Round 21, 1973
Geelong vs Melbourne
Saturday 25 August
Venue: Kardinia Park
Attendance: 15,489
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Geelong | 4.3 | 7.7 | 13.8 | 17.11.113 |
| Melbourne | 6.4 | 9.6 | 11.9 | 14.14.98 |
Geelong win by 15 points
Goalkickers: Ross Brewer 4, Paul Callery 2, Neil Chamberlain 2, Greg MacDonald 2, Graham Osborne 2
Milestones:
First Goal
Neil Chamberlain (2nd game)
100 Games
Graham Osborne
Earlier in the season when the Demons had been in contention for the finals their supposedly easy run-in, with games against the bottom three sides in the last five games of the year, looked like it would help them walk in. By 5pm on August 27 they'd lost to all three of the season's easybeats and had well and truly earned the tag for themselves.
After six straight losses Ian Ridley had put his senior players in charge of training during the week, hoping that it would spark a better performance out of his side.
Despite the lone hand of Carl Ditterich and cameos from Callery, Alves and Wells in the midfield Melbourne's half-time lead soon evaporated and five goals in a row gave the Cats a lead. The Demons got back to within eight points in the last term before the home team ran away with the game again.
Geelong's win condemned South Melbourne to the wooden spoon.
Best were Alves, Ditterich and Tilbrook. Delmenico was replaced by Ritterman in the last quarter. Clennett also came on as a reserve.
Reserves
Geelong 17.12 d. Melbourne 16.18
Goals - Swan 3, McSpeerin 2, Mills 2, Morgan 2, Owens 2, Fitzsimmons 1, Giampaolo 1, Peters 1, Reid 1, Tesoriero 1
Best - Rollinson, Owens, Morgan
Under 19s
Melbourne 14.6 d. Geelong 10.15
Notes
Due to poor newspaper quality it is not clear who Clennett swapped with.
Media
Age - 22/08/1973
Age - 27/08/1973
Football Record R22 1973