The 1928 VFL Grand Final was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

game contested between the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

and

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

, held at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 29 September 1928. It was the 30th annual

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

of the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

, staged to determine the

premiers Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

for the 1928 VFL season. The match, attended by 50,026 spectators, was won by Collingwood by a margin of 33 points, marking that club's seventh premiership victory and second in succession.

Background

Despite winning the 1927 flag, the 1928 season held significant hurdles for the Magpies to overcome – contentious pay cuts, a threatened player's strike, allegations of bribery against two team members and a long injury list contributed to a late-season slump. Still, they managed to top the ladder by the end of the season, winning 15 of 18 home-and-away games. In contrast, Richmond was in excellent shape at the end of the home-and-away season. The side finished second on the ladder, and defeated

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

by 53 points in the First Semi-Final. Collingwood and

contested a draw in the Second Semi-Final, forcing a replay the following week which was won by Collingwood by four points. As such, Richmond had a three-week break between its Semi-Final and the Grand Final.

Right to challenge

This season was played under the amended ''Argus'' system. If Richmond had won this match, Collingwood would have had the right to challenge Richmond to a rematch for the premiership on the following weekend, because Collingwood was the minor premier. The winner of that match would then have won the premiership.

Match summary

Collingwood saw Richmond as a skillful, confident team, but also vulnerable to being distracted as well. They set out to taunt the Tigers with name-calling and other verbal challenges while maintaining the ball as their first objective. The first quarter was a scramble, and the defenses of both sides held. Collingwood used all six of their followers in the ruck for the first half, saving

Percy Rowe Percival Henry Rowe (4 January 1896 – 27 August 1976) was a player and coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Victorian Football Association (VFA). In 1915, Rowe played for Lake Rovers Football Club in the Ovens and Murray Footbal ...

for the second half. A blistering 10 minutes in the 2nd quarter saw Collingwood seize control of the match to lead by 21 points at half time, with

Gordon Coventry Gordon Richard James Coventry (25 September 1901 – 7 November 1968) was a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Accorded "Legend" status in the Australian Footb ...

kicking 4 goals for the quarter. Rowe repeatedly absorbed the pressure from Richmond's backs to provide protection for Coventry run to the ball. Despite the Tigers reducing their opponent's lead to 16 points at 3-quarter time, the Magpies banged on 2 quick goals early in the final quarter to effectively seal the game. Collingwood won by 33 points, and Coventry finished with 9 goals, a Grand Final record that stood for 61 years, until equaled by Gary Ablett in the 1989 VFL Grand Final. ::Added Time.
Although there was little or no wind to interfere with the play the game was extended by 22 minutes 39 seconds.
The time added to each quarter was:— First, 5min. 16sec.; second, 7min.; third, 4min., 52sec.; fourth, 5min., 31sec.
The time added to the second quarter (7 min.) was remarkable, and Mr. James Manning, who has been the timekeeper for Collingwood for 33 years, said that in all his experience he had never seen a quarter so much extended." — ''The Argus'', 1 October 1928.Added Time, ''The Argus'', (Monday, 1 October 1928), p.12.
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Match statistics

* Umpire – Jack McMurray * Attendance – 50,026 * Gate – £2,533

Teams

Notes

References

* Atkinson, Graeme: ''The Complete Book of AFL Finals'', 1996. * McFarlane, Glenn and Roberts, Michael: ''The Machine – The Inside Story of Football's Greatest Team'', 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:1928 Vfl Grand Final VFL/AFL Grand Finals

Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

Collingwood Football Club Richmond Football Club

VFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...