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Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1941.

Premiership season

In 1941, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus one substitute player, known as the 19th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances.

Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.

Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1941 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Grand final

Melbourne defeated Essendon 19.13 (127) to 13.20 (98), in front of a crowd of 79,687 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).

Ladder

Awards

• The 1941 VFL Premiership team was Melbourne.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was Sel Murray of North Melbourne with 88 goals.
• The winner of the 1941 Brownlow Medal was Norman Ware of Footscray with 23 votes.
• Hawthorn took the "wooden spoon" in 1941.

Notable events

• As it was in 1916, the VFL community iwas once again polarized over the question of whether or not the VFL competition should be suspended for the duration of the war.
  • The VFL continues its competition uninterrupted, with the only concession being the suspension of the Brownlow Medal (1942-1945) — Geelong did not play in 1942 and 1943, due to wartime rail and road transport restrictions.
  • The Victorian Football Association (VFA) abandoned its competition in 1942, 1943, and 1944. The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) abandoned its competition after the first round of the 1940 season, and did not resume until 1946. The South Australian National Football League (SANFL) played a limited competition with four merged teams in 1942, 1943, and 1944. The Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) abandoned its senior competition in in 1942, 1943, and 1944, playing an "under age" competition instead. The Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL) abandoned its competition in 1942, 1943, and 1944.
• In the round 2 match between Carlton and Richmond 11 players are injured. Highly talented Carlton rover Jack Hale broke his leg so badly in an accidental entanglement with Richmond centreman Bernie Waldron that he never played again.
• The VFL suspended its round 5 matches and conducted its second one-day "lightning" carnival at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday 24 May 1941. Collingwood won the 1941 Victorian Football League Patriotic Match Cup, defeating Melbourne 3.2 (2) to 3.1 (19). The carnival raised £1,526 for the war effort.
• On 31 July 1941, Melbourne rover Ron Barassi, Sr. was killed in action at the Siege of Tobruk. He was the first VFL player to be killed in the Second World War. On 16 August 1941, a brief, moving memorial tribute to Barassi was conducted (including a bugler playing "The Last Post") at the Melbourne Cricket Club by spectators, players, trainers, and officials of Melbourne and Collingwood. Melbourne went on to beat Collingwood 17.8 (110) to 11.21 (87).
• The Grand Final was played on a hot, overcast day, with a strong, hot north wind.
  • In the last minutes of the last quarter of the Second Eighteens Grand Final, which Essendon won, beating Fitzroy 12.16 (88) to 9.17 (71), a Fitzroy player felled an Essendon player and fights broke out all over the ground. As the final bell was sounding a vicious brawl broke out in which almost every player was involved, with many players felled. Both teams were reported for "unseemly conduct".
  • In a lop-sided senior Grand Final, Melbourne, missing at least 12 of its 1941 senior players through either injury or military service, was 47 points ahead at three quarter time, and went on to beat Essendon by 29 points: 19.13 (127) to 13.20 (98). Essendon received 52 free kicks during the match, to Melbourne's 20.

See also

• The VFL during the World Wars
• 1916 VFL season

References

• Hogan, P., The Tigers Of Old, The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996. ISBN 0-646-18748-1
• Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872-1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-959-17402-8
• Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897-1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN 0-670-90809-6
• Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

External links

• 1941 Season - AFL Tables