Round 9, 1926
Melbourne vs Hawthorn
Saturday 26 June
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 7514
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.11 | 9.14 | 16.22 | 21.28.154 |
| Hawthorn | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.7.13 |
Melbourne win by 141 points
Goalkickers: Harry Moyes 6, Harry Davie 3, Dave Duff 3, Ivor Warne-Smith 3, Bill Tymms 2, Fred Dick 1, Richard Taylor 1
Milestones:
First game and First goal
Fred Dick
Statistical categories led:
Biggest win in a match, against Hawthorn and at the MCG
Most scoring shots in a match
Going into their match with the Redlegs at the MCG, Hawthorn were the best of the three newest teams to the VFL - having won two games and sitting above both Footscray and the winless North Melbourne on the table. A fortnight before they'd beaten Fitzroy, but on a wet Saturday two weeks later everything went wrong and the Mayblooms provided a willing victim for Melbourne's greatest ever VFL/AFL victory.
Melbourne's score was large, but it wasn't completely unusual - Collingwood had scored 184 in their 21 goal win over Footscray a week earlier - the gravity of the victory was more to do with the fact that they restricted Hawthorn to just one goal, and two behinds after half time.
The big score was even more meritorious considering it was played on a ground which had a sea of mud in the centre and was treacherous for players trying to keep their footing. Melbourne kept their nerve in the conditions while Hawthorn fell apart badly.
The result, which could have been significantly worse for Hawthorn in the Redlegs had kicked straight in the first quarter, wasn't as the result of an individual goalkicking performance (as it had been for Collingwood against Footscray with Gordon Coventry booting 11), with Harry Moyes' six goals the pick of Melbourne's 21 and a spread of others adding to the total. They even had to contend with Harry Davie suffering a knee injury which saw him return to the field in the second quarter with his leg bandaged.
Inaccurate kicking was all that saved Hawthorn from a massive quarter time deficit, with 15 scoring shots to one showing that Melbourne were going to dominate the game. The visitors got their sole goal of the match in the second, but conceded five and failed to score in the third quarter as the home side ran the margin up over a hundred points. Despite the score Hawthorn won the free kick count by 75 to 41.
More inaccuracy saved the Hawks in the final term, with 5.6 to 0.2 stretching the margin over 140 points in misty rain and darkness. At one point Harry Moyes is reported to have had 1.7, but recovered to kick six.
Best were Warne-Smith, Abernethy and Dick.
The result eclipsed the 19.10.124 kicked against St Kilda at Lake Oval in Round 16, 1901 as Melbourne's highest score. The record stood until Round 2, 1937 when they kicked 25.20.170 against Essendon at Windy Hill. The result against Hawthorn now does not rank in the top 20 highest scores by the club, though it is still the biggest win.
Seconds
Melbourne 4.18.42 d. Hawthorn 4.4.28
Lists
100 point wins
Media
Argus - 28/06/1926
Football Record R10 1926