The 1967 Tasmanian State Premiership Final (colloquially known as the Goalpost Final) was an Australian rules football match played between the Wynyard Cats and the North Hobart Robins on Saturday 30 September 1967 at West Park Oval, Burnie, to decide the winner of the 1967 Tasmanian State Premiership. One of the most controversial games in Australian rules football history, the match was declared no result and the premiership was withheld after fans invaded the field and eventually took down the goal posts, preventing North Hobart full-forward David Collins from taking a kick after the siren which would likely have won or tied the game for the Robins.
Tasmanian State Premiership The Tasmanian State Premiership was a competition played most years from 1909 until 1978 between the individual premiers of Tasmania's two or three major football leagues: the Hobart-based Tasmanian Football League (TFL/TANFL); the Launceston-based Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA); and (after 1950) the North West Football Union (NWFU), based on the north-western coast of the state. From 1950, one of the three leagues would qualify directly for and host the Premiership Final, while the premiers from the other two leagues would play-off in a Preliminary Final for the right to contest the Premiership.
Lead-up It was the NWFU's year to host the final, so the coastal premiers, the Wynyard Cats, qualified directly. After the disappointment of being eliminated in the 1966 coastal preliminary final after finishing the regular season as the Minor Premiers,The Mercury, "Football Details", 22 August 1966 and 12 September 1966 Wynyard dominated the 1967 season. The Cats finished with a 17–1 record, with their only loss coming against Ulverstone by eight points, and they finished six wins ahead of the other three finalists: Burnie, Ulverstone and Cooee.The Mercury, "Football Details", 28 August 1967 They beat Burnie by 58 points in the second semi-final,The Mercury, "Football Details", 11 September 1967 and then won the Grand Final against Cooee by 36 points.The Mercury, "Football Details", 25 September 1967 It was Wynyard's second ever NWFU premiership, and the first time since 1957 that the flag had been won by any team other than the two Burnie-based sides (Burnie and Cooee).Devaney, J., 2009, Full Points Footy's Tasmanian Football Companion", John Devaney & Full Points Publications.
North Hobart, then known as the Robins, had finished last in the TANFL in 1966 with a record of 2–16. They had recruited John Devine from the Geelong Football Club in the VFL to serve as playing coach, but the team initially continued to languish as Devine served a suspension carried over from his final VFL match.Welsh, K., The Mercury, "Robins are premiers – because they wanted that ball", 18 September 1967 The Robins sat last with a record of 1-6-1 after eight weeks, but then turned their form around, winning nine of their remaining eleven games to finish fourth on the TANFL ladder.The Mercury, "Football Details", 21 August 1967 In the finals, they improved this record to twelve wins from fourteen games with a 5-point win over New Norfolk in the first semi-final, a 9-point win over Clarence in the southern preliminary final,The Mercury, "Football Details", 13 September 1967 and a 15-point win over Minor Premiers Glenorchy in the TANFL Grand Final. It was North Hobart's 21st TANFL premiership, and the first time a club had come from fourth on the ladder to win the flag. In the State Preliminary Final at North Hobart Oval, the Robins hosted first-time NFTA Premiers, East Launceston (who had also come from last place in 1966 to win their flagCullen, J., The Mercury, "East made history with first title", 18 September 1967), and were comfortable winners by 51 points.
Wynyard had never previously contested the State Premiership, while it was North Hobart's eighteenth appearance in the State Premiership Final, with the club attempting to win its twelfth title, and first since 1962.Devaney, J., , Retrieved 9 October 2010.
The match was umpired by Jack Pilgrim from the NTFA, the neutral league. Pilgrim had umpired the TANFL preliminary and grand finals.Launceston Examiner, "No State final replay", 3 October 1967
The match was played at West Park Oval in Burnie, 16 km east of Wynyard.
The Game
First quarter North Hobart won the toss and kicked to the eastern end of the ground.Stokes, R., The Mercury, "Tremendous match ended in fiasco", 2 October 1967 With the aid of a westerly wind, North Hobart was the dominant team in general play. The Robins managed eleven scoring shots to Wynyard's two, but led by only 19 points at quarter time, 3.8 (26) to 1.1 (7). Some credit for North Hobart's inaccuracy in front of goal is given to strong defensive work by Wynyard's Phillip Dell and David Cox. John Devine was instrumental as ruck-rover around the ground. Late in the quarter, the Cats finally managed a goal against the wind, courtesy of a downfield free kick to West.Leeson, A., The Advocate, article reproduced in: Devaney, J., 2009, Full Points Footy's Tasmanian Football Companion, John Devaney & Full Points Publications, pp. 67–68.
Second quarter Kicking with the aid of the wind, Wynyard dominated the second quarter. They had scored a goal within the first minute of play, and had overcome their quarter-time deficit after only seven minutes. Wynyard's Leon Clarke started to control the ruck contests after a relatively even battle with his North Hobart opponents in the first quarter, while the forward-line combination of West and captain-coach John Coughlan was dominant. North Hobart, goalless for almost the entire quarter into the wind, managed two late goals, including one by Devine after the half time siren, to bring the margin back to 20 points,. Overall, Wynyard kicked 8.6 (54) to North Hobart's 2.3 (15) in the quarter, to lead 9.7 (61) – 5.11 (41) at half time.
Third quarter Kicking with the wind in the third quarter, North Hobart took full advantage. After an early goal to Wynyard, the Robins dominated and regained the lead after fifteen minutes. Devine continued to find himself in open space around the ground, and was very damaging, scoring two goals himself and assisting on three more for the quarter. Dell and Cox were again good in defence for Wynyard – although the Cats twice conceded bouncing goals after leaving the goal square unguarded. North Hobart scored 6.6 (42) to Wynyard's 1.2 (8) in the third quarter, and led by 14 points at three-quarter time: 11.17 (83) to 10.9 (69).
Through the third quarter and into the final quarter, the game began to be marred by some violent clashes off the ball by both sides. Wynyard rover Kevin King in particular was forced to endure substantial scragging, and the media reported that more than six players were king-hit behind play.Walkley, B., Launceston Examiner, "Match out of control even before the riot", 2 October 2010.
Fourth quarter The strong wind, which to this stage had seen 17.20 (122) of a total 21.26 (152) kicked to the eastern end of the ground, had waned, and proved less of an advantage to Wynyard in the final quarter.
Two early goals in two minutes saw Wynyard close the margin to less than a goal. Devine scored his fifth goal, spectacularly stealing the ball away from Dell as he juggled a mark at full back. Wynyard continued to attack, and after two consecutive behinds, West scored his sixth goal in the 20th minute to tie the game at 90–90. No further goals were scored: Atkins managed a behind to put the Cats ahead, the Robins rushed a behind to tie the game again, and Templar scored a behind in the 29th minute to put the Cats ahead 92–91. In the final minute of the game, Templar conceded a holding-the-man free kick to Devine 30 yards from goal; Devine's kick into the wind fell short, setting up the controversial finish.
The Finish
Collins' mark and the final siren As Devine's kick fell short, a mark was taken in front of a pack by North Hobart full forward David "Dickie" Collins near the tip of the goal square, between 10 and 20 yards from goal on a slight angle; and, the final siren sounded.Welsh, K., The Mercury, "Before siren", 2 October 1967 The order of these two events is a point of contention, but according to umpire Pilgrim – whose decision, by the rules of the game, is final in such cases – Collins did take his mark before the final siren, permitting him to take a kick after the siren to win the game.The Mercury, "Decision today on title issue", 2 October 1967. Collins was reported in the media to have said that he believed he had taken the mark before he heard the siren, while Wynyard captain-coach John Coughlan said that he had heard the siren and seen Pilgrim raise his arms to signal the end of the game before the mark was taken, and he therefore believed the game was now over and that Wynyard had won the premiership by a point.
A Wynyard player knocked the ball from Collins' hands shortly after the mark was taken, and Pilgrim awarded a 15-yard penalty to Collins.The Mercury, "Umpire not to blame", 3 October 1967. It is unclear whether this incident happened before or after Pilgrim heard and acknowledged the siren.
Pitch invasion As Wynyard players argued with Pilgrim about whether or not the mark was legitimate, Wynyard fans streamed onto the ground and occupied the western end, surrounding Collins and other players. It is estimated that more than 3,000 of the game's 8,289 attendees were involved in the invasion.Walkley, B., Launceston Examiner, "Will Collins get chance to kick that goal?", 2 October 1967. North Hobart captain-coach John Devine specifically instructed Collins not to take his kick until a space had been cleared around him.
Umpires, players, team officials, trainers and police did their best to clear a pathway for Collins to take his kick, and after several minutes, they did succeed temporarily; however, Pilgrim did not allow Collins to take his kick at this time because he was not on the correct line with the goal.Cullen, J., The Mercury, "Mark before the siren – umpire", 2 October 1967. The crowd again converged on Collins before he could correct his line, and the opportunity was lost. By this stage, the pitch invasion was riotous, with many punches thrown, and umpires, players, team officials, and police were now tasked with restoring order, particularly after Collins' teammate Barry Styles was knocked to the ground and trampled; he was left unconscious with broken fingers and had to be carried from the field on a stretcher.
It was at this stage of the pitch invasion that Wynyard fans pulled down the goal posts at the western end of the ground, the famous scene from which this game earned its nickname, "the Goalpost Final". Pilgrim abandoned the game and left the ground under police protection after he saw that the goalposts had been taken down, making Collins' kick impossible. The last remaining players left the arena shortly afterwards, and Collins, who still had the ball tucked under his guernsey, was the last player to leave the arena, about ten minutes after Pilgrim and under police protection.
With all players and officials off the ground, still nobody knew for sure who had won the game. Pilgrim and Collins would later be driven from the ground in police cars for their protection.
Aftermath
Game declared no-decision Half an hour after players had left the arena, match manager Jack Leary made the following announcement to the thousands of fans still awaiting an outcome, on behalf of the members of the T.F.L. Standing Committee who were present on the day:
At this stage, only the match had been declared no-decision. The Standing Committee had not yet determined what steps, if any, would be taken to decide the premiership.
Premiership declared no-decision The TFL Standing Committee met on the night of Monday 2 October to make a ruling on the premiership.