Round 9, 1956
Melbourne vs Essendon
Saturday 9 June
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 32,543
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 2.3 | 9.10 | 13.14 | 15.17.107 |
| Essendon | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.11 | 4.15.39 |
Melbourne win by 68 points
Goalkickers: Robert B Johnson 7, Ron Barassi 2, Stuart Spencer 2, Brian Dixon 1, Ian McLean 1, Ian Ridley 1, Athol Webb 1
Milestones:
Nil
Essendon had been a disappointment in 1956, losing their last three, and a clash against the unbeaten Demons was seen to be their last chance of rescuing anything from the season. They failed miserably - kicking just one goal in the first three quarters before Melbourne slackened off and let them win back some pride in the final term.
During the week there had been suggestion that the entire day's would be postponed for the first time since August 1939 due to quaqmire conditions, but the match went on and against all odds the MCG provided a firm deck. The Demons relished playing on solid ground for the first time in week sand as bad as Essendon were, the Demons were brilliant. They were quick all over the field, backed each other up around the ground and even solved one of their major issues - their forward line.
At half time Bob Johnson already had four goals and Essendon had failed to register one. He went on to boot seven, with inaccuracy costing him more. The Bombers started the second half with a raft of positional changes and managed to kick four goals but still lost the half, and the match, comfortably.
The win was Melbourne's 9th of the season and 15th in a row dating back to 1955.
Best were Johnson, Ridley and Spencer. Brian Dixon suffered a thigh injury and was replaced by Sandral. Laidlaw (back) was replaced by Gleeson.
Norm Smith said "Conditions suited us more than Essendon and we got off to a good start. Our forward line functioned as a forward lien should, and it was able to convert most opportunities and our defence was able to keep the Dons out. All round it was a very good win. But the most pleasing feature of it was that it was a team effort."
Seconds
Essendon 9.10 d. Melbourne 7.12
Goals - Crameri 2, Adams 1, Bull 1, Jones 1, Lord 1, Wilson 1
Best - Kerr, Wilson, Hayes
Thirds
Essendon 9.18 d. Melbourne 4.3
Media
Argus - 07/06/1956
Age - 11/06/1956
Argus - 11/06/1956
Argus - 11/06/1956
Football Record R10 1956