Round 9, 1969
Melbourne vs South Melbourne
Saturday 31 May
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 13,765
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 3.5 | 4.7 | 8.11 | 9.15.69 |
| South Melbourne | 8.1 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 14.10.94 |
South Melbourne win by 25 points
Goalkickers: Ross Dillon 3, Blair Campbell 2, Denis Clark 2, Greg Parke 1, Peter Sinclair 1
Milestones:
Last Game
Barrie Vagg
First Goal
Peter Sinclair (2nd game)
Having beaten Fitzroy a week before to crawl off the bottom of the ladder - by percentage - the Demons had to face up against Norm Smith as coach of the Swans for the first time. They had already been confronted with Ron Barassi making a one game comeback a fortnight earlier and now the second half of the famous duo returned to haunt them.
With Smith still smarting over his treatment by the Demon committee, and the fact that members had rejected his bid to join the committee at the ballot box, he and his band of ex-Demons players and assistants were all business and when their side kicked 8.1 in the first quarter despite difficult conditions the match was all but won.
Melbourne outscored the visitors from then, and got within 15 points in the third quarter, but never really threatened again and Smith had struck the first blow against his old side.
Best were Clark, Dillon and Walker. Bourke (shoulder) was replaced by Sinclair in the second quarter and Alves (ankle) by Stone in the third quarter.
Reserves
Melbourne 14.12 d. South Melbourne 2.14
Goals - Colcott 4, Lakes 2, Mitchell 2, Jennings 2, Powell 2, Callery 1, Clarke 1
Best - Colcott, Rhoden, Lakes
Under 19s
South Melbourne 12.9.81 d. Melbourne 7.8.50
Goals - L. Allan 3, Roberts 2, Anderson 1, Walker 1
Best - McKenzie, Brown, Aubrey
Media
Age - 02/06/1969
Football Record R10 1969