The 1977 VFL grand final was a series of two Australian rules football matches between the North Melbourne Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club. Together they are considered the 80th and 81st grand finals of the Victorian Football League and were staged to determine the premiers for the 1977 VFL season. The premiership is usually decided by a single match; however, as the first grand final ended in a draw, a grand final replay was played the following week and was won by North Melbourne. Both grand finals were held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The first was held on 24 September 1977. The game was attended by 108,224 spectators and ended in a draw, with both teams scoring 76 points. This was the second time a draw had occurred in a VFL grand final, the first being in 1948.
The premiership was decided by a full replay on 1 October 1977, attended by 98,491 people. North Melbourne defeated Collingwood by 27 points, marking their second VFL premiership victory.
The 1977 grand final was historically memorable for numerous reasons; besides the drawn result, it was the first grand final televised live in Victoria by the Seven Network, and the first to feature pre-match entertainment, which was provided by Barry Crocker.
Background
Collingwood entered this premiership game after a seven-year absence, having last been defeated by Carlton in the 1970 VFL grand final. Its last premiership victory was the 1958 VFL grand final. In contrast, North Melbourne had contested the previous three premiership deciders, winning the 1975 VFL grand final but finishing runners-up in 1974 and 1976.
After finishing last place at the end of the 1976 season, Collingwood, under former Richmond coach Tom Hafey, had finished first on the ladder with 18 wins and 4 losses in 1977. North Melbourne had finished third (behind Hawthorn), with 15 wins and 7 losses.
In the finals series, North Melbourne lost to Hawthorn by 38 points in the qualifying final before defeating by 47 points in the first semi-final. They then met Hawthorn once again in the preliminary final, this time winning comfortably by 67 points to advance to the grand final. Collingwood advanced straight to the grand final with a thrilling two-point win over Hawthorn in the second semi-final.
The Magpies were without Phil Carman for the grand final, who had been suspended for two matches for striking Hawthorn's Michael Tuck in the second semi-final, and regular defender Ian Cooper, who had played the first 21 matches of the season before chipping an ankle bone.Collingwood Cult Figures: Ian Cooper North Melbourne was without captain Keith Greig, who missed two-thirds of the season with a knee injury; David Dench served as acting captain.
Chief football writer for The Herald Alf Brown predicted a win for Collingwood; he claimed that up to half the spectators at the game would be supporting Collingwood, hence giving a kind of home ground advantage, and also pointed to the inconsistent output of North Melbourne's key players in recent games. In his weekly Tuesday column for The Canberra Times, Carlton star Alex Jesaulenko tipped North Melbourne to win, describing their momentum over the finals series as "running on the crest of a wave full flight into the grand final". In a somewhat prophetic tone, Jesaulenko predicted that "it [would] be the closest grand final in the VFL for many a long year — and a classic one too." He also bemoaned the fact that Carman would not play due to suspension, calling him "probably the most spectacular player in the VFL" and believing that his presence would have added an extra layer of excitement.
Television coverage Up until 1977, the VFL had been staunchly opposed to showing the grand final live on television in Victoria despite the growing demand. In the week leading up to the grand final, the commercial station Network Seven, managed by Ron Casey, finally arrived at a deal worth A$100,000 ($627,093 in 2022 figures) to televise the event live. However, the two sponsors for the telecast, Carlton & United Breweries and Just Jeans, did not completely cover the upfront fee demanded by the VFL.
Worryingly, power restrictions imposed by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in response to a strike by 2,300 maintenance workers in the Latrobe Valley almost put the plans for the live telecast in jeopardy. Those restrictions were lifted at the last minute, meaning the event would not have to be broadcast on a 45-minute delay.
The drawn grand final was a ratings success, drawing a nationwide audience of over two million viewers, which was in line with Ron Casey's prediction of 2,250,000 viewers.
First grand final First quarter Collingwood captain Max Richardson won the toss and elected to kick to the City end of the ground. North Melbourne scored the first goal of the game seven minutes into the opening quarter through acting captain and full-back David Dench, who had followed the play downfield. He played on immediately after taking an intercept mark from a clearing kick by Collingwood half-back Phil Manassa, dodged an attempted tackle and kicked a goal. The Kangaroos added a second goal a few minutes later when Phil Baker gathered the ball as it spilled behind a pack contest, finishing off a fine sequence of play which had started with Frank Gumbleton deep in defence.
The Magpies then got their first goal for the game—and their only goal for the quarter—through Graeme Anderson, who finished off a great piece of play upfield by Len Thompson, Ronnie Wearmouth and Ross Dunne to swoop onto the ball as it spilled free from a contest in the goal square and run into an open goal. Two further goals by Baker from set shots at the 16- and 21-minute mark would help give North Melbourne a 17-point lead at quarter time. During the quarter, Ray Shaw was reported for striking Ken Montgomery with a clenched fist to the stomach.Dowsing (2015) Shaw would later be cleared to play in the replay.
Second quarter From the first bounce, the ball was driven quickly into Collingwood's attack by Andrew Ireland and Anderson, who passed towards star forward Peter Moore. Moore was awarded a free kick in the marking contest with Gumbleton and converted the subsequent set shot for the first of his four goals in the game. Five minutes later, the margin was reduced to six points when North Melbourne's defenders were unable to intercept a tricky, bouncing kick into attack by Wearmouth, allowing Rene Kink to run onto the ball and score with a left-footed snap shot. The physical intensity of the match lifted as both sides traded behinds—Arnold Briedis kicking four of them,Dowsing (2015) eventually finishing with seven—before the Magpies scored their third goal when Moore marked a long pass from Wayne Richardson and kicked straight at the 29-minute mark. North Melbourne's lead had been cut to two points when the siren sounded for half time, and North coach Ron Barassi voiced his displeasure.
Third quarter Collingwood managed to maintain the momentum they had taken with them to half time, with Moore adding two goals early in the quarter to put the Magpies ahead for the first time. After another shot on goal hit the post, this time by Dench, the ball went back and forth for several minutes until a long kick into attack from Stan Alves towards Baker was well intercepted by Kevin Worthington, who played on quickly to find Shaw free on the half-back flank. Shaw went for a run, taking two bounces before directing a short pass into the path of the hard-running Ricky Barham, who took the mark while still in motion, steadied with a bounce and kicked Collingwood's fifth goal for the term from 40 metres out to extend the margin to 27 points at the 28-minute mark.
In the dying seconds, Briedis marked within scoring distance but was judged to have pushed Manassa in the back before taking the mark. He subsequently threw the ball away in frustration, giving away a 15-metre penalty as the siren sounded. Collingwood led by 27 points at three-quarter time, and North Melbourne had not scored a goal since the 21-minute mark of the first quarter. At the three-quarter-time huddle, Collingwood coach Tom Hafey angrily rebuked some of the Collingwood support staff who were already congratulating the players, and implored his players to focus on finishing the game.Dowsing (2015)
Fourth quarter Barassi made a number of positional changes in an attempt to steal the momentum from Collingwood, the most notable moves being Dench to centre half-forward and Darryl Sutton to full-forward. He also benched Malcolm Blight, who had been ineffective, and brought on Bill Nettlefold, whose energetic play was an important part of the Kangaroos' comeback.
The Magpies had a chance to extend their lead past five goals early in the quarter through Dunne, but his set shot veered off target. North Melbourne then went into attack, and finally, at the 5-minute mark, their run of 13 consecutive behinds ended when Sutton marked and converted his set shot. A minute later, North rebounded quickly out of defence, and with Collingwood's defenders ball-watching, Baker managed to slip unmarked into the goal square to score his fourth goal. Soon after, Manassa's handpass deep in defence was intercepted by Dench who ran in and kicked his second goal. At this point, North Melbourne had scored three goals in four minutes to reduce the margin to eight points.Atkinson & Atkinson (2009), p. 330
At the 10-minute mark, Briedis took a strong pack mark, but had to wait to take his set shot as Doug Gott, who injured his knee in the marking contest, was stretchered off. Briedis had been having a poor day in front of goal, and it continued with his sixth behind. From the kick-in, the Kangaroos were again able to intercept, but Dench was unable to take full advantage, his rushed kick adding another behind to North Melbourne's score. At the 14-minute mark, the hard-running Wayne Schimmelbusch outpaced Ireland on the wing to intercept an attempted pass from Billy Picken, kicking North Melbourne back into attack. Running into the forward pocket, John Byrne gathered the ball as Collingwood defenders fumbled and fell over, kicking towards full-forward where Baker again had found space in the goal square. Baker kicked his fifth goal to level the scores.
Soon after, Hafey replaced Anderson with Shane Bond to give Collingwood some fresh legs. Over the next few minutes, both sides missed relatively easy goal-scoring chances from set shots and good opportunities in general play, but when Baker took a strong contested mark and kicked his sixth goal with time-on looming, North Melbourne held a seven-point lead. Collingwood fought desperately to stay in the game, and, at the 29-minute mark, Moore managed to outpoint Brent Crosswell and gather the ball at the top of the goal square, but his left-foot snap missed.
With the tension in the crowd mounting, the Magpies continued to press for an equalising goal while the Kangaroos were trying to play for time. After a shot from Stan Magro went out of bounds on the full, Nettlefold's kick back into play for North was marked at the back of the pack by Picken, who had come up from defence. His kick into the forward line was met by a pack of players, in which Dunne took a mark. Having already missed two shots for the quarter, the Magpie veteran converted his set shot from 25 metres out directly in front to tie the scores with the clock having just ticked over 33 minutes for the quarter.
North Melbourne made one last foray forward, which was cut off by Ireland. His kick out of defence was picked up by Bond, who was racing down the wing as the siren sounded. Players from both sides collapsed, confused and exhausted, while a scuffle between Peter Keenan and Kink was quickly defused.
Aftermath