One day in October
×
Left ▼
This year's AFL Grand Final was played on October 24, almost a month after the date it was originally scheduled, the result of this year's unprecedented pandemic upheaval. It makes it the latest date in any year a V/AFL premiership match has been played, surpassing the 1923 VFL Grand Final, played on October 20.
Premiership matches played in October have been relatively rare over the past five decades, with several Grand Finals being played in the 10th month as a result of minor fixture adjustments, and the odd one being pushed out from the last Saturday in September by a drawn final requiring a replay.
But in the 1920s and 1930s Grand Finals — and even earlier finals — played in October were very much the norm. Had Mike Brady been around and moved to write a song about Grand Finals in those heady years, he would have likely written a song titled, 'One Day in October'.
Non-Collingwood supporters who love to rib Magpie fans about their lack of premiership success between 1958 and 1990 can still do so in a modified way. As a result of Collingwood's draw with West Coast in the opening week of the 1990 finals series, and the Magpies' drawn Grand Final with St Kilda in 2010, their two most recent Grand Final wins have been played in October. Cheeky non-Magpies could therefore rightly chide Collingwood fans by correctly claiming that the Pies still have not won a Grand Final on the last day in September since 1958.
Interestingly, the era in which October Grand Finals were the norm — the 1920s and 1930s — coincides with Collingwood's most successful period. In fact 14 of the 44 V/AFL Grand Finals in which the Magpies have appeared were played in October. In terms of success, Collingwood has had a better success rate in those matches than on those played in September. The Magpies have won eight of 14 October Grand Finals, a strike rate of 57%. Their 30 premiership deciders played in September have yielded seven wins, which translates to a success rate of just 27%, although two of those matches — the 1977 and 2010 Grand Finals — were drawn.
The Cats and the Tigers
×
Right ▼
This Saturday's Grand Final will be the third played between Geelong and Richmond. It will be the first between those two sides in more than 50 years, but it won't be their first Grand Final meeting in October. The two sides met in the 1931 decider, Geelong having lost the previous year's Grand Final to Collingwood and the Tigers having succumbed in the three Grand Finals before that, all three times to the Magpies. The Cats prevailed in 1931, condemning Richmond to a fourth consecutive Grand Final loss. The Tigers finally broke the curse in the 1932 Grand Final, defeating Carlton on October 1.
(The most recent Grand Final played on October 1 resulted in the breaking of another curse — a much longer one. The Western Bulldogs ended a 62-year premiership drought when they outlasted Sydney on October 1, 2016 to claim just their second V/AFL flag.)
The second Grand Final meeting between the Cats and the Tigers came in 1967. It was not an October match, but it was a game to remember. Many still regard it as one of the great Grand Finals of the modern era. Richmond were the victors, holding on to defeat the Cats by nine points after a thrilling final quarter in which the lead changed several times. There was a moment of controversy when Richmond full back Fred Swift, playing his 146th and last VFL game, took a mark right on the Geelong goal line to deny Bill Goggin a goal. Many Cats fans believe the ball had crossed the line before Swift marked it. In any case, the Cats had only themselves to blame, as they kicked 2.8 for the term, missing several gettable shots.
×
Left ▼
Richmond's win broke a 24-year premiership drought and signalled the beginning of a dominant era for the Tigers. Geelong had won a flag in 1963, but Cats' fans could not have imagined that four years without a flag would eventually extended to 44 years before they eventually saluted in 2007.
In total 46 matches in V/AFL history have been played in October. Twenty-eight of the 46 were Grand Finals (including three Grand Final Replays), 11 were Preliminary Finals and three were Semi-Finals, while this year's delayed season produced the first two October Elimination Finals and also the first pair of Qualifying Finals.
October Grand Finals by the numbers
Sixteen of the 28 Grand Finals played in October came before the Second World War. Five of the 12 played since then have come as a result of drawn finals necessitating a replay and six were scheduled for the first Saturday in October at season's beginning. This year's Grand Final is an outlier, pushed out by a month as a result of the season being delayed by more than two months as a result of the COVID—19 pandemic.
Along with the eight won by Collingwood, the other October champions include Richmond (four wins from eight October Grand Finals), Geelong (four from six), Essendon (two wins and a draw from five), Melbourne (two wins and a draw from four), Fitzroy, North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs (all one from one),West Coast and Hawthorn (each with one from one) and South Melbourne/Sydney and Carlton (each with one from five).
St Kilda is the only one of the 12 teams to have played in an October Grand Final without ever winning one. Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle, Gold Coast, GWS, Port Adelaide and University have never played in an October Grand Final.
GRAND FINALS (INCLUDING REPLAYS) IN OCTOBER:
×
None ▼
Other October finals
While St Kilda, Brisbane and Port Adelaide have not won a Grand Final in October, they did break through for their first October finals wins this year. Only 18 non-Grand Finals have been played in October, a figure that has jumped up from 10 this year with the entire 2020 finals series being played in the month. The eight October finals this year have produced the AFL's first finals, excluding Grand Finals, to be played in October since 1934.
Geelong and Collingwood have played in more of these than any other club, six each. The Cats won four of their six while the Magpies' record is 2-4 in those matches. Richmond has played in five October non-Grand Finals, winning four of them, their one loss coming this year against Brisbane. Carlton have played three non-Grand Finals winning one, while Fitzroy (2 wins, 0 losses), Melbourne (1-1), South Melbourne (1-1), St Kilda (1-1), Brisbane (1-1), Port Adelaide (1-1) and Essendon (0-2) have each played two. West Coast and the Western Bulldogs played their first non-Grand Final October matches this, both losses.
NOT SO GRAND FINALS PLAYED IN OCTOBER:
×
None ▼
Comments
This article does not contain any comments.
Login to leave a comment.