1973 VFL season

The 1973 VFL season was the 77th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 7 April until 29 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.

1973 VFL Premiership season
Teams12
PremiersRichmond
(8th premiership)
Minor premiersCollingwood
(16th minor premiership)
Matches played138
Attendance3,338,648 (24,193 per match)
Highest attendance116,956
Coleman MedallistPeter McKenna (Collingwood)
Brownlow MedallistKeith Greig (North Melbourne)

The premiership was won by the Richmond Football Club for the eighth time, after it defeated Carlton by 30 points in the 1973 VFL Grand Final.

Rule changes

One of the most significant innovations that came into force in 1973 was the implementation of a painted centre diamond area with 45-metre long sides, with a maximum of four players from each team permitted to stand within the diamond at centre bounces.[1] Following a long period of lobbying by the VFL to the Australian Football Council for its introduction, the centre diamond was initially subject to a 12-month trial period. The purpose of this innovation was to try and solve the problem of congestion at centre bounces, as well as giving skilled players more space to benefit their teams.[2]

Premiership season

The home-and-away season consisted of 22 rounds, with teams facing each other twice; matches 12 to 22 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 11.

At the conclusion of the home-and-away fixtures, the 1973 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "McIntyre Final Five system".

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 22
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) Carlton 20.15 (135) def. St Kilda 13.9 (87) Princes Park (crowd: 22,824) Report
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) Essendon 16.6 (102) def. by Collingwood 17.10 (112) Windy Hill (crowd: 28,049) Report
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) Fitzroy 17.15 (117) def. Geelong 14.17 (101) Junction Oval (crowd: 9,172) Report
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) Richmond 10.16 (76) def. by Footscray 11.11 (77) MCG (crowd: 24,671) Report
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) Hawthorn 16.20 (116) def. South Melbourne 11.13 (79) Glenferrie Oval (crowd: 9,932) Report
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) North Melbourne 11.5 (71) def. Melbourne 9.12 (66) VFL Park (crowd: 9,411) Report
  • Footscray ended its otherwise disappointing season on a high note with a third consecutive victory, this time the eventual premiers Richmond. After scores were level at three-quarter time, ruckman Gary Dempsey was moved to full-forward where he kicked two key goals. Former Carlton rover Adrian Gallagher (with 31 kicks) and Bernie Quinlan were outstanding for the Bulldogs, while Kevin Bartlett was by far the Tigers' best.[3]
  • Hawthorn snapped its four-game losing streak and farewelled Glenferrie Oval in style with a hard-fought win over a plucky South Melbourne side. Leading by only five points at the main break, the Hawks kicked clear in the second half to win by 37 points. Leigh Matthews was easily best-on-ground with 36 touches and 3 goals, while Michael Moncrieff chimed in with six goals.

Ladder

1973 VFL ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Collingwood 22 19 3 0 2356 1878 125.5 76 Finals
2 Richmond (P) 22 17 5 0 2301 1957 117.6 68
3 Carlton 22 15 7 0 2342 1850 126.6 60
4 Essendon 22 13 9 0 2443 2341 104.4 52
5 St Kilda 22 12 10 0 2024 1922 105.3 48
6 North Melbourne 22 11 10 1 1938 1986 97.6 46
7 Hawthorn 22 11 11 0 2194 2002 109.6 44
8 Fitzroy 22 9 13 0 1990 2194 90.7 36
9 Footscray 22 7 14 1 1860 2109 88.2 30
10 Melbourne 22 7 15 0 1938 2111 91.8 28
11 Geelong 22 6 16 0 1903 2426 78.4 24
12 South Melbourne 22 4 18 0 1932 2445 79.0 16
Source: VFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals series

Week one

Qualifying final
Saturday, 8 September (2:30 pm) Richmond 10.11 (71) def. by Carlton 13.13 (91) MCG (crowd: 86,386) Report
Elimination final
Saturday, 8 September (2:30 pm) Essendon 13.13 (91) def. by St Kilda 24.14 (158) VFL Park (crowd: 53,405) Report

Week two

Semi-finals
SF1: Saturday, 15 September (2:30 pm) Richmond 15.18 (108) def. St Kilda 9.14 (68) MCG (crowd: 86,483) Report
SF2: Saturday, 15 September (2:30 pm) Collingwood 12.15 (87) def. by Carlton 15.17 (107) VFL Park (crowd: 60,072) Report

Week three

Preliminary final
Saturday, 22 September (2:30 pm) Collingwood 14.14 (98) def. by Richmond 15.15 (105) MCG (crowd: 98,652) Report
  • Collingwood became the first team under the McIntyre Final Five system to exit in straight sets

Week four

Grand final
Saturday, 29 September (2:30 pm) Richmond 16.20 (116) def. Carlton 12.14 (86) MCG (crowd: 116,956) Report
  • This was the second consecutive VFL Grand final meeting between Richmond and Carlton

Awards

Notable events

  • The VFL introduced a new clearance system, "10-year rule", in order to render the VFL immune from the sorts of "restraint of trade" difficulties that were being experienced, at the time, in New South Wales in relation to Rugby League footballers, whereby any VFL player who had played ten years with a single club was eligible for a free transfer to the club of his choice.
  • In Round 11 Kevin Murray played his 300th game for Fitzroy.
  • In Round 21, Hawthorn full-forward Peter Hudson, who had been injured in Round 1 of 1972, returned to the VFL. He beat four opponents and kicked 8 goals.
  • In Round 22, Hawthorn hosted its last senior VFL football match at Glenferrie Oval. The ground was notable for its temperamental playing surface and narrow flanks (wedged between the railway line on the one side and houses on the other). The venue had long been described by football fans as "the sardine can." Hawthorn subsequently played its home games at Princes Park for the next eighteen seasons.
  • The Richmond Football Club won the premiership in all grades in 1973: its Senior Team, Reserves Team and Under-19 team all won their Grand Finals at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Grand Final Day; and the Essex Heights Football Club, which served as Richmond's Under-17 team, won the South-East Suburban League premiership.[5]

References

  1. afl.com.au
  2. "Centre Square now part of game". The Football Record. Vol. 62. 7 April 1973. p. 6.
  3. Trevellyan, Graham (3 September 1973). "Tigers upstaged by underDogs". The Age. p. 30.
  4. "Wesley gets into the Barrot act". The Age. Melbourne. 1 October 1973. p. 27.
  5. Percy Beams (1 October 1973). "Tom's grand design". The Age. Melbourne. p. 28.

Bibliography

  • Hogan, P., The Tigers of Old, The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996. ISBN 0-646-18748-1
  • Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
  • Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN 0-670-90809-6
  • 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
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