Round 7, 1981
Melbourne vs Carlton
Saturday 9 May
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 22,020
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 5.2 | 5.4 | 8.8 | 8.8.56 |
| Carlton | 2.5 | 5.8 | 8.15 | 12.24.96 |
Carlton win by 40 points
Goalkickers: Vin Catoggio 2, Mark Jackson 2, Andrew Moir 2, Stephen Bickford 1, Phil Pinnell 1
Milestones:
Nil
Back in Melbourne after their Round 6 trip to the SCG, the Demons didn't have things any better back at home. On a wet and windy day at the MCG Melbourne crashed to 1-6 against an Blues side that had been hammered by Collingwood the week before. Before the game, coach David Parkin referred to it as the worst selected side of the year.
Despite the fact that his side had scored two points in the second term and none in the last Barassi refused to lash them, content to say that his players were trying and most of them had a "fantastic attitude".
With the wind in the first quarter Melbourne kicked the first three goals of the game within the opening 10 minutes. Carlton hit back with two goals, before a double from Vin Catoggio restored a 15 point margin at quarter time. Unable to convert any majors in the second the Demons fell behind. Another revival with the breeze in the third helped before they completely went to pieces in the last term and conceded 4.9 to nothing.
The match was played with plastic coated yellow footballs, which the league introduced for the first time when games were played in wet weather. Players across the league struggled with handling the ball in the wet conditions.
Best were Gaunt, Smith and Fowler. Peter Maynard was replaced in the selected side by Michael Young due to the flu.
Reserves
Carlton 14.17.101 d. Melbourne 9.11.65
Goals - Barham 3, O'Donnell 3, Elshaug 1, Hanilton 1, Walters 1
Best - Barham, Dickson, Byrne
Under 19s
Melbourne 20.27.147 d. Carlton 10.7.67
Goals - Battiston 4, Bergman 3, Cordner 3, McCarthy 3, Dawson 2, Withers 2, Bell 1, Fisher 1, Hedger 1
Notes
Some sources suggested Melbourne incorrectly provided the yellow balls, but they were used across the league.
Lists
Scoreless fourth quarters
Links
Blueseum match report
Media
Canberra Times - 10/05/1981
Age - 11/05/1981
Age - 12/05/1981
Westside Football - 15/05/1981
Football Record R8 1981