The match, attended by 84,109 spectators, was won by Geelong by 11 points (the club's fourth premiership). The win by Geelong — its first since winning the 1937 VFL Grand Final — capped off a brilliant season; the team won the Minor Premiership, its back-pocket, Bernie Smith, won the Brownlow Medal, and its full-forward, George Goninon, was the league's leading goalkicker.
Essendon went into the match without star full-forward John Coleman who had been suspended in controversial circumstances for four matches. On the day of the match, champion ruckman John Gill had a heavy cold and declared himself unfit to play. At the last minute, the Essendon coach, Dick Reynolds, who had retired the year before, was re-registered as a player; Fred Payne replaced Gill in the run-on team, and Reynolds became 19th Man.[1]
Team
|
1 Qtr
|
2 Qtr
|
3 Qtr
|
Final
|
Geelong
|
3.8 (26)
|
4.10 (34)
|
9.13 (67)
|
11.15 (81)
|
Essendon
|
1.0 (6)
|
6.2 (38)
|
6.4 (40)
|
10.10 (70)
|
Attendance: 85,795
|
Geelong:
- Goninon 4
- Davis 1
- Flanagan 1
- McMaster 1
- Morrow 1
- Norman 1
- Pianto 1
- Trezise 1
|
Essendon:
- K McDonald 2
- Syme 2
- Hutchison 1
- Jones 1
- May 1
- Payne 1
- Snell 1
- Tate 1
|
- AFL Tables: 1951 Grand Final (Archived 2009-09-24)
- 1951 (Archived 2009-09-24)
- The Official statistical history of the AFL 2004
- 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