Round 1, 1939
Melbourne vs Richmond
Saturday 22 April
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 21,840
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.5 | 2.10 | 6.14 | 11.18.84 |
| Richmond | 6.5 | 9.9 | 11.13 | 17.19.121 |
Richmond win by 37 points
Goalkickers: Ron Barassi 3, Norm Smith 3, Ron Baggott 2, Lou Reiffel 2, Hugh Murnane 1
Milestones:
First Game
Harold Ball
Ian Giles
Last MFC Game
Lou Reiffel
Having missed the finals in 1938 the Redlegs were keen to get off to a flying start and debuted their two new recruits from Mildura but by quarter time the new season was turning into a nightmare.
Played under the spectre of a new holding the man/holding the ball rule which came under heavy criticism, Melbourne's secretary had read a letter to players with the league's interpretation before their last practice game to make sure it was understood. Whether or not the rule had anything to do with it is unclear but Melbourne were terrible, being beaten by better teamwork and cooler passing.
The two sides had finished just outside the four a year before and the game was considered to be one of the best all round, but Richmond's dominant rucks and quicker attacking play set up victory in the first half an hour. Their defenders were stronger than Melbourne's forwards and it rattled them in the first half. They crowded the ball and played an open forward line in stark contrast to Melbourne's fumbling forwards.
Richmond kicked the first five goals before Melbourne could find its feet. The margin remained just under seven goals at half time before the Demons finally opened up their play in the third quarter and immediately began to show improvement. They kicked four goals to two but were too far behind, and Richmond quickly put them away at the start of the last term.
Best were Barassi, Mueller and Ball. 19th man was Les Jones
Seconds
Melbourne 11.? d. Richmond 10.14
Media
Herald - 21/04/1939
Sporting Globe - 22/04/1939
Argus - 24/04/1939
Football Record R2 1939