Round 8, 1978
Melbourne vs North Melbourne
Saturday 20 May
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 21,266
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.2 | 5.8 | 7.9 | 8.13.61 |
| North Melbourne | 3.4 | 5.8 | 13.12 | 20.17.137 |
North Melbourne win by 76 points
Goalkickers: Peter Johnston 2, Robert Walters 2, Greg Wells 2, Garry Baker 1, Andrew Moir 1
Milestones:
Nil
When the siren sounded for half-time with the scores level, and Melbourne ahead in performance, it looked like the Demons were set to launch another shock defeat of the reigning premiers like their upset win in Round 1, 1976.
An hour later they had been unmercifully thrashed. North kicked 15 goals to three from the start of the third quarter to run out massive winners. Seven of the third quarter goals came in a quarter of an hour - making a mockery of the fact that North were without six players with injury.
Peter Keenan put his old side to the sword with a dominant display in the ruck and the Demons failed to score in the face of the barrage until the 26 minute mark of the term.
Best were Fowler, Fitzsimmons and Dullard. Brewer (calf) was replaced in the selected side by Biffin, who then strained his knee.
Laurie Fowler was so incensed at being replaced early in the last quarter by coach Denis Jones that he quit the Demons on the Monday and requested a clearance. By the end of the week he had ironed out his differences with the club and returned. After the game Jones admitted he was disappointed with the experienced players, and suggested he had outlined the "personal shortcomings" of his players after the game. He said it would take the whole season to implement his plan and that if players didn't change the way they played "they're redundant".
Reserves
North Melbourne 18.27.135 d. Melbourne 11.7.73
Goals - Flower 3, Hamilton 3, Drysdale 1, Rae 1, Seaton 1, Whitford 1, Woodman 1
Best - Woodman, Seaton and McKeon
Under 19s
Melbourne 14.9.93 d. North Melbourne 12.20.92
Goals - Barkley 2, Pickford 2, Sadauskas 2, Wallace 2, Julliff 2, Angelis 1, Bocabella 1, McLean 1, Maynard 1
Best - Barkley, Pickford, Todd
Media
Age - 20/05/1978
Age - 22/05/1978
Age - 23/05/1978
Age - 26/05/1978
Football Record R9 1978