Round 2, 1951
Melbourne vs Collingwood
Saturday 28 April
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 37,374
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 0.4 | 3.7 | 5.11 | 7.15.57 |
| Collingwood | 1.3 | 6.8 | 9.13 | 15.16.106 |
Collingwood win by 49 points
Goalkickers: Bob McKenzie 4, Geoff McGivern 1, Bill Smeaton 1, Jack Thomson 1
Milestones:
First Game
Terry Pierce
Keith Robinson
After nearly pulling off a shock victory in their Round 1 clash against Essendon, the Demons were comprehensively beaten in their first match at home for the year. Two new players took the total of debutantes in the first two rounds to eight, but both Pierce and Robinson were forced to wait for their introduction as 19th and 20th men.
Despite heavy rains during the week the ground was in perfect condition, but both teams were wasteful early. Collingwood's first attack was a behind followed by three for the Demons. The Pies eventually got their first 13 minutes in, a combination of good defence and weak forward play. Melbourne failed to kick a goal for the quarter but held Collingwood one, giving themselves some hope of grinding the Magpies down.
Melbourne had done well early thanks to ruck superiority, and Rowse handily beating Collingwood's full forward. But the second quarter saw the Pies midfield take over and from there they were unbeatable. Two goals in the middle of the term kept Melbourne within arms' length but they went into half down 19 points behind.
Coach Allan La Fontaine made changes to try and kerb the influence of Collingwood's midfield but it made little difference as the Pies' own moves helped them draw even further in front. With no last quarter heroics coming Melbourne limped to a big loss to drop to 0-2 for the season. It was Collingwood's first win at the MCG in six seasons.
Both teams had disappointing returns from their forward lines and most goals were kicked by rovers or by followers resting up front. In particular Melbourne's delivery to the forward line was poor, often ignoring new full forward Bill Smeaton.
Best were McGivern, Arnold and McKenzie. First gamers Pierce and Robinson replaced McLean (torn leg muscle) and Christie (ankle) at three quarter time.
Seconds
Collingwood 11.15 d. Melbourne 8.13
Thirds
Collingwood 11.14 d. Melbourne 3.7
Notes
Sporting Globe shows the crowd as 37,174. Herald 28/04/1951 and Age 30/04/1951 show Collingwood's R2 score as 12.14.86
Media
Sporting Globe - 28/04/1951
Argus - 30/04/1951
Argus - 30/04/1951
Age - 30/04/1951
Football Record R3 1951