Round 8, 1981
South Melbourne vs Melbourne
Saturday 16 May
Venue: Lake Oval
Attendance: 12,307
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| South Melbourne | 2.8 | 9.13 | 14.16 | 17.25.127 |
| Melbourne | 4.4 | 6.5 | 11.7 | 12.11.83 |
South Melbourne win by 44 points
Goalkickers: Mark Jackson 2, Bill Nettlefold 2, Kelly O'Donnell 2, Jamie Barham 1, Vin Catoggio 1, Tony Elshaug 1, Robert Flower 1, Gerard Healy 1, Michael Young 1
Milestones:
First game and First goal
Jamie Barham
Last game at Lake Oval
In what would turn out to be the Demons last game at the Lake Oval, the South Melbourne cheersquad mocked their 1-7 start to the season by unfurling a banner suggesting Melbourne were "facing the horns of a dilemma" but it looked like they had been slightly overconfident when the visitors booted the first three goals in two minutes.
They only managed one more for the quarter but still took a handy lead into the first break. The Swans, though, were not mucking around in the second and slammed on seven goals to two to take control of the match. The free flowing handball and teamwork which had delivered the first three goals was now completely missing from Melbourne's gameplan.
The Swan rovers started to shark every hitout by Garry Baker, and when Melbourne lost both Robert Flower - who coincidentally suffered a hard knock to the back while beating David Rhys-Jones - and Peter Giles to injury any chance of a win had evaporated.
Barassi was not shy in naming Tony Elshaug and Kelly O'Donnell amongst the players he thought had underperformed, and said that he wasn't "hating defeat but hating the way it was done". He blamed defeat in one-on-one contests for his side's performance and had harsh words for Mark Jackson, saying the full-forward would need to "have a look at his game".
Best were Healy, Baker and Nettlefold. Robert Flower suffered a bruised back and had to leave the game in the second quarter.
Reserves
Melbourne 17.12.114 d. South Melbourne 16.16.112
Goals - Whitfort 5, Zantuck 3, Bunn 2, Elliott 2, O'Dwyer 2, Bickford 1, Tossol 1, Walters 1
Best - Keenan, Zantuck, Whitfort
Under 19s
Melbourne 16.20.116 d. South Melbourne 12.4.76
Goals - Fidge 4, McCarthy 4, Bell 2, Joycey 2, Tossol 2, Battiston 1, Bergman 1
Best - Dawson, Dickson, Fidge
Media
Canberra Times - 17/05/1981
Age - 18/05/1981