1948 VFL Grand Final: Essendon v Melbourne
This is the match report for the match played on 2 October 1948 between Essendon and Melbourne in the grand final of the 1948 VFL season.
Essendon "hosted" Melbourne at MCG.
Dick Reynolds captained the hosts.
Don Cordner captained the visitors.
The hosts were coached by Dick Reynolds and the visitors were coached by Frank Hughes.
Essendon
Back:
C. Lambert, C. Ruddell, P. Bushby
Half-back:
H. Lambert, W. Buttsworth, N. McDonald
Centre:
B. Bradley, B. Harper, G. Hassell
Half-forward:
D. Reynolds (capt.), T. Leehane, J. Jones
Forward:
B. Syme, B. Brittingham, K. Rawle
Follower:
D. Bigelow, B. McClure, B. Hutchison
Sub.:
V. Fisher, W. May
Melbourne
Back:
B. Deans, S. McGrath, S. Rule
Half-back:
C. McLean, Denis Cordner, G. Collins
Centre:
M. Spittle, G. Bickford, L. Dockett
Half-forward:
D. Heywood, L. Arnold, N. McMahen
Forward:
J. Mueller, N. Smith, E. Craddock
Follower:
Don Cordner (capt.), A. Dullard, A. Rodda
Sub.:
G. Bowman, E. Jackson
Essendon (7.27.69) drew with Melbourne (10.9.69).
Goalkickers
Essendon: B. Brittingham (2), B. Hutchison (2), K. Rawle (2), B. Bradley
Melbourne: J. Mueller (6), L. Arnold, E. Craddock, A. Dullard, N. Smith
As a result of this match, a replay between Essendon and Melbourne was required.
Match Details
Season:
1948 VFL Season
Round:
Grand Final
Teams:
Essendon
v
Melbourne
Date:
Saturday 2 October 1948
Time:
2:50 PM
Venue:
MCG
Attendance:
86,198
Quarter Breakdown
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essendon | 0 | . | 6 | 2 | . | 15 | 6 | . | 21 | 7 | . | 27 | 7 | . | 27 | (69) |
| Melbourne | 3 | . | 0 | 4 | . | 5 | 6 | . | 8 | 10 | . | 9 | 10 | . | 9 | (69) |
| Margin | MELB by 12 | MELB by 2 | ESSE by 13 | level | drawn | |||||||||||
| Duration | ||||||||||||||||
Honour Roll
Coaches:
Dick Reynolds
(Essendon),
Frank Hughes
(Melbourne)
Captains:
Dick Reynolds
(Essendon),
Don Cordner
(Melbourne)
Match Umpires
Field Umpire:
J. McMurray
Goal Umpire:
C. Rodwell,
E. White
Boundary Umpire:
G. Smith,
P. Stone
Player Statistics
Essendon
| # | Player | Pos. | ToG% | GL | BH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Bigelow, Doug | RU | ? | 0 | ? |
| 27 | Bradley, Bob | WL | ? | 1 | ? |
| 23 | Brittingham, Bill | FF | ? | 2 | ? |
| 35 | Bushby, Percy | BPR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 15 | Buttsworth, Wally | CHB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 1 | Fisher, Vic | SUB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 8 | Harper, Bert | C | ? | 0 | ? |
| 6 | Hassell, George | WR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 7 | Hutchison, Bill | RO | ? | 2 | ? |
| 24 | Jones, Jack | HFFR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 14 | Lambert, Chris | BPL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 17 | Lambert, Harold | HBFL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 9 | Leehane, Ted | CHF | ? | 0 | ? |
| 12 | May, Wally | SUB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 31 | McClure, Bob | RU | ? | 0 | ? |
| 4 | McDonald, Norm | HBFR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 2 | Rawle, Keith | FPR | ? | 2 | ? |
| 3 | Reynolds, Dick (c) | HFFL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 21 | Ruddell, Cec | FB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 26 | Syme, Bob | FPL | ? | 0 | ? |
| Rushed | ? | ||||
| Total (20 players) | 7 | 27 | |||
Melbourne
| # | Player | Pos. | ToG% | GL | BH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Arnold, Lance | CHF | ? | 1 | ? |
| 16 | Bickford, George | C | ? | 0 | ? |
| 11 | Bowman, Gordon | SUB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 3 | Collins, Geoff | HBFR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 1 | Cordner, Denis | CHB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 21 | Cordner, Don (c) | RU | ? | 0 | ? |
| 6 | Craddock, Eddie | FPR | ? | 1 | ? |
| 5 | Deans, Billy | BPL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 32 | Dockett, Len | WR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 28 | Dullard, Adrian | RU | ? | 1 | ? |
| 8 | Heywood, Doug | HFFL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 7 | Jackson, Eddie | SUB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 22 | McGrath, Shane | FB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 25 | McLean, Col | HBFL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 35 | McMahen, Noel | HFFR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 12 | Mueller, Jack | FPL | ? | 6 | ? |
| 30 | Rodda, Alby | RO | ? | 0 | ? |
| 31 | Rule, Stan | BPR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 4 | Smith, Norm | FF | ? | 1 | ? |
| 13 | Spittle, Max | WL | ? | 0 | ? |
| Rushed | ? | ||||
| Total (20 players) | 10 | 9 | |||
Legend
ToG%: Time-on-Ground Percentage, GL: Goals, BH: Behinds, DI: Disposals, KI: Kicks, HB: Handballs, MK: Marks, HO: Hitouts, TA: Tackles, CL: Clearances, CR: Clangers, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, RF: Rebounds Inside 50, IF: Inside 50sPlayer Line-Up
| Essendon | Coach: Dick Reynolds | ||||||||||||||
| BACK | FOLLOWER | INTERCHANGE | |||||||||||||
| 5 | B. Deans | 22 | S. McGrath | 31 | S. Rule | 19 | D. Bigelow | 1 | V. Fisher | ||||||
| 2 | K. Rawle | 23 | B. Brittingham | 26 | B. Syme | 31 | B. McClure | 12 | W. May | ||||||
| FORWARD | 7 | B. Hutchison |
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| HALF-BACK |
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| 25 | C. McLean | 1 | D. Cordner | 3 | G. Collins |
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| 24 | J. Jones | 9 | T. Leehane | 3 | D. Reynolds (c) |
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| CENTRE |
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| 13 | M. Spittle | 16 | G. Bickford | 32 | L. Dockett |
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| 6 | G. Hassell | 8 | B. Harper | 27 | B. Bradley | FOLLOWER | INTERCHANGE | ||||||||
| CENTRE | 21 | D. Cordner (c) | 11 | G. Bowman | |||||||||||
| HALF-FORWARD | 28 | A. Dullard | 7 | E. Jackson | |||||||||||
| 8 | D. Heywood | 29 | L. Arnold | 35 | N. McMahen | 30 | A. Rodda |
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| 4 | N. McDonald | 15 | W. Buttsworth | 17 | H. Lambert |
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| FORWARD |
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| 12 | J. Mueller | 4 | N. Smith | 6 | E. Craddock |
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| 35 | P. Bushby | 21 | C. Ruddell | 14 | C. Lambert |
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| BACK |
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| Melbourne | Coach: Frank Hughes | ||||||||||||||