Round 1, 1973
Melbourne vs St. Kilda
Saturday 7 April
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 44,787
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.2 | 2.4 | 5.6 | 9.12.66 |
| St. Kilda | 1.7 | 7.10 | 12.14 | 14.14.98 |
St. Kilda win by 28 points
Goalkickers: Paul Callery 3, Frank Giampaolo 2, Greg Parke 2, Graham Osborne 1, Greg Wells 1
Milestones:
First Game
Frank Giampaolo
Mal Owens
Glenn Swan
First MFC Game
Carl Ditterich
First Goal
Frank Giampaolo
Carl Ditterich and his on again/off again departure from St Kilda had been one of the stories of the pre-season, and after deciding on the Demons after he had negotiated his way out of a transfer to North Melbourne Ditterich had the misfortune of having to face his old side on debut.
Unfortunately for the Demon's great white hype he had a nightmare debut and his side were beaten comfortably. The teamwork and gameplan they had shown in practice matches completely shut down by the visitors. Even more galling for the Demons was the form of St Kilda big man Bryan Mynott, who had agreed to join them before being cast aside once Ditterich came on the market.
Best were Callery, Bourke and Osborne. Keenan was replaced by Osborne at half time, and Clark (hamstring) by Collins in the last quarter. Sullivan also suffered a hamstring injury.
Reserves
Melbourne 11.13 d. St Kilda 6.22
Goals - Tesoriero 7, Ritterman 2, Dilnot 1, Morgan 1
Best - Tesoriero, Delmenico, Cumming
Under 19s
Melbourne 12.14 d. St Kilda 7.23
Goals - McLean 4, Arundale 1, Chamberlain 1, Edgar 1, Flower 1, McIllvenna 1, Meades 1, Power 1, Slade 1
Best - Lierich, Slade, McIllvenna
Media
Age - 09/04/1973
Inside Football - 21/04/1973
Football Record R2 1973