| 1953 VFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 26 September 1953 | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 89,149 | |||||||||||||||
The1953 VFL Grand Final was anAustralian rules football game contested between theGeelong Football Club andCollingwood Football Club, held at theMelbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 1953. It was the 56th annualGrand Final of theVictorian Football League, staged to determine thepremiers for the1953 VFL season. The match, attended by 89,149 spectators, was won by Collingwood by 12 points, the club's 12th premiership victory.
This was the third successive Grand Final appearance for the Cats, who were attempting to win three successive flags after having defeatedEssendon in the1951 VFL Grand Final and Collingwood in the1952 VFL Grand Final. Collingwood had not won a premiership since winning the1936 VFL Grand Final.
In round 14 of the 1953 season, Collingwood defeated Geelong to end their record 23 game winning streak (26 games unbeaten). Collingwood won again when the sides battled in the Semi Final, and in the Grand Final defeated Geelong for the third time in the year. Geelong had the better of the final quarter, but inaccuracy cost them.
Collingwood's full-backJack Hamilton and Geelong's dual premiership playerRussell Middlemiss missed the game through injury.
    Collingwood |   Geelong |
 The game[edit]1st quarter[edit]The game opened with the large crowd spilling out onto the oval and forming a human boundary line; these people got to see a Collingwood side that were more determined to get to the ball first and run their Geelong opponents off their feet.[citation needed] It was a tight first term in which the Magpies didn't allow the Cats to play their usual dominant game. A few fiery incidents occurred, but Umpire McMurray was soon on top of it. 2nd quarter[edit]The second quarter was a microcosm of the game: Geelong were wasteful in front of goal, whereas the Collingwood team, withBatchelor andRose, were accurate. Three goals to one gave the Magpies a handy lead going into half time. 3rd quarter[edit]Collingwood set up the win in the third quarter by kicking 5 goals to 2. Geelong's ruckmanBill McMaster was carried from the field, and the Cats had to playRenfreyon the ball. This left a hole in the Geelong's attack that the Magpies exploited and resulted in coast-to-coast goals. Final quarter[edit]With Collingwood slowing to a walk, Geelong challenged hard to make up the gap. Geelong peppered the goals but could only manage 1 goal from 8 attempts.Hovey, who replaced McMaster, had two chances from 20 metres and missed both. A goal against play by Collingwood's Rose put the result out of reach of the Cats. Two late goals to Geelong were not enough to stop Collingwood winning their twelfth pennant. Statistics[edit]Best[edit]Collingwood
Geelong
Goalkickers[edit]Collingwood
Geelong
Free kicks[edit]
Marks[edit]
Attendance[edit]
See also[edit]References[edit]
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