Round 16, 1969
Melbourne vs Hawthorn
Saturday 26 July
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 32,527
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.2 | 7.7 | 9.12 | 13.17.95 |
| Hawthorn | 6.2 | 10.4 | 17.4 | 21.5.131 |
Hawthorn win by 36 points
Goalkickers: Ross Dillon 5, Barry Bourke 3, Denis Clark 1, Gary Hardeman 1, George Lakes 1, Greg Parke 1, Peter Sinclair 1
Milestones:
Last game
Blair Campbell
Phil Rhoden
In the week where man set foot on the moon, the Demons suffered another loss but at least unlike the previous three weeks it wasn't by under a goal. The season had been such a disappointment that being thrashed by six goals suddenly seemed like a better result than losing by six points.
Peter Hudson, who had kicked 16 in his last start against the Demons, was relatively restricted and only booted nine. He had five in the second quarter when Tassie Johnson was switched onto him, and while Johnson kept him quiet until late in the third term.
Melbourne were quicker than their opponents but once they got the ball they didn't know what to do with it, and failed to capitalise on their marking forwards inside 50.
The match was still evenly poised until the third quarter when the Hawks booted seven without reply, and from then on they were never troubled again. Seven of Hudson's goals came from running into open goals, which helped their incredibly accurate kicking for goal, and with Hawthorn winning comfortably in the air there was no chance for a shock Demon victory.
It was Hawthorn's biggest ever score at the MCG.
Best were Parke, Alves and Lakes. Parke took what The Age described as "the mark of the year" near goal but the attempt was disallowed by the umpire. Schwarz (ill) was replaced by Jones in the selected side. Sinclair was replaced by Campbell in the last quarter.
Barry Bourke was reported for striking and suspended for two weeks. He was the first Demon to be outed since Round 17, 1963.
Tassie Johnson was presented with a gold football to celebrate what was then counted as his 200th game. By modern standards it was only his 198th. He was the first Tasmanian credited with playing 200 VFL games.
Reserves
Melbourne 8.12 d. Hawthorn 8.10
Goals - Colcott 3, Powell 1, Stone 1, Jennings 1, Vagg 1, Biffin 1
Best - Clarke, Osborne, Biffin
Under 19s
Hawthorn 13.16 d. Melbourne 6.11
Goals - Roberts 2, Stephenson 2, Hill 1, Glazner 1
Best - McLean, Cook, Stephenson
Lists
Tribunal
Media
Age - 28/07/1969, 04/08/1969
Football Record - R17 1969