Round 17, 1940
Melbourne vs Hawthorn
Saturday 24 August
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 8722
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 5.4 | 11.11 | 16.15 | 26.20.176 |
| Hawthorn | 3.3 | 6.5 | 7.7 | 8.14.62 |
Melbourne win by 114 points
Goalkickers: Norm Smith 8, Percy Beames 6, Roy Dowsing 4, Ron Baggott 3, Maurie Gibb 2, Jack Mueller 2, Alby Rodda 1
Milestones:
First Game
Adrian Dullard
Noel Ellis
100 Games
Ray Wartman
Statistical categories led:
Highest score against Hawthorn
Highest score in Round 17
Earlier in the year the bottom of the league Mayblooms had shocked Melbourne with a narrow win on their tiny Glenferrie Oval ground, but when the two teams played again on the wide open spaces of the MCG the Demons more than made up for their poor performance in the first clash of the sides.
With two games left and an almost completely unassailable lead at the top of the table Melbourne could have been forgiven for taking the match lightly, but instead they racked up their biggest ever win to that point. It remains the 5th biggest Demon victory in history.
After a first quarter where they kicked the first two goals but were only 13 points in front, Melbourne's dominance in the ruck, and a well-organised attack helped extend the lead to six goals at half time, before piling on another 15 goals to two for the rest of the game. Two quick goals at the start of the third quarter to Beames and Dowsing started the rampage. Hawthorn tried positional moves at the start of the last quarter but they failed to quell the dominance of their opponents.
Best were Mueller, Baggott and Smith. Ron Barassi was a late withdrawal because he was unable to obtain leave from army duties, he was replaced by Roy Dowsing. First gamer Ellis was 19th man and replaced Lock at half time.
Seconds
Melbourne 12.16.88 d. Hawthorn 7.13.55
Notes
Sporting Globe shows the crowd as 9722.
Lists
Highest Scores
100 point wins
Media
Sporting Globe - 24/08/1940