1978 VFL Grand Final
Encyclopedia
The 1978 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football
game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club
and North Melbourne Football Club
, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
in Melbourne
on 30 September 1978. It was the 82nd annual Grand Final
of the Victorian Football League
, staged to determine the premiers for the 1978 VFL season
. The match, attended by 101,704 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 18 points, marking that club's fourth premiership victory.
in the 1977 VFL Grand Final
.
At the conclusion of the regular home-and-away season
, North Melbourne had finished on top of the VFL ladder with 16 wins and 6 losses. Hawthorn had finished second, also with 16 wins but with an inferior percentage.
In the finals series leading up to the Grand Final, Hawthorn comfortably defeated Collingwood in the Qualifying Final by 56 points before beating North Melbourne by 10 points in the Second Semi-Final to progress to the Grand Final. North Melbourne, after their Second Semi-Final loss, defeated Collingwood by 12 points in the Preliminary Final to progress to the Grand Final.
In the week leading up to the Grand Final, North Melbourne's Malcolm Blight
was awarded the Brownlow Medal
.
kicking three goals (including two goals in the first two minutes of the game), and they led by nineteen points at quarter time. However, the North Melbourne hit their stride in the second quarter, Phil Baker taking the mark of the year
over Ian Paton became the focal point of the North attack, he helped North kick five goals to two to lead by four points at half time.
Hawthorn ultimately finished victors thanks largely to a strong third quarter which saw them kick 7 goals whilst closing down the Kangaroos. The turning point occurred when two North Melbourne players spoiled each other in the goal square at the 6-minute mark, when a mark and a goal could have put them 17 points up. The Hawks went on to dominate play after this incident, and never looked back, kicking 6.3 to North's one behind in the next 12 minutes.
The teams traded goals in the fourth quarter but by that time the damage was done for the Kangaroos, as they were not able to make up ground. They suffered from the loss of suspended ruckman Peter Keenan
and injured Steven Icke
and Brent Crosswell
, while Brownlow Medallist Blight was virtually out of the game with a torn groin muscle after just five minutes, and Stan Alves
also limped off in the second quarter.
Moncrieff and Leigh Matthews
each kicked 4 goals for the Hawks, while Phil Baker
kicked 6 for the Kangaroos.
(1972
) and Richmond
(1974
) had won premierships from that position.
This win represented the first for David Parkin
as coach. He had previously captained the Hawks to the 1971 VFL Grand Final
victory, and later went on to coach Carlton to premierships in the 1980s and 1990s.
Hawthorn's next success came five years later, when they won the 1983 VFL Grand Final
against Essendon. It would take another 18 years for North Melbourne to appear in another premiership decider, when it defeated the Sydney Swans
in the 1996 AFL Grand Final
.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
and North Melbourne Football Club
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
on 30 September 1978. It was the 82nd annual Grand Final
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...
of the Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
, staged to determine the premiers for the 1978 VFL season
1978 VFL season
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1978.-Grand final:Hawthorn defeated North Melbourne 18.13 to 15.13 , in front of a crowd of 101704 people...
. The match, attended by 101,704 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 18 points, marking that club's fourth premiership victory.
Background
It was the third time in four seasons that these two sides met in a Grand Final while North Melbourne was competing in its fifth successive Grand Final. They were the reigning premiers, having defeated CollingwoodCollingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
in the 1977 VFL Grand Final
1977 VFL Grand Final
The 1977 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the North Melbourne Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 24 September 1977...
.
At the conclusion of the regular home-and-away season
1977 VFL season
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1977.-Grand final:North Melbourne drew with Collingwood 9.22 to 10.16 , in front of a crowd of 108244 people. A replay was held, and North Melbourne defeated Collingwood 21.25 to 19.10 in front of a crowd of 98366 people...
, North Melbourne had finished on top of the VFL ladder with 16 wins and 6 losses. Hawthorn had finished second, also with 16 wins but with an inferior percentage.
In the finals series leading up to the Grand Final, Hawthorn comfortably defeated Collingwood in the Qualifying Final by 56 points before beating North Melbourne by 10 points in the Second Semi-Final to progress to the Grand Final. North Melbourne, after their Second Semi-Final loss, defeated Collingwood by 12 points in the Preliminary Final to progress to the Grand Final.
In the week leading up to the Grand Final, North Melbourne's Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former champion Australian rules football player and coach, and current television commentator. During the 1970s and 1980s Blight played for the Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League and the North Melbourne Football Club in the...
was awarded the Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
.
Match summary
Hawthorn had the better of the first quarter, with forward Michael MoncrieffMichael Moncrieff
Michael Moncrieff is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn in the VFL during the 1970s and early 80s....
kicking three goals (including two goals in the first two minutes of the game), and they led by nineteen points at quarter time. However, the North Melbourne hit their stride in the second quarter, Phil Baker taking the mark of the year
Mark of the Year
The annual Mark of the Year competition is a sporting award that celebrates each season's best mark...
over Ian Paton became the focal point of the North attack, he helped North kick five goals to two to lead by four points at half time.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawthorn Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys... |
5.3 | 7.4 | 14.10 | 18.13 (121) |
| North Melbourne North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world... |
2.2 | 7.8 | 10.12 | 15.13 (103) |
Hawthorn ultimately finished victors thanks largely to a strong third quarter which saw them kick 7 goals whilst closing down the Kangaroos. The turning point occurred when two North Melbourne players spoiled each other in the goal square at the 6-minute mark, when a mark and a goal could have put them 17 points up. The Hawks went on to dominate play after this incident, and never looked back, kicking 6.3 to North's one behind in the next 12 minutes.
The teams traded goals in the fourth quarter but by that time the damage was done for the Kangaroos, as they were not able to make up ground. They suffered from the loss of suspended ruckman Peter Keenan
Peter Keenan
Peter 'Crackers' Keenan is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne, Essendon and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League during the 1970s....
and injured Steven Icke
Steven Icke
Steven Icke is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne and Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....
and Brent Crosswell
Brent Crosswell
Brent Tasman Crosswell is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton, Melbourne and North Melbourne in a 222 game Victorian Football League career...
, while Brownlow Medallist Blight was virtually out of the game with a torn groin muscle after just five minutes, and Stan Alves
Stan Alves
Stan Alves, OAM was an Australian rules football player and coach. He played 226 games for the Melbourne Football Club in the 1970s, captaining them from 1973–1976 and finishing runner-up for the Brownlow Medal in 1975, before joining North Melbourne in 1977. Legend has it that he chose to play...
also limped off in the second quarter.
Moncrieff and Leigh Matthews
Leigh Matthews
Leigh Raymond "Lethal Leigh" Matthews AM is a former player and coach of Australian rules football. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League from 1969 to 1985, coached Collingwood from 1986–1995, and coached the Brisbane Lions from 1999 to 2008...
each kicked 4 goals for the Hawks, while Phil Baker
Phil Baker (footballer)
Phil Baker is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne and Geelong in the Victorian Football League during the 1970s....
kicked 6 for the Kangaroos.
Epilogue
The Kangaroos' loss represented another instance in which the team which had finished first at the end of the home and away season lost the Grand Final. Since the final five finals system began in 1972, only CarltonCarlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
(1972
1972 VFL Grand Final
The 1972 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 7 October 1972. It was the 76th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the...
) and Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
(1974
1974 VFL Grand Final
The 1974 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Richmond Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1974. It was the 78th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to...
) had won premierships from that position.
This win represented the first for David Parkin
David Parkin
David Parkin is a former Australian rules footballer and four-time premiership coach.- Pre-football career :He attended Melbourne High School and during his time there, was the school vice-captain and captain of football....
as coach. He had previously captained the Hawks to the 1971 VFL Grand Final
1971 VFL Grand Final
The 1971 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and St Kilda Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 1971. It was the 75th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine...
victory, and later went on to coach Carlton to premierships in the 1980s and 1990s.
Hawthorn's next success came five years later, when they won the 1983 VFL Grand Final
1983 VFL Grand Final
The 1983 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 24 September 1983. It was the 87th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine...
against Essendon. It would take another 18 years for North Melbourne to appear in another premiership decider, when it defeated the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
in the 1996 AFL Grand Final
1996 AFL Grand Final
The 1996 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the North Melbourne Football Club and Sydney Swans, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1996. It was the 100th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football...
.
Teams
Goal kickers
Hawthorn
|
North Melbourne
|
External links
See also
- 1978 VFL season1978 VFL seasonResults and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1978.-Grand final:Hawthorn defeated North Melbourne 18.13 to 15.13 , in front of a crowd of 101704 people...