Round 4, 1981
Melbourne vs St. Kilda
Saturday 18 April
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 36,488
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.5 | 4.9 | 8.13 | 10.16.76 |
| St. Kilda | 4.8 | 6.14 | 10.23 | 16.32.128 |
St. Kilda win by 52 points
Goalkickers: Mark Jackson 3, Vin Catoggio 2, Gerard Healy 2, Dave McGlashan 1, Andrew Moir 1, Michael Seddon 1
Milestones:
First game and First goal
Dave McGlashan
Having just seen his side win their first game under his tutelage, albeit by one point with a last minute goal, Ron Barassi might have expected more against St Kilda but was left bitterly disappointed.
McGlashan goalled with his first kick but failed to have another for the day and his contribution was the only goal for the Demons in the first quarter. St Kilda took charge after that and were never headed again.
The Demons, who had lost Robert Flower with a cracked rib after 13 minutes, were saved from an even bigger loss by St. Kilda's inaccurate failure to take advantage of their domination in the midfield. Barassi carpeted his team for their performance, forcing them into a week of gruelling training sessions. He had been moved to describe his side by saying "obviously we have a quite a few mental cases here". He said it was amongst the world displays he'd ever seen from a league team. "We had our best team on paper and we played like a paper team" he fumed before suggesting that there was no need for a psychologist at the club because he was there. Barassi also said "if you got through the all the basics of football we have none of them". The coach's mood hadn't been helped by Mark Jackson refusing to come off the ground when told and then spraying the bench with obscenities when he finally did.
Melbourne showed some fight in the third quarter and were only 22 points behind at the last change, but no team who had played as badly as them had any right to a storming comeback and they were duly thrashed in the final term.
It was the first loss of a club record 20 match losing streak which lasted until early 1982.
Best were Giles, Crosswell and Seddon. Gordon (ill) was replaced in the selected side by Clayton. Flower had a broken rib.
The match later became controversial when the VFL decided that Saint Doug Cox wasn't eligible to play for the Saints and they were stripped of their points. The points were eventually reinstated and the Demons went back to one win and the bottom of the ladder.
Reserves
Melbourne 17.14.116 d. St Kilda 14.11.95
Goals - Hamilton 3, Walters 3, Dullard 2, O'Dwyer 2, Barnes 1, Gaunt 1, Korn 1, Martyn 1, Tossol 1, O'Brien 1, Hutchison 1
Best - Keenan, Hutchison, Maynard
Under 19s
Melbourne 23.22.168 d. St Kilda 17.6.108
Goals - Cordner 4, Battiston 3, Tossol 3, Fidge 2, Bergman 2, McCarthy 2, O'Sullivan 1, Joycey 1, Turnbull 1, Withers 1, Bell 1
Best - Joycey, Connolly, McCarthy
Lists
Goal with their first kick
Media
Canberra Times - 19/04/1981
Age - 20/04/1981
Football Record R5 1981
Sydney Morning Herald - 04/05/1981