Round 1, 1966
Melbourne vs St. Kilda
Monday 25 April
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 64,930
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.0 | 2.4 | 4.7 | 4.9.33 |
| St. Kilda | 4.4 | 5.5 | 12.6 | 17.7.109 |
St. Kilda win by 76 points
Goalkickers: Barry Bourke 1, Ed Burston 1, Jeff Chapman 1, Ray Groom 1
Milestones:
First game
Ed Burston (and first goal)
Jeff Chapman (and first goal)
Ross Dillon
Terry Leahy
Bob Russell
Robert Stewart
Neville Stone
Last game
Graham Wise
Coming off a disappointing end to 1965, missing finals for the first time in over a decade, Melbourne's slide to the bottom of the ladder began with a thumping loss to the beaten grand finalists. The changing fortunes of the sides were shown at selection, while the emerging Saints didn't need to debut a new player Melbourne had seven. They got an unexpected boost when Tassie Johnson was available to play, a week after he was in plaster due to a chipped ankle, but the dire state of their list was shown by the selection of Ed Burston after just half a practice match before he was forced off with injury. Jeff Chapman was given the full forward role at just 17-years-old, and reserves Robert Stewart and Neville Stone only had senior experience in a single night game at the end of 1965.
St Kilda attacked from the first bounce but only registered a behind. Ray Groom kicked the first goal of the season in response, but his side lacked scoring power and further opportunities were cut off by the Saints defenders. Melbourne stayed with the visitors for most of the first quarter, until conceding three goals in time-on. The siren was blown two minutes early, with both Norm Smith and Saints' coach Allan Jones entering the field before realising the game was still being played and returning to their seats.
Smith made several positional changes in the second quarter but by half time his side trailed by 35 points. The Saints won in the packs and the air, and booted 12 goals to two after half-time to win easily.
Best were Groom, Bourke, and Burston. Wise was replaced by Stone at three quarter time, and Bourke (bruised thigh) by Stewart in the last quarter.
Reserves
Melbourne 10.10.70 d. St Kilda 9.12.66
Goals - Jungwirth 4, Vagg 2, Dowsing 2, Behan 1, Jones 1
Best - Crompton, Behan, Jones
Under 19s
St Kilda 14.12 d. Melbourne 9.12
Goals - Callery 4, Saddington 3, Hardeman 1, Johnson 1
Best - Callery, P. Johnson, Saddington
Media
Football Record - R1 1966
Age - 22/04/1966, 26/04/1966
Moorabbin Standard - 27/04/1966