The 1952 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

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 ...

and

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 ...

, 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 ...

on 27 September 1952. It was the 55th 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

1952 VFL season The 1952 VFL season was the 56th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 19 April until 27 September, and comprised a 1 ...

. The match, attended by 81,304 spectators, was won by Geelong by 46 points, marking that club's fifth premiership victory and second in succession.

Teams

{, , valign="top", Umpire - James Jamieson

The game

Geelong entered the game as the hottest favourites in many a year. The Cats were in the middle of their record winning run and had thrashed Collingwood in the Second Semi final. Collingwood entered the grand final with two changes forced by injuries to Lucas and

Pat Twomey Pat Twomey (2 April 1929 – 22 November 1969) was an Australian rules footballer, who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Pat Twomey joined Collingwood in 1947. He had two stints with the Magpies, separated by a spell with country ...

. In to the side was Les Smith, Harvey Stevens and

Keith Batchelor Keith Vincent Batchelor (4 October 1930 – 24 September 2009) was a former Australian rules footballer, who played in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) for Collingwood Football Club, Collingwood and ...

who made his debut at full back.

1st quarter

Collingwood got the first goal of the game from a drop kick from

Thorold Merrett Thorold Merrett (born 30 September 1933) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Footballer From the Victorian country town Cobden, Merrett was a small footballer who was a keen Richmond ...

. Geelong then got in their stride and kicked the next four goals.

2nd quarter

Parker got Collingwood's only goal of the quarter and there vigor was having a negative effect of the Cats. Geelong finally got a goal in time on to go into the break with a twelve point lead.

3rd quarter

It took until the halfway mark of the third before Geelong finally decided enough was enough and in a blitz added five goals to finish the quarter with a 39 point lead.

4th quarter

With the game out of reach the Magpies attack constantly for little reward, seven behinds from their slow, lumbersome forwards. Geelong on the other hand eased off but still kicked two goals to defeat the Magpies by 46 points.

Statistics

Score

{, class="wikitable" !Team !1 Qtr !2 Qtr !3 Qtr !Final , - ,

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, align=center, 4.2 (26) , align=center, 5.3 (33) , align=center, 11.6 (72) , align=center, 13.8 (86) , - , Collingwood , align=center, 1.1 (7) , align=center, 3.3 (21) , align=center, 5.3 (33) , align=center, 5.10 (40) , - , align=center, Attendance: 82,890 , -

Goalkickers

Geelong: * Goninon 5, Trezise 4, Davis, Flanagan, McMaster, Worner Collingwood: * Parker 3, Merrett 2

Best

Geelong: * Williams, Goninon, Sharp, Trezise, B. Smith, Morrison, Flanagan, Worner Collingwood: * Merrett, Mann, R. Rose, Tuck, M. Twomey, P. Twomey, Dunstan

References

AFL Tables: 1952 Grand Final

1952
* ''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. {{Australian Football League 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 ...

Geelong Football Club Collingwood Football Club September 1952 sports events in Australia