Round 16, 1951
Melbourne vs South Melbourne
Saturday 18 August
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 12,241
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.4 | 8.7 | 11.12 | 15.16.106 |
| South Melbourne | 5.2 | 9.10 | 13.14 | 18.17.125 |
South Melbourne win by 19 points
Goalkickers: Noel Clarke 6, John Beckwith 4, Denis Cordner 2, Stuart Spencer 2, Colin Love 1
Milestones:
Last Game
John Cordner
Melbourne's last chance of avoiding the wooden spoon was to win their last three games and to pick up 6% on Hawthorn who needed to lose all their remaining matches. It wasn't to be, and with two games left Melbourne were confirmed as the worst team in the competition just a year after they'd been semi finallists.
The story of the Demon season continued as they challenged South but despite pushing them to the last quarter came out on the losing side for the 15th time in 16 starts. They'd been forced to field a team with radical changes, including state ruckman Denis Cordner at centre-half forward and half-forward Noel Clarke at full forward due to injury. Wasted chances in the first quarter cost them, kicking points that should have been goals.
In the second quarter South's defence was on top, and as rain started to fall the visitors extended the margin to 23 points. Melbourne rallied with two goals, but missed several more gettable shots as the margin was reduced to nine at half time.
Clarke's first appearance at full-forward helped straighten up the usually weak Melbourne attack. He kicked 6.8 and had his side well and truly in the match until they physically wilted in the final term. Denis Cordner was another key contributor as he shut down the dangerous Ron Clegg.
Despite the loss it was Melbourne's first 100 point score of the year.
Best were McMahen, Cordner and Beckwith.
Seconds
South Melbourne 8.10 d. Melbourne 8.9
Thirds
Melbourne 9.11 d. South Melbourne 3.7
Media
Age - 17/08/1951
Argus - 17/08/1951
Record - 18/08/1951
Age - 20/08/1951
Argus - 20/08/1951
Record - 25/08/1951
Record - 25/08/1951
Football Record R17 1951