1954 VFL Grand Final: Footscray v Melbourne
This is the match report for the match played on 25 September 1954 between Footscray and Melbourne in the grand final of the 1954 VFL season.
Footscray "hosted" Melbourne at MCG.
Charlie Sutton captained the hosts with Wally Donald as vice-captain.
Geoff Collins captained the visitors.
The hosts were coached by Charlie Sutton and the visitors were coached by Norm Smith.
Footscray
Back:
W. Donald (vice-capt.), H. Henderson, D. Bryden
Half-back:
A. Martin, T. Whitten, J. Gallagher
Centre:
D. Reynolds, D. Ross, R. McCarthy
Half-forward:
R. Stockman, P. Box, R. Duffy
Forward:
B. Gilmore, J. Collins, C. Sutton (capt.)
Follower:
A. Edwards, H. Stevens, J. Kerr
Sub.:
A. Abbey, J. Nuttall
Melbourne
Back:
K. Christie, L. Arnold, J. Beckwith
Half-back:
D. Williams, N. McMahen, G. Collins (capt.)
Centre:
I. McLean, K. Melville, R. Lane
Half-forward:
L. Mithen, G. McGivern, G. Case
Forward:
K. Albiston, N. Clarke, B. Johnson
Follower:
R. Barassi, D. Cordner, S. Spencer
Sub.:
F. Adams, B. Dixon
Footscray (15.12.102) defeated Melbourne (7.9.51).
Goalkickers
Footscray: J. Collins (7), C. Sutton (3), R. Duffy, J. Kerr, D. Reynolds, H. Stevens, R. Stockman
Melbourne: K. Albiston, R. Barassi, N. Clarke, B. Johnson, I. McLean, L. Mithen, S. Spencer
As a result of this match, Footscray were the premiers and Melbourne were the runners-up.
Match Details
Season:
1954 VFL Season
Round:
Grand Final
Teams:
Footscray
v
Melbourne
Date:
Saturday 25 September 1954
Time:
2:50 PM
Venue:
MCG
Attendance:
80,897
Quarter Breakdown
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Footscray | 6 | . | 3 | 8 | . | 5 | 12 | . | 9 | 15 | . | 12 | 15 | . | 12 | (102) |
| Melbourne | 1 | . | 4 | 4 | . | 6 | 6 | . | 7 | 7 | . | 9 | 7 | . | 9 | (51) |
| Margin | FOOT by 29 | FOOT by 23 | FOOT by 38 | FOOT by 51 | FOOT by 51 | |||||||||||
| Duration | ||||||||||||||||
Honour Roll
Coaches:
Charlie Sutton
(Footscray),
Norm Smith
(Melbourne)
Captains:
Charlie Sutton
(Footscray),
Geoff Collins
(Melbourne)
Vice-Captains:
Wally Donald
(Footscray),
unknown
(Melbourne)
Match Umpires
Field Umpire:
J. McMurray
Goal Umpire:
A. Rees,
E. White
Boundary Umpire:
M. Henderson,
W. Treloar
Player Statistics
Footscray
| # | Player | Pos. | ToG% | GL | BH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Abbey, Angus | SUB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 5 | Box, Peter | CHF | ? | 0 | ? |
| 18 | Bryden, Dave | BPR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 2 | Collins, Jack | FF | ? | 7 | ? |
| 22 | Donald, Wally (vc) | BPL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 7 | Duffy, Roger | HFFR | ? | 1 | ? |
| 11 | Edwards, Arthur | RU | ? | 0 | ? |
| 24 | Gallagher, Jim | HBFR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 34 | Gilmore, Brian | FPL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 25 | Henderson, Herb | FB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 1 | Kerr, John | RO | ? | 1 | ? |
| 19 | Martin, Alan | HBFL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 33 | McCarthy, Ron | WR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 26 | Nuttall, Jack | SUB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 28 | Reynolds, Doug | WL | ? | 1 | ? |
| 9 | Ross, Don | C | ? | 0 | ? |
| 32 | Stevens, Harvey | RU | ? | 1 | ? |
| 17 | Stockman, Ron | HFFL | ? | 1 | ? |
| 6 | Sutton, Charlie (c) | FPR | ? | 3 | ? |
| 3 | Whitten, Ted | CHB | ? | 0 | ? |
| Rushed | ? | ||||
| Total (20 players) | 15 | 12 | |||
Melbourne
| # | Player | Pos. | ToG% | GL | BH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Adams, Frank | SUB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 6 | Albiston, Ken | FPL | ? | 1 | ? |
| 29 | Arnold, Lance | FB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 31 | Barassi, Ron | RU | ? | 1 | ? |
| 30 | Beckwith, John | BPR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 7 | Case, Geoff | HFFR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 4 | Christie, Ken | BPL | ? | 0 | ? |
| 26 | Clarke, Noel | FF | ? | 1 | ? |
| 8 | Collins, Geoff (c) | HBFR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 1 | Cordner, Denis | RU | ? | 0 | ? |
| 9 | Dixon, Brian | SUB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 18 | Johnson, Bob | FPR | ? | 1 | ? |
| 34 | Lane, Ralph | WR | ? | 0 | ? |
| 17 | McGivern, Geoff | CHF | ? | 0 | ? |
| 5 | McLean, Ian | WL | ? | 1 | ? |
| 35 | McMahen, Noel | CHB | ? | 0 | ? |
| 38 | Melville, Ken | C | ? | 0 | ? |
| 11 | Mithen, Laurie | HFFL | ? | 1 | ? |
| 12 | Spencer, Stuart | RO | ? | 1 | ? |
| 25 | Williams, Don | HBFL | ? | 0 | ? |
| Rushed | ? | ||||
| Total (20 players) | 7 | 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
| Footscray | Coach: Charlie Sutton | ||||||||||||||
| BACK | FOLLOWER | INTERCHANGE | |||||||||||||
| 4 | K. Christie | 29 | L. Arnold | 30 | J. Beckwith | 11 | A. Edwards | 30 | A. Abbey | ||||||
| 6 | C. Sutton (c) | 2 | J. Collins | 34 | B. Gilmore | 32 | H. Stevens | 26 | J. Nuttall | ||||||
| FORWARD | 1 | J. Kerr |
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| 25 | D. Williams | 35 | N. McMahen | 8 | G. Collins (c) |
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| 7 | R. Duffy | 5 | P. Box | 17 | R. Stockman |
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| CENTRE |
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| 5 | I. McLean | 38 | K. Melville | 34 | R. Lane |
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| 33 | R. McCarthy | 9 | D. Ross | 28 | D. Reynolds | FOLLOWER | INTERCHANGE | ||||||||
| CENTRE | 31 | R. Barassi | 6 | F. Adams | |||||||||||
| HALF-FORWARD | 1 | D. Cordner | 9 | B. Dixon | |||||||||||
| 11 | L. Mithen | 17 | G. McGivern | 7 | G. Case | 12 | S. Spencer |
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| 24 | J. Gallagher | 3 | T. Whitten | 19 | A. Martin |
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| FORWARD |
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| 6 | K. Albiston | 26 | N. Clarke | 18 | B. Johnson |
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| 18 | D. Bryden | 25 | H. Henderson | 22 | W. Donald (vc) |
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| BACK |
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| Melbourne | Coach: Norm Smith | ||||||||||||||