1970 VFL Grand Final

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1970 Victorian Football League Grand Final was held on 26 September 1970 between Carlton and Collingwood. It is widely considered to be the epitome of a classic Australian Football Grand Final and the "birth" of the modern Australian game as we know it. The crowd of 121,696 in attendance remains an enduring record for any VFL/AFL match.

[edit] Grand Final Teams

Umpire - Don Jolley

[edit] Match Summary

Carlton played poorly in the first half and many thought the game was as good as finished by the half time siren; perhaps it could have been, had Collingwood's scoreline read more accurately than 10-13-73. At the half-time break Carlton trailed by a seemingly overwhelming 44 points. During the break, champion Carlton coach Ron Barassi instructed his players to handball and play on at all costs, instituting a strategy to try and nullify Collingwood's long kicking game. A key positional move was the introduction of little-known Ted Hopkins, a small rover, as a substitute for Bert Thornley in the second half. ^[1]

These changes were highly effective and Carlton scored seven goals to one behind in the first thirteen minutes of the third quarter, almost completely erasing Collingwood's lead. Ted Hopkins lively contribution made a major contribution to the Carlton revival, highlighted by 4 inspirational goals.

Collingwood fought back strongly towards the end of the third quarter, leading by seventeen points at three-quarter time, and the game remained in the balance well into the final quarter. Late in the last quarter - Carlton leading by less than a goal - Alex Jesaulenko snatched the ball on the half forward line and sent a left foot kick bouncing towards goal. With no one guarding the goals, the ball bounced through for a goal, sealing the game for Carlton. Carlton completed a remarkable recovery, to triumph by 10 points, 17.9 (111) to 14.17 (101).

The game also featured the perhaps the most iconic mark in VFL/AFL history, taken by Alex Jesaulenko in the 28th minute of the second quarter. The mark prompted commentator Mike Williamson to make the now famous call "Jesaulenko, you beauty!" which is frequently repeated or paraphrased today. The mark is credited with the initiation of the Mark of the Year competition, and the medal associated with the award now carries Jesaulenko's name.

[edit] Perspective

It is often stated that the style of play, featuring frequent hand ball and open fast running play, displayed that day by Carlton was a precursor to the modern style of play, although Ron Barassi himself credits the idea to his own mentor and former Melbourne coach Norm Smith.

Although the match is justly famous for the contributions of many now legendary players of that era, Brent Crosswell (Carlton) was contemporaneously generally regarded as the best player of the day for his four quarter contribution, especially in the first half when many Carlton players were not playing well.

Interestingly Ted Hopkins played only one further game for Carlton, soon quitting football to pursue other interests.

The 44-point half-time deficit overcome by Carlton was then the second-largest half-time deficit ever overcome in VFL history. The only larger deficit overcome before this was 52 points, by Collingwood against St Kilda in Round 10 of the same year (which remains the record today).[1]

[edit] Result

[edit] See also

• 1970 VFL season

[edit] References