Round 17, 1922
Collingwood vs Melbourne
Saturday 9 September
Venue: Victoria Park
Attendance: 15,000
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Collingwood | 2.7 | 6.9 | 7.11 | 11.16.82 |
| Melbourne | 2.3 | 3.4 | 4.10 | 7.11.53 |
Collingwood win by 29 points
Goalkickers: Harry Harker 3, Percy Tulloh 2, Hugh Dunbar 1, Jack House 1
Milestones:
Nil
Any chance Melbourne had of playing in the finals was destroyed by their third straight loss. A bye the week before had given Carlton the chance to skip away from them in the race for the four, and the top of the league Magpies sealed the Blues place in the finals action. The Reds had won a surprise victory over Collingwood in Round 8 but were unable to repeat the dose on a soft, yielding field.
Melbourne's players ventured to Collingwood's game against Fitzroy the previous week, knowing that they had to play those two teams in the last two games of the year, but they didn't learn enough lessons to help them topple the Magpies.
Needing Carlton to lose, and to lose heavily, to give themselves a shot Melbourne were competitive in the first quarter as Collingwood kicked poorly, but on a heavy ground they were outrun over the next three. It didn't help that they spoiled each others marks several times and demonstrated a lack of teamwork. They also missed a number of shots on goal in the third quarter, with Harry Harker the main culprit missing three in quick succession. He made up for it by soon kicking his side's fourth of the game.
The Reds kicked the first two goals, despite a wind slightly favouring Collingwood's goal. The Magpies then bounced back with two of their own and took a four point lead into the quarter time break. It became 23 by the break, and extended further with the opening goal of the third term. Melbourne finally got a goal through Harker after a run of behinds.
Melbourne came back early in the fourth quarter, cutting the margin from 19 to less than two goals when Jack House got his team's fifth. Collingwood seemingly steadied before Percy Tulloh kicked another, but then the Magpies ran away with victory.
Best were Thomas, Streeter and Coy.
Notes
The Argus gave the attendance as an estimated 20,000. Age said "over 15,000"
Media
Sporting Globe - 30/08/1922
Argus - 11/09/1922
Age - 11/09/1922
Sporting Globe - 09/09/1922
Sun - 11/09/1922
Sporting Globe - 13/09/1922
Labor Call - 14/09/1922
Football Record R18 1922