1959 VFL Grand Final: Melbourne v Essendon
This is the match report for the match played on 26 September 1959 between Melbourne and Essendon in the grand final of the 1959 VFL season.
Melbourne hosted Essendon at MCG.
John Beckwith captained the hosts.
Jack Clarke captained the visitors.
The hosts were coached by Norm Smith and the visitors were coached by Dick Reynolds.
Melbourne
J. Beckwith (capt.), F. Adams, R. Barassi, P. Brenchley, G. Case, B. Dixon, D. Fenton-Smith, B. Johnson, T. Johnson, D. Jones, C. Laidlaw, J. Lord, H. Mann, I. McLean, L. Mithen, I. Ridley, A. Rowarth, I. Thorogood, G. Tunbridge, D. Williams
Essendon
J. Clarke (capt.), J. Birt, R. Burgess, B. Capuano, A. Epis, R. Evans, K. Fraser, C. Hebbard, G. Leek, G. Leydin, B. Mackie, H. Mitchell, A. Murdoch, K. Peucker, B. Sampson, G. Sewell, D. Shaw, B. Shearman, I. Shelton, J. Towner
Melbourne (17.13.115) defeated Essendon (11.12.78).
Goalkickers
Melbourne: R. Barassi (4), A. Rowarth (4), F. Adams (3), B. Johnson (3), H. Mann, I. Ridley, G. Tunbridge
Essendon: G. Sewell (4), J. Clarke (2), R. Evans (2), D. Shaw (2), K. Fraser
As a result of this match, Melbourne were the premiers and Essendon were the runners-up.
Match Details
Season:
1959 VFL Season
Round:
Grand Final
Teams:
Melbourne
v
Essendon
Date:
Saturday 26 September 1959
Time:
2:50 PM
Venue:
MCG
Attendance:
103,506
Quarter Breakdown
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 1 | . | 4 | 8 | . | 5 | 11 | . | 10 | 17 | . | 13 | 17 | . | 13 | (115) |
| Essendon | 3 | . | 5 | 7 | . | 8 | 10 | . | 10 | 11 | . | 12 | 11 | . | 12 | (78) |
| Margin | ESSE by 13 | MELB by 3 | MELB by 6 | MELB by 37 | MELB by 37 | |||||||||||
| Duration | ||||||||||||||||
Honour Roll
Coaches:
Norm Smith
(Melbourne),
Dick Reynolds
(Essendon)
Captains:
John Beckwith
(Melbourne),
Jack Clarke
(Essendon)
Match Umpires
Field Umpire:
B. Barbour
Goal Umpire:
R. Caird,
D. Cranch
Boundary Umpire:
H. Kent,
W. Treloar
Player Statistics
Melbourne
| # | Player | Pos. | ToG% | GL | BH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Adams, Frank | ? | ? | 3 | ? |
| 31 | Barassi, Ron | ? | ? | 4 | ? |
| 30 | Beckwith, John (c) | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 38 | Brenchley, Peter | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 7 | Case, Geoff | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 9 | Dixon, Brian | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 1 | Fenton-Smith, Dick | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 16 | Johnson, Bob | ? | ? | 3 | ? |
| 8 | Johnson, Tassie | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 27 | Jones, Dennis | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 35 | Laidlaw, Clyde | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 4 | Lord, John | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 29 | Mann, Hassa | ? | ? | 1 | ? |
| 5 | McLean, Ian | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 11 | Mithen, Laurie | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 24 | Ridley, Ian | ? | ? | 1 | ? |
| 2 | Rowarth, Alan | ? | ? | 4 | ? |
| 26 | Thorogood, Ian | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 23 | Tunbridge, Geoff | ? | ? | 1 | ? |
| 25 | Williams, Don | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| Rushed | ? | ||||
| Total (20 players) | 17 | 13 | |||
Essendon
| # | Player | Pos. | ToG% | GL | BH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Birt, Johnny | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 18 | Burgess, Reg | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 47 | Capuano, Barry | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 1 | Clarke, Jack (c) | ? | ? | 2 | ? |
| 28 | Epis, Alec | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 8 | Evans, Ron | ? | ? | 2 | ? |
| 23 | Fraser, Ken | ? | ? | 1 | ? |
| 4 | Hebbard, Col | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 30 | Leek, Geoff | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 16 | Leydin, Graham | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 32 | Mackie, Barry | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 31 | Mitchell, Hugh | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 15 | Murdoch, Alby | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 29 | Peucker, Ken | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 34 | Sampson, Brian | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 9 | Sewell, Greg | ? | ? | 4 | ? |
| 5 | Shaw, David | ? | ? | 2 | ? |
| 35 | Shearman, Bob | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 10 | Shelton, Ian | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| 33 | Towner, John | ? | ? | 0 | ? |
| Rushed | ? | ||||
| Total (20 players) | 11 | 12 | |||