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1976 VFL grand final

Grand final of the 1976 Victorian Football League season

Field	Value
year	1976
competition	VFL
home	[[File:Hawthorn Football Club Colours.svg	50px]]

away	[[File:NMFC_AFL.png	50px]]

home_abbr	HAW
away_abbr	NM
home_qtr1	5.6 (36)
home_qtr2	9.12 (66)
home_qtr3	10.18 (78)
home_qtr4	13.22 (100)
away_qtr1	4.2 (26)
away_qtr2	7.5 (47)
away_qtr3	10.8 (68)
away_qtr4	10.10 (70)
home_score	13.22 (100)
away_score	10.10 (70)
date	25 September 1976
stadium	Melbourne Cricket Ground
attendance	110,143
umpire	Kevin Smith, Bill Deller
jock_mchale	John Kennedy Sr.
network	Seven Network
announcers	Mike Williamson
Lou Richards
last	1975
next	1977

Lou Richards The 1976 VFL grand final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 25 September 1976. It was the 79th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1976 VFL season. The match, attended by 110,143 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 30 points, marking that club's third premiership victory.

Background

Main article: 1976 VFL season

This was the third of five successive grand final appearances for North Melbourne, and North Melbourne was the reigning premier after having defeated Hawthorn in the 1975 VFL grand final.

At the conclusion of the home-and-away season, Hawthorn had finished second (behind Carlton) on the ladder with 16 wins and 6 losses. North Melbourne had finished third with 15 wins and 7 losses. During the season Hawthorn played North Melbourne in two home and away games, winning by 22 and 8 points respectively.

In the finals series leading up to the grand final, North Melbourne lost to Hawthorn by 20 points in the qualifying final before defeating Geelong by 33 points in the first semi-final. They then met Carlton in the preliminary final which they won by one point to advance to the grand final. Hawthorn, after their win in the qualifying final, defeated Carlton by 17 points in the second semi-final to advance to the grand final.

Teams

{{Australian rules football kit	pattern_b = _brown_stripes_copia	pattern_sh = _goldsides	pattern_so = _hoops_gold	body = FBBF15	shorts = ffffff	socks = 823F00	title = Hawthorn	{{Australian rules football kit	pattern_b = _3stripesonwhite	pattern_sh = _whitesides	pattern_so =	body = 000099	shorts =000099	socks =000099	title = North Melbourne

	backpocket1 = 11 Brian Douge	fullback = 15 Kelvin Moore	backpocket2 = 31 Bernie Jones	halfbackflank1 = 20 Ian Bremner	centrehalfback = 24 Peter Knights	halfbackflank2 = 8 David O'Halloran	wing1 = 2 Geoff Ablett	centre = 22 Barry Rowlings	wing2 = 26 Rodney Eade	David Polkinghorne]]	centrehalfforward = 14 Alan Martello	halfforwardflank2 = 4 Kelvin Matthews	forwardpocket1 = 6 Michael Moncrieff	John Hendrie]]	forwardpocket2 = 19 Alan Goad	Don Scott]] (c)	ruckrover = 17 Michael Tuck	rover = 3 Leigh Matthews (vc)	Leon Rice]]	reserve2 = 43 Peter Murnane	John Kennedy, Sr.]]}}		John Byrne]]	fullback = 23 David Dench (vc)	backpocket2 = 30 Frank Gumbleton	halfbackflank1 = 36 Steven Icke	centrehalfback = 13 Gary Cowton	halfbackflank2 = 5 Darryl Sutton	wing1 = 18 Paul Feltham	John Burns]]	wing2 = 27 Keith Greig (c)	halfforwardflank1 = 20 Wayne Schimmelbusch (dvc)	Terry Moore]]	halfforwardflank2 = 15 Malcolm Blight	forwardpocket1 = 1 Peter Keenan	fullforward = 8 Brent Crosswell	forwardpocket2 = 17 Graham Melrose	Mick Nolan]]	Mark Dawson]]	rover = 9 Barry Cable	reserve1 = 34 Ross Henshaw	reserve2 = 40 Peter Chisnall	coach = Ron Barassi}}

;Umpires The umpiring panel for the match, comprising two field umpires, two boundary umpires and two goal umpires is given below. This was the first VFL grand final to feature two field umpires.

Position	Emergency
	Field:	Bill Deller (2)
	Boundary:	Howard Fox (1)
	Goal:	Kevin Barker (1)

Numbers in brackets represent the number of grand finals umpired, including 1976.

Match summary

North Melbourne went into the match with a defensive gameplan; captain Keith Greig was minding Hawthorn's dangerous rover Leigh Matthews, and similarly attacking-minded players Malcolm Blight and Steven Icke also found themselves playing in defence. Hawthorn started the better, with Leigh Matthews kicking the first goal of the game after five minutes. Late in the first quarter, Matthews struck Greig on the forehead sending him to the ground, and was reported. Greig was knocked out again later in the match, yet in spite of these heavy blows still played well enough to be among North Melbourne's best players on the day.

The second quarter was for the most part even as both sides went goal for goal, but Kelvin Matthews and captain Don Scott kicked vital goals to give Hawthorn a 19-point lead at half time. Had they kicked for goal more accurately – star forward John Hendrie was especially inaccurate, kicking one goal and six behinds for the match – Hawthorn could easily have opened a six-goal lead.

After 10 minutes of the third quarter, North Melbourne coach Ron Barassi made the move of substituting Brent Crosswell on for Peter Keenan, which immediately provided North Melbourne with a forward target. Hawthorn continued to be inaccurate in the forward line, kicking one goal and six behinds for the quarter, and by three-quarter time North Melbourne and managed to close the margin to just ten points.

In the final quarter, Hawthorn kept North Melbourne goalless. Greig suffered another heavy blow from Matthews, while Peter Knights and David O'Halloran each took big marks for Hawthorn. Hawthorn added three goals for the quarter and eventually ran out 30-point winners. It was the club's third premiership win under coach John Kennedy.

Aftermatch

Hawthorn's win was dedicated to former captain Peter Crimmins, who was dying from cancer at just 28. Before the game, Crimmins sent a telegram which Kennedy read to the team: "Good luck to you and all the boys. It will be a long, hard, 100 minutes but I am sure you will be there at the end. Regards, Peter Crimmins." Kennedy implored his players to "Do it for the little fella", and later stated that he believed his team was never going to lose. The night of the grand final, some players took the premiership cup to Crimmins' house to let him share in the celebrations. A press photographer accompanied them, and a famous photo was published in the newspapers showing a wasted, reclining, yet beaming Crimmins holding the premiership cup surrounded by his jubilant teammates. The victory became popularly known as 'Crimmo's Cup' in recognition of the inspiration Crimmins provided to his team. Crimmins died just three days after the game, aged 28.

This was Kennedy's last game as Hawthorn coach. He was later appointed coach of North Melbourne in 1985, and in his five seasons there he coached the club to the finals twice.

The 1976 grand final was North Melbourne's third of five consecutive grand finals, while Hawthorn's next appearance in a grand final was two years later (again against North Melbourne), in 1978.

Match Scorecard and Details

2 K. Matthews, Hendrie, Goad 1 L. Matthews, Scott, Rowlings, Martello 1 Cowton, Byrne, Moore, Melrose

References

Bibliography

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.

References

(13 June 2013). "Grand finals – AFLUA".
Atkinson and Atkinson, 2009, p. 323
Atkinson and Atkinson, 2009, p. 324
McFarlane, Glenn. (14 December 2008). "Hawthorn great John Kennedy still a grand master". Herald Sun.
Jackson, Russell. (24 September 2013). "The Joy of Six: great grand final moments: 4) Crimmo's Cup in '76". Guardian News and Media Limited.
(22 June 2009). "The Best Hawthorn FC Photos". Big Footy.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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