Round 10, 1961
North Melbourne vs Melbourne
Saturday 24 June
Venue: Arden Street
Attendance: 11,500
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| North Melbourne | 1.3 | 2.8 | 3.10 | 5.14.44 |
| Melbourne | 4.2 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 14.9.93 |
Melbourne win by 49 points
Goalkickers: Robert B Johnson 4, Ray Dawson 3, Hassa Mann 2, Geoff Tunbridge 2, Frank Adams 1, Brian Dixon 1, Ian Ridley 1
Milestones:
First Goal
Ray Dawson (5th game)
The top of the table Demons travelled to Arden Street and won in every department to capture an easy victory. They experimented with their team against the last placed North, promoting Ray Dawson and Bruce Leslie from the reserve bench to the starting 18 for the first time in their career and naming Dawson as full-forward despite the fact that he had never played in the position before. They were part of five changes to the side that struggled to beat South Melbourne a week earlier.
A 17 point lead at the end of the first quarter was extended to nearly seven goals at the long break and the match was all but over. North had their chances in the second but were woefully inaccurate, and they were unable to battle Melbourne's greater physical strength and superior teamwork for four quarters.
The home side fought on gamely in the third but couldn't penetrate the strong Melbourne defence and went into the last quarter 44 points behind. Melbourne added just five points to their lead in the last term but the damage had already been done. The ploy to play Dawson at full-forward was rewarded with three goals.
Best were Barassi, Kenneally and L. Mann. Geoff Tunbridge and Bob Johnson were replaced by Nilsson and Miller respectively during the last quarter.
Reserves
Melbourne 12.18 d. North Melbourne 5.13
Goals - Rowarth 4, Carroll 3, Anderson 1, Breen 1, Ireland 1, Lethlean 1, Thorpe 1
Best - Leahy, Carroll, Massey
Under 19'=s
Melbourne 10.9 d. North Melbourne 5.8
Goals - T. Johnston 4, B. Johnston 3, Kirsanovs 1, O'Brien 1, Glass 1
Best - T. Johnston, Wicks, Kirsanovs
Media
Age - 23/06/1961
Age - 26/06/1961
Football Record R11 1961