1943 VFL season
Encyclopedia
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League
season of 1943.
There were still 16 rounds. The first 11 had every team competing - after round 11, the bottom placed team would drop out, and a new byeless draw would be made.
Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 16 rounds. During the first 11 rounds each team played each other once and had one bye. At round 11, the eleventh team on the ladder dropped out of the competition. In the remaining rounds (12 to 16), the other ten teams played 5 matches each.
During the 1943 season, the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, the Lake Oval, and the Junction Oval
were all appropriated for military use
. Melbourne
shared the Punt Road Oval
with Richmond
as their home ground, South Melbourne
now shared Princes Park
with Carlton
as their home ground, and St. Kilda now played their home games at Toorak Park
(this was possible because there was no VFA competition in 1943). Footscray, however, were able to return to the Western Oval as it was vacated by the defence authorities after a year.
Once the 16 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1943 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".
defeated Essendon
12.14 (86) to 11.15 (81), in front of a crowd of 42,100 (approx.) people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football
).
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
season of 1943.
Influence of World War II
- Geelong were still unable to field a team due to the war, so the bye was retained.
New System
A new system was introduced so that each team received only one bye.There were still 16 rounds. The first 11 had every team competing - after round 11, the bottom placed team would drop out, and a new byeless draw would be made.
Premiership season
In 1942, the VFL competition consisted of eleven teams of 18 on-the-field players each (Geelong did not field a team due to wartime rail and road transport restrictions), 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 16 rounds. During the first 11 rounds each team played each other once and had one bye. At round 11, the eleventh team on the ladder dropped out of the competition. In the remaining rounds (12 to 16), the other ten teams played 5 matches each.
During the 1943 season, the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, the Lake Oval, and the Junction Oval
Junction Oval
The Junction Oval is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its nickname...
were all appropriated for military use
Commandeering
Commandeering is an act of appropriation by the military or police whereby they take possession of the property of a member of the public.-External links:*"" at Straight Dope, 25 April 2006*"" at Urban Legends Reference Pages, 6 August 2001...
. Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
shared the Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval is a sporting ground located in Yarra Park, East Melbourne, Victoria situated only a few hundred metres to the east of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground....
with Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
as their home ground, South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
now shared Princes Park
MC Labour Park
Princes Park is an Australian rules football ground located at Princes Park in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton North, Victoria....
with Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
as their home ground, and St. Kilda now played their home games at Toorak Park
Toorak Park
Toorak Park is a cricket and Australian rules football arena located in the Melbourne suburb of Armadale, Victoria, Australia. It is the home ground of the Prahran Football Club and Old Xaverians Football Club of the Victorian Amateur Football Association and Prahran Cricket Club, which plays in...
(this was possible because there was no VFA competition in 1943). Footscray, however, were able to return to the Western Oval as it was vacated by the defence authorities after a year.
Once the 16 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1943 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".
Grand final
RichmondRichmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
defeated Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
12.14 (86) to 11.15 (81), in front of a crowd of 42,100 (approx.) people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
).
Awards
- The 1943 VFL Premiership team was RichmondRichmond Football ClubThe Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
. - The VFL's leading goalkickerColeman MedalThe Coleman Medal is awarded yearly to the Australian Football League player who kicks the most goals in regular-season matches in that year...
was Fred FanningFred FanningFred Fanning is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League . He was a strongly built forward who stood at 193 cm and weighed 102 kg and, prior to the Coleman Medal, topped the league's goal kicking charts in 1943 , 1944 and 1945...
of MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
with 62 goals. - No Brownlow MedalBrownlow MedalThe Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
was awarded in 1943. - St Kilda took the "wooden spoon" in 1943.
Notable events
- Hawthorn'sHawthorn Football ClubThe Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
coach Roy CazalyRoy CazalyRoy Cazaly was an Australian rules football player famous for his high marks and ruck work, which gave rise to the phrase "Up There Cazaly".-Early life/career:...
renames the club "The Hawks" from "The Mayblooms". - In the spiteful round 1 match between EssendonEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
and South MelbourneSydney SwansThe Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
, a vicious brawl broke out in the last quarter when South Melbourne's Jack "Basher" WilliamsJack "Basher" WilliamsJack E. "Basher" Williams was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....
felled Ted LeehaneTed LeehaneTed Leehane is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League .He was a member of the great Essendon premiership teams in 1942, 1949 and 1950.Leehane captain-coached Mansfield from 1951 to 1956....
(apparently in a square-off retribution for Leehane's similar action against Williams in the 1942 Preliminary Final) which involved a dozen players, team officials, trainers, fans, and police. Three players were reported: Williams received an eight week suspension for striking Leehane, Dick ReynoldsDick ReynoldsRichard Sylvannus 'Dick' Reynolds was an Australian rules footballer and coach who represented Essendon and Victoria with great distinction....
, Gordon LaneGordon LaneGordon 'Whopper' Lane is a former Australian rules footballer who represented the Essendon and South Melbourne in the VFL. He played as a forward with a strong overhead mark and was rated by Jack Dyer in 1946 as 'the best centre half forward in the game'.He is best remembered for his performances...
, and Perc BushbyPerc BushbyPercy "Perc" Bushby was an Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League .He played in the Essendon premiership teams in 1942 and 1946...
, 1940 Brownlow MedalBrownlow MedalThe Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
winner Herbie MatthewsHerbie MatthewsHerbie Matthews was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League. He was recruited from suburban Fairfield under the League's "father and son" rule. His father, 'Butcher' Matthews, partnered the great Roy Cazaly in South Melbourne's ruck...
was suspended for four weeks for striking Allan Hird, and Bushby was suspended for two weeks for striking Williams in retaliation. - The VFL suspends its round 12 matches and conducts a one-day "lightning" carnival; the 1941 Victorian Football League Patriotic Match Cup is won by EssendonEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
. - In round 5, Denis CordnerDenis CordnerGeorge Denis Pruen Cordner was an Australian rules football player. His brothers Don, John and Ted were also notable sportsmen.Denis Cordner played in the ruck in the Melbourne premiership teams in the 1948, 1955 and 1956....
makes his debut for MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
in a team that also contains his brothers DonDon CordnerDr Donald Cordner was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League during the 1940s...
and TedTed CordnerTed Cordner is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League during the 1940s. The older brother of Melbourne Team of the Century members Denis and Don Cordner, Ted would have played more than 52 games had he not pursued a medical career...
. - Munitions worker Bob ChittyBob ChittyBob Chitty was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League .Chitty made his debut for the Carlton Football Club in Round 7 of the 1937 season...
plays for CarltonCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
in round 15 despite losing the top of his finger during the week in a workplace accident. - Richmond'sRichmond Football ClubThe Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
centre half-forward Jack BroadstockJack BroadstockJack Broadstock was an Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the Victorian Football League during the 1940s....
went Absent Without Leave (AWL) from his Army duties in order to play in the 1943 Grand Final. He was arrested by the Military Police upon his arrival at Princes ParkMC Labour ParkPrinces Park is an Australian rules football ground located at Princes Park in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton North, Victoria....
, and it was only after some very persuasive talking by Richmond captain Jack DyerJack DyerJohn Raymond Dyer Sr. OAM , always known as Jack Dyer, was one of the colossal figures of Australian rules football during two distinct careers, firstly as a player and coach of the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League between 1931 and 1952, and later in the broadcast media for...
, who was himself a policeman with the Victorian Police Force, that Broadstock's commanding officer dropped the matter and allowed him to play in the match. Broadstock went on to kick a goal and be one of Richmond's best players. - For the first time, no score of four or fewer goals was kicked in a VFL season. The only seasons since without a goal tally of four or fewer have been 1969, 1973, 1982, 1983, 2005 and 2008.