Round 16, 1941
Melbourne vs Collingwood
Saturday 16 August
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 30,544
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 3.1 | 9.4 | 13.5 | 17.8.110 |
| Collingwood | 1.8 | 5.12 | 10.18 | 11.21.87 |
Melbourne win by 23 points
Goalkickers: Jack Mueller 4, Norm Smith 4, Ron Baggott 2, Roy Dowsing 2, Stan Heal 2, Rowley Fischer 1, Allan La Fontaine 1, Ray Wartman 1
Milestones:
Nil
Before the match a ceremony paid tribute to Ron Barassi Senior who had been killed in the Siege of Tobruk. He was one of the first of 56 former and current VFL players to be lost in the conflict. The two sides wore black armbands and formed a guard of honour on the MCG while the Last Post was played, along with two minutes' silence.
On field the, Demons were playing to sure up their top two position against a side who was fourth but just a game behind. Collingwood conceded the advantage earlier with diabolical first quarter goalkicking which netted them just one goal from nine scoring shots. They had six straight behinds before the Demons scored anything. It allowed Melbourne to hold a five point lead.
The Demons made no such mistake with their accuracy in the second. Collingwood was the quicker side, but continued to be atrocious when shooting for goal. Melbourne made no such mistake in the second, kicking four goals in a row - including a treble to Mueller - to end the quarter and take a lead of just under three goals.
When the Magpies weren't missing shots on goal they were conspiring to stop themselves scoring at all, with many short passes in the forward line being repelled by the Demon backline. On the other hand Melbourne's forwards took every opportunity they could, attacking directly and steadily. They were again wasteful in the third, kicking 5.6 with half a dozen others that went out of bounds from close range. Melbourne got four goals from four shots to stay in front by five points.
Collingwood had their noses in front early in the last quarter before the Demons pulled away with 4.2 to no score in the last ten minutes of the final term, all but knocking the Magpies out of the race for a top two position.
Lock, Cordner and La Fontaine were best. 19th man Dowsing replaced Beames (ankle) in the second quarter. Beames was hurt in the first five minutes but limped to a forward pocket before coming off.
Seconds
Collingwood 16.16 d. Melbourne 12.10
Notes
Sporting Globe and The Age give the crowd as 30,549
Media
Sporting Globe - 16/08/1941
Sporting Globe - 16/08/1941
Age - 18/08/1941
Age - 18/08/1941
Football Record R17 1941