1970 VFL finals series

Last updated

197o premiership season
Date5–28 September 2019
Teams4
Premiers Carlton (12th premiership)
Runners-up Collingwood (1st grand final)
Minor premiers Collingwood (14th minor premiership)
Attendance
Matches played4
Total attendance446,988 (111,747 per match)
Highest121,696 (Grand Final, Collingwood vs. Carlton)
←  1969
1971  →

The 1970 Victorian Football League finals series was the 74th annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 1970 VFL Premiership season. The series ran over four weekends in September 1970, culminating with the 1970 VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 1970.

Contents

Qualification

The top four teams on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away rounds of the 1970 VFL Premiership season qualified for the finals series. It was the first season in which featured 22 home-and-away rounds, meaning that each club played all the others twice.

Venues

All the finals matches were hosted at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and for the second straight year, official crowd attendances at each finals match exceeded 100,000 spectators. Although VFL Park had hosted its first VFL match in April 1970, the stadium's construction was not yet complete and all finals remained contracted to the Melbourne Cricket Ground until at least 1971, and so the new would not host its first VFL final until 1972. [1]

Matches

The system used for the 1970 VFL finals series was the Page–McIntyre system, also known as the McIntyre final four system, which had been used by the VFL since 1931. The first- and second-placed teams would contest the second semi-final, while the third- and fourth-placed teams would contest the first semi-final. The loser of the first semi-final would be eliminated, while the winner would advance to the preliminary final, while the loser of the second semi-final would receive a "double chance" in the preliminary final, and the winner would advance directly to the grand final. The winner of the preliminary final would then play off in the grand final, and the loser would be eliminated.

Week one: First Semi-final (St Kilda v South Melbourne)

Teams

The First Semi-final saw third-placed St Kilda play fourth-placed South Melbourne at the MCG. South Melbourne was competing in its first VFL finals series since 1945 and were the sentimental favourite, while the Saints were competing in their seventh finals series in the last ten seasons, and still had a number of their stars from the 1966 premiership triumph. Interestingly, this was the first time the two clubs had met in a VFL final, despite being foundation members of the VFL. It was a special occasion for Swans captain Bob Skilton, who had returned to action after missing the whole of 1969 due to a snapped Achilles – he was playing his first final in his 218th game, which at the time set the record for the longest wait for any VFL/AFL player before playing in a final.

Kit body redwhiteblack.png
Kit body sleeveless.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks hoops red white.png
Kit socks long.svg
St Kilda
Kit body Vonwhite.png
Kit body sleeveless.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks hoops red.png
Kit socks long.svg
South Melbourne
St Kilda
B:12 Gary Colling 06 Bob Murray 16 Jon Lilley
HB:29 Neil Besanko 18 Kevin Neale 25 Daryl Griffiths
C:26 John Manzie 15 Jeff Moran 07 Stuart Trott
HF:32 Stephen Rae 09 John McIntosh 17 Barry Breen
F:23 Stephen Theodore 13 Barry Lawrence 10 Carl Ditterich
Foll:02 Brian Mynott 20 Travis Payze 03 Ross Smith
Res:21 Bob Pascoe 35 Geoff Ward
Coach: Allan Jeans
South Melbourne
B:15 Graeme Jacobs 05 John Rantall 33 Greg Lambert
HB:21 John Pitura 08 Tony Haenen 27 Reg Gleeson
C:04 Keith Baskin 10 Wayne Walsh 29 David McLeish
HF:11 Peter Bedford 17 Russell Cook 07 Gary Brice
F:26 Steven Hoffman 20 John Sudholz 31 Stuart Bennett
Foll:30 Fred Way 06 John Murphy 14 Bob Skilton (c)
Res:25 Haydn McAuliffe 37 Richard Luke
Coach: Norm Smith

Match summary

Bigger, more experienced, cooler in the crises, St Kilda ended the fairytale VFL season of South Melbourne and Bobby Skilton at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday. A hundred and four thousand people welcomed Skilton on to the ground with a tremendous roar. The vast majority cheered for his men throughout the match, but it was not enough. Fifteen great minutes in the second quarter saw South Melbourne grab the lead at half-time. For the rest of the match it was just a case of a fine smaller team pitting determination against a slightly more gifted and appreciably bigger team with even more discipline. In the end, height, weight and discipline told, and St Kilda won comfortably by 53 points. [2]

Scorecard
First Semi-final
Saturday, 5 September (2:30pm) St Kilda def. South Melbourne MCG (crowd: 104,239) Report
6.1 (37)
9.3 (57)
14.8 (92)
22.11 (143)		Q1
Q2
Q3
Final		2.5 (17)
9.8 (62)
10.10 (70)
13.12 (90)		Umpires: Sleeth
Television broadcast: Seven Network
Rae 4
Payze, Mynott, Ditterich 3
Theodore, Smith, Lawrence, Breen 2
McIntosh 1		Goals4 Hoffman
3 Bedford, Sudholz
2 Cook
1 Skilton
Smith, Colling, Payze, Mynott, Ditterich, Lilley, Manzie, Breen Best Hoffman, Brice, Bedford, Walsh, Murphy, Pitura, Skilton, Haenen, Cook
Griffiths (concussion / broken nose)InjuriesNil
NilReports Baskin (striking)

Week two: Second Semi-final (Collingwood v Carlton)

The Second Semi-final saw Collingwood play Carlton at the MCG. This was the 14th meeting between the two clubs in finals, having previously met in the 1969 Second Semi-final. Carlton had won nine of the encounters, including the last six meetings.

Teams

Match summary

Collingwood, the hottest VFL favourite in a decade, won its way into the 1970 grand final on Saturday, but three players almost confounded its expectations. Collingwood had a far more even team, won the ball more often, outmarked its opponents by 77 to 51 yet lost the lead in every quarter and got home by only 10 points. Amid the tension bordering on delirium which always accompanies a Collingwood-Carlton finals clash, the lead changed 10 times before the biggest semi-final crowd in history. [3]

Scorecard
Second Semi-final
Saturday, 12 September (2:30pm) Collingwood def. Carlton MCG (crowd: 112,838) Report
5.2 (32)
9.7 (61)
12.11 (83)
17.16 (118)		Q1
Q2
Q3
Final		5.0 (30)
9.2 (56)
14.3 (87)
17.6 (108)		Umpires: Crouch
Television broadcast: Seven Network
McKenna 9
Thompson 4
Tuddenham, Waters, Dunne, M Richardson 1		Goals8 Jesaulenko
2 Thornley, Hopkins
1 Gallagher, Hall, Walls, Crosswell, Jackson
Selwood, Guthrie, Ratugolea, Hawkins, Tuohy, Menegola Best Gaff, Hurn, Darling, Naitanui, Yeo, Jetta
NilInjuriesNil
Adamson (striking)Reports Jackson (striking)

Week three: Preliminary final (Carlton v St Kilda)

The Preliminary final saw Carlton play St Kilda at the MCG on Saturday, 19 September. This was the fourth final between the two clubs, having previously met in the finals in 1907, 1908 and 1929, with Carlton winning all three encounters.

Teams

Match summary

In what was predicted to be a close match, Carlton blew away St Kilda in the second half. In what turned out to be a chilling premonition, esteemed veteran journalist Rohan Rivett wrote the following in his article covering the game for the Canberra Times :

As Collingwood's coach, Bob Rose, watched Carlton's weak links of the previous week becoming bastions of strength, he must have wondered if once again his hopes of a Collingwood premiership will be dashed at the eleventh hour. [4]

.

Scorecard
Preliminary final
Saturday, 19 September (7:50pm) Carlton def. St Kilda MCG (crowd: 108,215) Report
2.6 (18)
6.12 (48)
13.16 (94)
17.21 (123)		Q1
Q2
Q3
Final		1.4 (10)
4.12 (36)
6.16 (52)
7.19 (61)		Umpires: Jolley
Television broadcast: Seven Network
Jackson 6
Jesaulenko, Jones 4
Walls 2
Nicholls 1		Goals2 McIntosh, Breen
1 Lawrence, Mynott, Payze
Crosswell, Jackson, Nicholls, Gallagher, Jesaulenko, Jones, Robertson, Crane Best Smith, Breen, Mynott, McIntosh, Trott, Moran, Manzie, Rae
Graham (shoulder), Broad (concussion)InjuriesNil
NilReportsNil

Week four (Grand Final)

This marked the fourth meeting in a VFL Grand final between Carlton and Collingwood.

Grand final
26 September (2:30 pm) Collingwood def. by Carlton MCG (crowd: 121,696) Report
4.8 (32)
10.13 (73)
13.16 (94)
14.17 (101)		Q1
Q2
Q3
Final		0.3 (3)
4.5 (29)
12.5 (77)
17.9 (111)		Umpires: Jolley
Television broadcast: Seven Network
McKenna 6
Tuddenham, Thompson, Dunne 2
Britt, W.Richardson 1		Goals4 Hopkins
3 Jesaulenko
2 Gallagher, Walls, Crosswell, Nicholls
1 Jackson, Silvagni
Price, Dunne, M.Richardson, W.Richardson, Jenkin, Waters, McKennaBestMcKay, Crosswell, Robertson, Nicholls, Jesaulenko, Jackson, Silvagni, Walls
NilInjuriesNil
NilReportsNil

Related Research Articles

The 1970 VFL season was the 74th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1907 VFL season</span> Eleventh season of the Victorian Football League (VFL)

The 1907 VFL season was the eleventh season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured eight clubs and ran from 27 April to 21 September, comprising a 17-match home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AFL Grand Final</span> Australian rules football match to determine the AFL season premiers

The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. Prior to 1990 it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league was then known as the Victorian Football League, and both were renamed due to the national expansion of the competition. Played at the end of the finals series, the game has been held annually since 1898, except in 1924. It is traditionally staged on the afternoon of the last Saturday in September, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. As the premier match of the AFL season, it attracts one of the largest audiences in Australian sport, regularly attracting a crowd of more than 100,000 and a television audience of millions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian rules football in Victoria</span>

In Victoria Australian rules football is the most popular sport overall, being the most watched and second most participated code of football. Australian rules football originated in Melbourne in the late 1850s and quickly came to dominate in the sport, which it continues to. Victoria has more than double the number of players of any other state in Australia accounting for approximately 42% of all Australian players in 2023 and continues to grow strongly. In 2023 there were 76 competitions and 1,242 clubs. According to Ausplay there are 227,213 adult of which about one in three are female and 96,068 children playing, similar numbers to soccer. The sport is governed by AFL Victoria based in Melbourne. The national governing body, the AFL Commission is also based in Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1909 VFL season</span> 13th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL)

The 1909 VFL season was the 13th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured ten clubs and ran from 1 May to 2 October, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1915 VFL season</span> 19th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL)

The 1915 VFL season was the 19th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs and ran from 24 April to 18 September, comprising a 16-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1918 VFL season</span> 22nd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL)

The 1918 VFL season was the 22nd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. Played during the final year of World War I, eight of the league's nine clubs featured in 1918, with Essendon and St Kilda returning after being in recess the previous two seasons and only Melbourne absent. The season ran from 11 May to 7 September, comprising a 14-match home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The 1919 VFL season was the 23rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. For the first time since the peak of World War I, all nine clubs featured, with Melbourne returning after being in recess the previous three seasons. The season ran from 3 May to 11 October, comprising a 16-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The Australian Football League finals series, more generally known as the AFL finals, and known from 1897 until 1989 as the Victorian Football League finals series or VFL finals, is a playoff tournament held at the end of each AFL season to determine the premier. The top eight teams qualify for the finals based on the home-and-away season results, and finals matches are played over four weeks under the conventions of the AFL final eight system, culminating in the AFL Grand Final. The finals series is traditionally held throughout September.

The 1995 AFL season was the 99th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989.

The 1986 VFL season was the 90th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 29 March until 27 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1920 VFL season</span> 24th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL)

The 1920 VFL season was the 24th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs and ran from 1 May to 2 October, comprising a 16-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1921 VFL season</span> 25th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL)

The 1921 VFL season was the 25th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs and ran from 7 May to 15 October, comprising a 16-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The 1927 VFL season was the 31st season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs and ran from 30 April to 1 October, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The 1928 VFL season was the 32nd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs and ran from 21 April to 29 September, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The 1931 VFL season was the 35th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs and ran from 2 May to 10 October, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970 VFL grand final</span> Grand final of the 1970 Victorian Football League season

The 1970 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 26 September 1970. It was the 73rd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1970 VFL season. The match was won by Carlton who came back from a 44 point deficit at halftime to win by a margin of 10 points, marking that club's 10th premiership victory.

The 1972 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Richmond Football Club and Carlton Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 7 October 1972. It was the 75th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1972 VFL season. The match, attended by 112,393 spectators, was won by Carlton by a margin of 27 points, marking that club's 11th premiership victory.

The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest league in the country.

The 1989 Victorian Football League finals series was the 93rd annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 1989 VFL Premiership season. The series ran over four weekends in September 1989, culminating with the 1989 VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 1989.

References

  1. ↑ "VFL finals". The Canberra Times. Canberra, ACT. 5 November 1971. p. 18.
  2. ↑ Rivett, Rohan (7 September 1970). "Size, experience win for St. Kilda". The Canberra Times . Vol. 45, no. 12, 690. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. p. 10. Retrieved 24 July 2021– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ Rivett, Rohan (14 September 1970). "Teamwork gives Collingwood victory". The Canberra Times . Vol. 45, no. 12, 696. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. p. 12. Retrieved 26 July 2021– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ Rivett, Rohan (21 September 1970). "Carlton swamps St Kilda". The Canberra Times . Vol. 45, no. 12, 702. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. p. 10. Retrieved 26 July 2021– via National Library of Australia.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.