1973 VFL Grand Final

The 1973 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Richmond Football Club and Carlton Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 1973. It was the 77th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1973 VFL season. The match was attended by 116,956 spectators. Although Carlton were the favourites to win, it was Richmond who would take the flag by 30 points, marking that club's eighth premiership victory.

Background

This was the second consecutive year in which the two teams met in the premiership decider, with Carlton having won the 1972 VFL Grand Final by 27 points in a memorable high-scoring affair. The Tigers, who were clear favourites to win that game, were desperate to atone for that humiliating result.

At the conclusion of the regular home-and-away season, Richmond had finished second on the ladder (behind Collingwood) with 17 wins and 5 losses. Carlton had finished third with 15 wins and 7 losses.

In the finals series, Richmond lost to Carlton by 20 points in the Qualifying Final before defeating St Kilda by 40 points in the First Semi-Final. They then defeated Collingwood by seven points in the Preliminary Final (a game in which they came back from a 45-point deficit) to advance to the Grand Final. Carlton, after their win in the Qualifying Final, defeated Collingwood by 20 points in the Second Semi-Final to advance to the Grand Final.

Both sides had injury and illness concerns before the game. Richmond champion Francis Bourke and captain Royce Hart were not supposed to be playing on strict medical grounds, but such was their determination to play that they were selected anyway. For Carlton, Barry Armstrong and Trevor Keogh were ruled out, while Alex Jesaulenko and Neil Chandler were not fully fit. Carlton were forced to name Vin Catoggio in the Grand Final side for his first full VFL game.

For umpire Ian Robinson, this was the first of a record nine Grand Finals which he would officiate.

Match report

The Grand Final was played in hot, dry and blustery conditions in front of the fourth-largest crowd in VFL/AFL history. Kevin Bartlett, a renowned finals performer, was prominent early, gathering kicks at will. The memorable incident in the match occurred at the 4-minute mark of the quarter, when Carlton's captain-coach John Nicholls came out from the forward pocket to mark a kick from Alex Jesaulenko and collided heavily with Richmond defender Laurie Fowler. Nicholls managed to score a goal from the resultant free kick and 15-metre penalty, but suffered double vision as a result of the collision and had no further impact on the match. Richmond's desperation to win was apparent from the outset, and with Brian "Whale" Roberts starting to get on top of Percy Jones in the ruck contests, Richmond had managed to eke out a slender lead at quarter time, with Kevin Sheedy kicking all three of their goals.

Richmond's other ruckman Michael Green - whose form leading up to the Grand Final had fans worried - opened the scoring in the second quarter when he scored a goal from a free kick at centre half-forward. Carlton hit back with goals to David McKay and Kevin Hall before big Richmond forward Neil Balme left his mark on the game, when he king-hit Carlton full-back Geoff Southby and then did likewise to Vin Waite. Southby would not return to the field after half time. Carlton were still in the match until the 25-minute mark of the quarter, when Richmond - through goals to Bartlett, Hart, Balme, Roberts and Ian Stewart - took control and went into the main break 26 points ahead.

Hart kicked his third major to open the scoring for the second half, as Richmond began to slowly increase their lead. Stewart was moved to the half-forward line after injuring a leg, and kicked two goals for the quarter. Richmond's defense, led by Francis Bourke and Dick Clay, repelled attack after attack and restricted the Blues to just two goals for the quarter - to Neil Chandler and Robert Walls. At the last change, Richmond held a commanding 38-point lead.

Carlton was not about to go down without a fight. After making some positional changes, the Blues kicked the first three goals of the quarter through Garry Crane (2) and Walls. By the 15-minute mark they had managed to cut the margin to 18 points and if Nicholls had not missed a shot from the goal-square, the game would have been up for grabs. Richmond steadied after Tom Hafey replaced Noel Carter with Kevin Morris, and when Balme kicked truly before being substituted for Craig McKellar, the contest was effectively over.

Kevin Bartlett was Richmond's best player, gathering 27 touches (all kicks, not surprisingly) and a goal. Kevin Sheedy's three goals in the first quarter were pivotal in helping the Tigers get a solid start, and he continued to be constructive throughout the match, ending up with 16 kicks and 7 handpasses. Michael Green shrugged off concerns over his lead-up form to assist Brian Roberts in subduing Carlton ruckman Percy Jones, and starred all around the ground, taking 8 marks and kicking a goal. And captain Royce Hart, despite his illness, was at his imperious best, kicking three goals and taking a series of strong marks.

Garry Crane was rated as Carlton's best, and experienced finals campaigners Robert Walls and David McKay also played well. Richmond's win completed a great day for the club, having already secured the flag in the Reserves, Under 19s and Under 17s competitions. As Francis Bourke wrote after the game:

Imagine how we would have felt if we hadn't won the big one. We couldn't have looked [our other teams] in the eye - it's not often a club gets the chance to set such a record. How do we feel now? Bloody terrific, that's how. I never realised how sweet revenge could be, especially when it is for such a humiliating defeat as ours 12 months ago. Twelve months is a long time to live with the memory of last year's Grand Final disaster. But now we have something much better to live with. Four flags and the reputation of the strongest and most successful club in League history, that's what.^[1]

Epilogue

For the second time in their history, Richmond would go on to win successive premierships, defeating North Melbourne in the 1974 VFL Grand Final and cementing Tom Hafey's reputation as one of the all-time great VFL/AFL coaches. Carlton's next appearance in a premiership decider came six years later, when it won the 1979 VFL Grand Final against Collingwood.

Teams

Match Summary

Goals Richmond: Hart 3, Sheedy 3, Stewart 3, Balme 2, Sproule 2, Bartlett, Carter, Green
Goals Carlton: Crane 2, Dickson 2, Hall 2, McKay 2, Walls 2, Chandler, Nicholls

Best Richmond: Bartlett, Sheedy, Green, Stewart, Hart, Sproule
Best Carlton: Crane, Walls, McKay, Hall, Pinnell, Jesaulenko

Umpire: Robinson

References

• AFL Tables: 1973 Grand Final
• Match account from Richmond Football Club website
• The Official statistical history of the AFL 2009
• Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

See also

• 1973 VFL season