The 1930 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

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

, 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 11 October 1930. It was the 32nd 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

1930 VFL season The 1930 VFL season was the 34th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 3 May until 11 October, and comprised an 18-g ...

. The match, attended by 45,022 spectators, was won by Collingwood by a margin of 30 points, marking that club's ninth premiership victory and fourth in succession. As of 2022, Collingwood is the only team in VFL/AFL history to win 4 consecutive premiersips.

Background

The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

had taken hold by the

, and, for many, sport was a rare diversion from dire circumstances. While Don Bradman and

Phar Lap Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a champion New Zealand–bred Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as New Zealand's greatest racehorse ever. Achieving incredible success during his distinguished career, his initial ...

enthralled the

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

worlds, respectively, the residents of Collingwood, many of whom were made virtually destitute, were inspired by the Collingwood Football Club, who had won the previous three flags. The Magpies finished on top of the ladder with 15 wins and 3 losses.

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 ...

was highly fancied to finish on top after winning 13 of their first 14 home-and-away games, but in losing 2 of their last 4 games, they finished second.

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Geelong and

filled the next 3 spots, all on 11 wins. Geelong beat a woefully inaccurate Carlton in the First Semi-Final, while in the Second Semi-Final Collingwood beat their old rival in Richmond in a thriller by 3 points. Collingwood met Geelong in the Final, and, as minor premiers, they had a right to another game if defeated. They were required to exercise this right after Geelong won by 26 points.

Match summary

Collingwood's famous coach,

Jock McHale James Francis "Jock" McHale, (12 December 1882 – 4 October 1953) was an Australian rules football player and coach for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League in a marathon career that extended from 1903 to 1949. Earl ...

, could not attend the 1930 Grand Final, being confined to bed with the

flu Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

. Veteran administrator, club treasurer and former premiership player Bob Rush took charge in his place. Nevertheless, following a decision by AFL historians in 2014, McHale is now credited as Collingwood's sole coach in the game for the purposes of coaching statistics. The Magpies started the match aggressively, and seemed too intent on playing the man. The Cats, however, focused on the ball and kicked the goals. Their pace and work in the air saw them leading by 21 points at half time. At half time, Rush delivered what Harry Collier recalled was one of the most inspirational speeches that he had ever heard, and the team produced one of the most dominant and important quarters in the club's history, coming from a 27-point deficit to lead by 32 at 3-quarter time. Goals came from Gordon Coventry, Makeham, H Collier and Beveridge. Geelong had become "listless and ragged whereas Collingwood were tearing along in their best style". ''The Sun'' described the club's third term as "one of the finest ever seen in football… it was an object lesson to every team in rising to the occasion after being apparently beaten, and by sheer grit and magnificent teamwork, sweeping down every obstacle in their way of finals success." Both teams kicked 3 goals in the final quarter, but Collingwood won by 30 points. In winning four successive premierships from 1927 to 1930, Collingwood set a record that has not been equalled to date. The teams from this era became known as "The Machine" for the teamwork, efficiency and effectiveness with which they played.

Match statistics

Teams

References

1930 VFL Grand Final statistics
* ''The Official statistical history of the AFL 2004'' * 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. * 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. * Lovett, Michael: ''AFL Record: Guide to Season 2007'', AFL Publishing, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:1930 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 Geelong Football Club October 1930 sports events

Background

Match summary

Match statistics

Teams

See also

References