who was right in front of goal. If he had kicked a goal, or had even tapped the ball through for a behind, Melbourne would have won the premiership. Fortunately for us, however, Smith appeared to fumble the ball, and Ruddell cleared with a long kick. A moment later the bell rang. On Saturday morning I wrote that Essendon would have too many guns for Melbourne. I realise now that a lot of guns are no good unless they can shoot straight.

BEST
Don Cordner is my choice as the best player on the ground. He carried Melbourne's ruck. His hitting-out to rovers, his sterling defense play, and his consistency, made him our greatest menace. Denis Cordner must be congratulated on his excellent showing, his high marking proved a stumbling block to Essendon on numerous occasions in the first half. Melbourne's other good players were McGrath, Smith, Mueller, Collins, and McMahen. I think Bob McClure was our outstanding player. He rucked well and took some brilliant high marks. When he was taking a spell in the back pocket he did a grand job in keeping Mueller quiet. Close to him would be Jones, who was one of our few forwards to win all day. Others were: Chris Lambert, Bradley, McDonald, Ruddell, and Bushby.

GOALS
Essendon: Hutchison 2, Brittingham 2, Bigelow, Hindley, Rawle
Melbourne: Mueller 6, Smith, Arnold, Cradock, Dullard

ATTENDANCE: 85,658
GROSS RECEIPTS: £8,897/9/3

Source

The Argus, 4 October 1948

Footnotes

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/22680563

Match stats

Melbourne Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
10 Arnold, Lance 1 22y 149d 44 53
16 Bickford, George 0 21y 267d 57 7
11 Bowman, Gordon 0 21y 235d 47 9
3 Collins, Geoff 0 22y 53d 6 3
1 Cordner, Denis 0 24y 96d 2 2
21 Cordner, Don 0 26y 255d 130 17
6 Craddock, Eddie 1 20y 338d 11 19
5 Deans, Billy 0 25y 305d 119 18
32 Dockett, Len 0 28y 211d 56 19
28 Dullard, Adrian 1 30y 264d 97 107
8 Heywood, Doug 0 23y 295d 23 15
7 Jackson, Eddie 0 23y 200d 27 3
22 McGrath, Shane 0 29y 118d 83 3
25 McLean, Col 0 28y 58d 118 1
35 McMahen, Noel 0 21y 338d 38 20
12 Mueller, Jack 6 33y 23d 206 343
30 Rodda, Alby 0 28y 24d 93 115
31 Rule, Stan 0 24y 259d 40 4
4 Smith, Norm 1 32y 316d 209 545
13 Spittle, Max 0 28y 111d 27 1
  Rushed   9  
  Totals         10 9         25y 342d 1433 1304
Essendon Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
19 Bigelow, Doug 0 20y 77d 22 10
27 Bradley, Bob 1 24y 22d 31 5
23 Brittingham, Bill 2 25y 27d 93 174
35 Bushby, Percy 0 29y 128d 141 46
15 Buttsworth, Wally 0 31y 255d 178 2
1 Fisher, Vic 0 24y 58d 11 2
8 Harper, Bert 0 25y 250d 46 25
6 Hassell, George 0 24y 363d 48 3
7 Hutchison, Bill 2 25y 157d 128 217
24 Jones, Jack 0 23y 330d 63 66
14 Lambert, Chris 0 28y 204d 87 18
17 Lambert, Harold 0 26y 139d 54 2
9 Leehane, Ted 0 25y 122d 56 99
12 May, Wally 0 22y 21d 22 1
31 McClure, Bob 0 23y 119d 50 13
4 McDonald, Norm 0 22y 297d 39 0
2 Rawle, Keith 2 23y 339d 91 84
3 Reynolds, Dick 0 33y 104d 278 392
21 Ruddell, Cec 0 31y 132d 120 0
26 Syme, Bob 0 23y 307d 31 14
  Rushed   27  
  Totals         7 27         25y 282d 1589 1173

Match highlights

86,198 attended Melbourne vs. Essendon at M.C.G. (V/AFL, Premiership Season, GF)
Bill Hutchison kicked his 50th goal for the season for Essendon vs. Melbourne (V/AFL, Premiership Season, GF)

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.