1929 VFL Grand Final

The 1929 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1929. It was the 33rd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1929 VFL season. The match, attended by 63,336 spectators, was won by Collingwood by a margin of 29 points, marking that club's eighth premiership victory and third in succession.

Background

Collingwood’s 1929 season was extremely successful. They won all 18 games of the home-and-away season, a record that still stand today. Gordon Coventry became the first player to kick 100 goals in a season (124 in total), and Albert Collier won the Brownlow Medal.

While Collingwood finished on top of the ladder, Carlton were second on 15 wins, Richmond on 12 wins and a draw and St Kilda on 12 wins. The 2nd Semi-Final saw the upset of the season, with the rugged and determined Tigers beating the Magpies by 62 points for Collingwood's only loss of the season. They went on to beat Carlton in the Preliminary Final with a thrilling finish; Jack Titus scored the winning goal right on the bell. A third Collingwood v Richmond Grand Final was scheduled.

In the week leading up to the Grand Final, Collingwood received handwritten anonymous letters, threatening the lives of eleven prominent players. Fortunately, they were intercepted by officials and withheld from the players until after the game.

Match summary

Richmond kicked the first goal of the day but wasted opportunities for the rest of the quarter. Collingwood took advantage and led by 27 points at half time, a lead they held for the rest of the match. The two teams fought determinedly and, quite often, outside the spirit of the game. Bob Makeham was knocked senseless in the 2nd quarter, although he played on despite concussion.

While Gordon Coventry kicked only 2 goals for the day, the attention that the Richmond defence paid him allowed Horrie ‘Tubby’ Edmonds to fulfill the most important day of his footballing life, kicking 5 goals playing deep near the boundary line in attack.

Charlie Ahern, 24 years old and playing in only his third VFL match, provided inspiration to the side. His main role was to protect Syd Coventry and, despite fracturing his arm, he battled on manfully, and held his own in what was, at times, a physically spiteful match. Ahern was to die only 18 months later from rectal cancer.

Collingwood won by 29 points, attributable to the Magpies’ rock-solid defence, Edmonds' 5 goals and that players carried on in the face of serious injuries.

Match statistics

	1st	2nd	3rd	Final
Collingwood	6.3	7.6	9.6	11.13 (79)
Richmond	2.0	3.3	5.5	7.8 (50)

Best	Collingwood	Libbis, Wescott, S Coventry, Ahern, Clayden, Dibbs, A Collier, Edmonds
	Richmond	Murdoch, Bentley, Geddes, Watson, Empey, Weidner, Harris
Goals	Collingwood	Edmonds (5), G Coventry (2), H Collier, Libbis, F Murphy, L Murphy
	Richmond	Baggott (2), Weidner (2), Geddes, O’Halloran, Lilburne

Umpire - R Scott
Attendance - 63,366
Gate - ₤3,227

Teams

Collingwood
B:	Leo Wescott	Charlie Dibbs	George Clayden
HB:	Albert Lauder	Albert Collier	Harold Rumney
C:	Harry Chesswas	Jack Beveridge	Percy Bowyer
HF:	Frank Murphy	Len Murphy	Bob Makeham
F:	Horace Edmonds	Gordon Coventry	Harry Collier
Foll:	Syd Coventry (c)	Charlie Ahern	Billy Libbis
Reserve(s):
Coach:	Jock McHale

Richmond
B:	Fred Heifner	Bill Benton	Don Harris
HB:	Tom Dunne	Joe Murdoch	Maurie Sheahan
C:	Alan Geddes	Cyril Lilburne (c)	Carl Watson
HF:	Ralph Empey	Thomas O'Halloran	Harry Weidner
F:	Jack Fincher	Jack Baggott	Jack Titus
Foll:	Percy Bentley	Stan Ryan	Maurie Hunter
Reserve(s):
Coach:	Checker Hughes

Victorian/Australian Football League Grand Finals

VFL Grand Finals	1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

AFL Grand Finals	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Collingwood Football Club 1929 VFL premiers

Collingwood 11.13 (79) defeated Richmond 7.8 (50), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

2. Ahern 3. Bowyer 4. Beveridge 5. A. Collier 6. H. Collier 7. G. Coventry 8. S. Coventry (c) 9. Chesswas 10. Clayden 11. Dibbs 12. Edmonds 16. Lauder 17. Libbis 18. Makeham 19. F. Murphy 20. L. Murphy 24. Rumney 26. Wescott

Coach: McHale

Collingwood Football Club

History Records Current squad Players Captains Coaches Awards Copeland Trophy Leading goalkickers Captain: Scott Pendlebury Coach: Nathan Buckley Nickname: Magpies

Home grounds	Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–present) Etihad Stadium (2000–present) Victoria Park (1897–1999)

Premierships (15)	1902 1903 1910 1917 1919 1927 1928 1929 1930 1935 1936 1953 1958 1990 2010

Seasons (121)	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Awards	Copeland Trophy

Related articles	VFL team Carlton–Collingwood AFL rivalry Anzac Day clash Queen's Birthday clash Colliwobbles Eddie McGuire Joffa Corfe New York Magpies

Richmond Football Club

History Seasons Records Current squad Players Captains Coaches Individual awards Jack Dyer Medal Michael Roach Medal Captain: Trent Cotchin Coach: Damien Hardwick Nickname: Tigers

Stadiums	Punt Road Oval (1908–64) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1964–present)

Premierships (10)	1920 1921 1932 1934 1943 1967 1969 1973 1974 1980

Seasons (110)	1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Related articles	VFL team Dreamtime at the 'G

References

Atkinson, Graeme: The Complete Book of AFL Finals, 1996. ISBN 1-875971-47-5
McFarlane, Glenn and Roberts, Michael: The Machine - The Inside Story of Football's Greatest Team, 2005. ISBN 0-9586412-3-4

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