NON-PREMIERSHIP MATCHES
1970 RADIANT NIGHT PREMIERSHIP
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Date |
Teams |
1/4 |
1/2 |
3/4 |
Final |
Margin |
Venue |
Day/Time |
Crowd |
ROUND 1 |
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Sep-03 |
Richmond (6) |
8.2 (50) |
8.5 (53) |
11.6 (72) |
14.9 (93) |
13 |
Lake Oval, |
Thu |
10,591 |
Melbourne (10) |
2.2 (14) |
9.10 (64) |
12.12 (84) |
15.16 (106) |
South Melbourne |
(8:00pm) |
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Sep-08 |
Hawthorn (8) |
5.4 (34) |
7.9 (51) |
13.14 (92) |
16.25 (121) |
69 |
Lake Oval, |
Tue |
6,656 |
Essendon (11) |
1.4 (10) |
4.6 (30) |
5.8 (38) |
7.10 (52) |
South Melbourne |
(8:00pm) |
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Sep-10 |
Footscray (7) |
1.3 (9) |
5.4 (34) |
7.7 (49) |
14.13 (97) |
54 |
Lake Oval, |
Thu |
7,906 |
North Melbourne (12) |
3.1 (19) |
4.4 (28) |
5.7 (37) |
6.7 (43) |
South Melbourne |
(8:00pm) |
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Sep-15 |
Fitzroy (9) |
3.4 (22) |
7.11 (53) |
8.13 (61) |
11.19 (85) |
1 |
Lake Oval, |
Tue |
6,035 |
Geelong (5) |
4.4 (28) |
6.5 (41) |
10.12 (72) |
12.12 (84) |
South Melbourne |
(8:00pm) |
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SEMI FINALS |
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Sep-17 |
Melbourne (10) |
2.4 (16) |
4.7 (31) |
8.9 (57) |
11.12 (78) |
1 |
Lake Oval, |
Thu |
10,109 |
Hawthorn (8) |
1.2 (8) |
3.4 (22) |
7.7 (49) |
11.11 (77) |
South Melbourne |
(8:00pm) |
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Sep-22 |
Footscray v Fitzroy moved to Sept.23 due to a proposed strike by electricity
workers |
Tue |
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Sep-23 |
Footscray (7) |
7.4 (46) |
10.7 (67) |
16.11 (107) |
19.17 (131) |
43 |
Lake Oval, |
Wed |
7,553 |
Fitzroy (9) |
2.2 (14) |
6.12 (48) |
8.13 (61) |
12.16 (88) |
South Melbourne |
(8:00pm) |
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GRAND FINAL |
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Sep-28 |
Melbourne (10) |
2.4 (16) |
8.8 (56) |
9.12 (66) |
13.15 (93) |
2 |
Lake Oval, |
Mon |
23,882 |
Footscray (7) |
3.4 (22) |
6.4 (40) |
11.11 (77) |
13.17 (95) |
South Melbourne |
(8:00pm) |
ABOUT THE 1970 SERIES
*Bulldogs win a thriller - Footscray fought back from a 16-point deficit at half-time of the Grand Final to lead by 11 at three-quarter time, courtesy of a burst of five goals to one in that term.
However they nearly squandered their chance by kicking 2.6 in the final quarter, with the Demons holding the lead late only to fall two points short at the finish. Interestingly, The Age match report states that Footscray's final goal that won them the flag was "clearly a point". The win broke a deadlock with South Melbourne for the most titles, giving Footscray four night premierships to South's three. The 1970 title was also Ted Whitten senior's third premiership as a coach, moving him into a tie with Alan Killigrew (St Kilda 1958, North Melbourne 1965/66) as the most successful coach in the night series. *Heartstoppers aplenty - the previous series had four of its seven matches decided by a goal or less. In 1970 there were three tight finishes, this time by margins of 2 points or less. *Leading Goalkicker of the Series - Footscray's Bernie Quinlan led all-scorers with 13 goals in his 3 matches. |
[*NOTE - the 1957 series drew more fans (187,200) but 11 games were played that year compared to 7 in all other series played from 1956 to 1971. The average crowd of both series is the true indicator, with 21,948 per game in 1965 compared to just 17,018 in 1957]
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
5th - Geelong
6th - Richmond 7th - Footscray 8th - Hawthorn 9th - Fitzroy 10th - Melbourne 11th - Essendon 12th - North Melbourne |
SERIES FORMAT
NOTABLE EVENTS
*Business before footy - in the era before billion-dollar TV rights deals players still had to combine footy with a full-time job. The Football Record [17-9-1970] reported that Fitzroy ruckman Russell Crow would miss all of their games in the 1970 night series due to shearing commitments in the outback.
*Hudson kicks another bag - Hawthorn's Peter Hudson continued his run of form in the night series, kicking 7 goals against Melbourne in the first semi-final.
*Magee captains the night premiers - Ted Whitten snr started the 1970 season as Footscray's captain-coach but retired from playing after Round 5 when he broke the VFL games record. Whitten remained as coach and veteran rover Stuart Magee took over the captaincy for the rest of the season, resulting in Magee leading the Bulldogs to the 1970 title while Whitten gave the orders from the sidelines.
MATCH REPORTS
Match 1 - Thursday, September 3 |
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RICHMOND |
8.2 (50) |
8.5 (53) |
11.6 (72) |
14.9 (93) |
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MELBOURNE |
2.2 (14) |
9.10 (64) |
12.12 (84) |
15.16 (106) |
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BEST PLAYERS: |
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Richmond |
Bourke, Sheedy, Bartlett, Hart, Boyanich, Brown |
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Melbourne |
Hardeman, Bourke, Davis, Keenan, Sullivan, Burgmann,
Wells |
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GOALKICKERS: |
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Richmond |
Clay 4, Hart 4, Brown 3, Bartlett, Bourke, Wilson |
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Melbourne |
Wells 4, Burgmann 3, Keenan 2, Dillon 2, Payne,
Bourke, Townsend, Parke |
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REPLACEMENTS: |
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Richmond |
Wilson replaced Miels (selected side) |
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Melbourne |
McKenzie replaced Alves (period of game unknown) |
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UMPIRE: |
Sheales |
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CROWD: |
10,591 |
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SOURCE: |
AGE/SUN/Football Record |
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NOTES: |
- |
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Match 2 - Tuesday, September 8 |
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HAWTHORN |
5.4 (34) |
7.9 (51) |
13.14 (92) |
16.25 (121) |
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ESSENDON |
1.4 (10) |
4.6 (30) |
5.8 (38) |
7.10 (52) |
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BEST PLAYERS: |
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Hawthorn |
Crimmins, Wilson, Smith, Knights, Scott, Hawkin,
Matthews |
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Essendon |
Pirouet, Headlam, Talbot, E. Lake, Starbuck |
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GOALKICKERS: |
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Hawthorn |
Crimmins 5, Keddie 2, Wilson 2, Heath, Porter,
Bremner, Smith, Scott, Hudson, Stevenson |
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Essendon |
E. Lake 2, Starbuck, Headlam, Blethyn, Neish,
Sproule |
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REPLACEMENTS: |
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Hawthorn |
Angus replaced Crimmins (last quarter) |
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Ferguson replaced Hawkin (last quarter) |
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Essendon |
B. Lake replaced Fields (last quarter) |
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Thompson replaced Heath (last quarter) |
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UMPIRE: |
Hayes |
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CROWD: |
6,656 |
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SOURCE: |
AGE/SUN/Football Record |
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NOTES: |
- |
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Match 3 - Thursday, September 10 |
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FOOTSCRAY |
1.3 (9) |
5.4 (34) |
7.7 (49) |
14.13 (97) |
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NORTH MELBOURNE |
3.1 (19) |
4.4 (28) |
5.7 (37) |
6.7 (43) |
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BEST PLAYERS: |
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Footscray |
Quinlan, Bartlett, Pagnoccolo,
Round, Magee, Thorpe |
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North Melbourne |
Steward, Montgomery, Bryant, Seltham,
Peterson, Joseph |
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GOALKICKERS: |
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Footscray |
Bartlett 4, Quinlan 4, Bisset 2, Spargo, Round,
Magee, Pagnoccolo |
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North Melbourne |
Bryant 2, Wood, Pretty, Seltham,
Joseph |
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REPLACEMENTS: |
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Footscray |
unknown |
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North Melbourne |
unknown |
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UMPIRE: |
Artso |
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CROWD: |
7,906 |
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SOURCE: |
AGE/SUN/Football Record |
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NOTES: |
- |
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Match 4 - Tuesday, September 15 |
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FITZROY |
3.4 (22) |
7.11 (53) |
8.13 (61) |
11.19 (85) |
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GEELONG |
4.4 (28) |
6.5 (41) |
10.12 (72) |
12.12 (84) |
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BEST PLAYERS: |
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Fitzroy |
Zunneberg, Irwin, Murphy, Lazarus, Wall |
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Geelong |
Closter, Hampshire, I. Nankervis, Scarlett,
Stevens |
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GOALKICKERS: |
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Fitzroy |
Ruscuklic 3, Irwin 2, Dare, Andrews, Murphy, Thompson,
Shanahan, Merrigan |
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Geelong |
I. Nankervis 3, P. Smith 3, Stephenson 2, Newman
2, Wade, Strahan |
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REPLACEMENTS: |
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Fitzroy |
unknown |
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Geelong |
unknown |
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UMPIRE: |
Marks |
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CROWD: |
6,035 |
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SOURCE: |
AGE/SUN/Football Record |
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NOTES: |
Fitzroy won with a rushed behind in the final
minute of play. |
Match 5 - Thursday, September 17 |
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MELBOURNE |
2.4 (16) |
4.7 (31) |
8.9 (57) |
11.12 (78) |
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HAWTHORN |
1.2 (8) |
3.4 (22) |
7.7 (49) |
11.11 (77) |
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BEST PLAYERS: |
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Melbourne |
Davis, Wells, Bourke, Townsend, Campbell, Molloy |
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Hawthorn |
Wilson, Bremner, Knights, Hudson, Matthews, Angus |
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GOALKICKERS: |
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Melbourne |
Dillon 4, Burgmann 2, Keenan, Wells, Townsend,
Alves, Parke |
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Hawthorn |
Hudson 7, Matthews 2, Keddie, Porter |
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REPLACEMENTS: |
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Melbourne |
(none) |
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Hawthorn |
Chiron replaced Heath (last quarter) |
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Ferguson replaced Stevenson (last quarter) |
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UMPIRE: |
Deller |
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CROWD: |
10,109 |
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SOURCE: |
AGE/Football Record |
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NOTES: |
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Hawthorn were 15 points down at the 18 minute mark of the last quarter but levelled the scores
three minutes into time-on; |
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Match 6 - Wednesday, September 23 |
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FOOTSCRAY |
7.4 (46)* |
10.7 (67) |
16.11 (107) |
19.17 (131) |
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FITZROY |
2.2 (14) |
6.12 (48) |
8.13 (61) |
12.16 (88) |
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BEST PLAYERS: |
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Footscray |
Dempsey, Quinlan, Round, D. McKenzie, Thorpe |
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Fitzroy |
Murray, Zunneberg, Ruscuklic |
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GOALKICKERS: |
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Footscray |
Quinlan 6, Dempsey 6, Round 5, Thorpe, D.
McKenzie |
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Fitzroy |
Ruscuklic 5, Irwin 3, Andrews, McKenzie, Lazarus, Padley |
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REPLACEMENTS: |
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Footscray |
unknown |
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Fitzroy |
unknown |
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UMPIRE: |
Sutcliffe |
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CROWD: |
7,553 |
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SOURCE: |
AGE/SUN/Football Record |
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NOTES: |
Postponed from Sept.22 due to the possibility of
a strike by electricity workers. |
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SCORE DISCREPANCY: |
Footscray's 1/4 time score in The
Football Record = 7.4 (The Age has 7.3) |
FOOTSCRAY |
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COACH |
E.J. Whitten |
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BACKS |
Casey |
McGhie |
Rippon |
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HALF-BACKS |
McGowan |
Merrington |
Joslin |
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CENTRES |
Power |
Magee (C) |
Thorpe |
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HALF-FORWARDS |
Sandilands |
Bartlett |
McKenzie |
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FORWARDS |
Round |
Quinlan |
Spargo* |
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FOLLOWERS |
Dempsey |
Greenwood |
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ROVER |
Bisset |
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RESERVES |
Austin* |
Radziminski |
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EMERGENCIES |
Simmons* |
Pokrovsky |
Skreja |
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*Spargo was replaced in the
selected Footscray side by Austin |
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(Simmons was promoted from
emergency to reserve) |
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MELBOURNE |
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COACH |
John Beckwith |
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BACKS |
Davis (C) |
Hodges |
M. Walker |
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HALF-BACKS |
Sullivan |
Hardeman |
Feldmann |
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CENTRES |
Alves |
Bourke |
Rollinson |
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HALF-FORWARDS |
Burgmann |
Parke |
McKenzie |
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FORWARDS |
Payne |
Dillon |
Townsend |
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FOLLOWERS |
Keenan |
Lakes |
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ROVER |
Wells |
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RESERVES |
Sinclair |
D. Clark |
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EMERGENCIES |
Biffin |
Carr |
Weekes |
1970 VFL NIGHT PREMIERSHIP - GRAND FINAL
Match 7 - Monday, September 28 |
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MELBOURNE |
2.4 (16) |
8.8 (56) |
9.12 (66) |
13.15 (93) |
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FOOTSCRAY |
3.4 (22) |
6.4 (40) |
11.11 (77) |
13.17 (95) |
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BEST PLAYERS: |
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Melbourne |
Townsend, Davis, Lakes, Wells, Alves, Burgmann |
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Footscray |
Dempsey, Quinlan, Bisset, Thorpe, Power,
Greenwood |
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GOALKICKERS: |
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Melbourne |
Burgmann 4, Parke 3, Bourke 2, McKenzie 2, Wells,
Payne |
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Footscray |
Quinlan 3, Bisset 2, Magee 2, Dempsey 2, Thorpe,
Bartlett, Radziminski, McKenzie |
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REPLACEMENTS: |
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Melbourne |
Clark replaced Keenan (last quarter) |
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Footscray |
Simmons replaced Rippons
(third quarter) |
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Radziminski replaced McKenzie (last quarter) |
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UMPIRE: |
Crouch |
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CROWD: |
23,882 |
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SOURCE: |
AGE/Football Record |
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NOTES: |
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Footscray’s last goal – kicked by Radziminski
at the 25 minute mark – was a behind according to The
Age match report: |
Written and researched by David Eastman
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First published 15/2/2017
Last updated 2/5/2022 |