Collingwood Forever

COLLINGWOOD BEATS MELBOURNE.
HUGHES AS A GOAL-KICKER

There was not a very large crowd at Victoria Park, and Collingwood had no difficulty in proving their superiority over Melbourne, yet to a lover of good football, it was a pleasant game to watch, because it was marked all through by conspicuous fairness and good sportsmanship, and there was skill and dash in every phase of the game.

Although Collingwood played together in far better style than their opponents, helped each other more efficiently, high-marked well, and were physically the stronger side, Melbourne on occasions played very finely indeed, and suffered most, perhaps, in that their forwards as a group were hardly big enough for the opposition. On occasions, indeed, they played brilliantly, but the lack of weight was always a handicap.

Lee, the champion goal-kicker, was warmly cheered when he reappeared in his old colours, and he started off well in the first quarter by getting two goals. Salvado was the first to score for Melbourne with a dribble, later on P. Love, with assistance from Walker and Tonkin, got their second goal, and towards the end of the quarter Hughes commenced his great day as a goal-kicker for the Magpies.

Collingwood had to play their hardest to gain their advantage in that quarter, and they won it chiefly in the ruck. The term ended with Collingwood 3-5 to Melbourne’s 2 goals. On changing ends, Collingwood simply took control. One goal 1 behind was Melbourne’s gain for that term, while Collingwood scored 5 goals 7 behinds.

The Melbourne ruck was hopelessly beaten then. Collingwood’s passing was very fine and sure at that stage, and all that can be said for Melbourne is that they kept up their dash and made the game interesting. At half-time Collingwood had 8-12 to Melbourne’s  3-1.

In the third quarter the reds rallied in very fine style, and for a time played the best football they have so far shown since the reorganisation. Their passing improved, their handball became efficient, and altogether they beat Collingwood honestly with quicker, cleaner football. In that terms they showed all the elements of a League side, and scored 4-5 to Collingwood’s 11-14; Melbourne, 7-6.

The last quarter was played in a very bad light, and one could see little of it. At times the ball was lost, and only the movements of the players indicated its whereabouts. Towards the end Melbourne died out, and the other side simply ran them down, getting 5 goals and 6 behinds to Melbourne’s 1-1. The fact that Collingwood scored over the century in points is not an indication of one-sided or uninteresting game, for their opponents, in many ways handicaped, carried themselves very creditably. The final scores were: – COLLINGWOOD, 16 goals 20 behinds (116 points); MELBOURNE, 8 goals 7 behinds (55 points).

The great advantage to Collingwood was that they had no drones. All their men were playing in the match while Melbourne had a few beginners to carry. For the winners, no one played perhaps better than McCarthy, and Laxton, in his own determined dashing fashion, backed him up ably, but Hughes was really the hero of the occasion, getting gols from all sorts of positions, and getting them well. He scored six in the match, and the success  of so populat a player was loudly cheered. Dobrigh roved cleverly. Wraith was always prominent, and his clever left-foot kicking a deciding factor. Pannam beat Hall on one wing, but McKenzie, of Melbourne was too good for Tuomy on the other flank. The Collingwood player has occasional dashes, which are simply paralysing, but they do not occur frequently. Brown was a great figure in defence. Both the Wilsons played well, and Lee, in addition to taking some good marks, got three goals, and hit the post with another shot. The three best men in Melbourne colours were undoubtedly Walker, on the half-back line, where he has great determination and dash, and rarely failed the side; Matthews, in the ruck, was also in fine form, and Haines in his best with Geelong was never more prominent than he was in this match. House played a nice game about the centre, while Tonkin, the brothers Love, Huntington, McLean (a young player who took some fine high marks), and Salvana all shaped well.

1919 ‘COLLINGWOOD BEATS MELBOURNE.’, The Argus(Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 9 June, p. 4, viewed 21 September, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1476659