Earliest surviving Australian Rules footage: 1909 VFL Grand Final, South Melbourne vs Carlton

This near-complete silent film of the 1909 VFL Grand Final is the earliest known surviving footage of Australian Rules football action.
Played on Saturday 2 October 1909, Carlton and South Melbourne fought out a tough, low scoring contest at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. South Melbourne, chasing their first premiership in the Victorian Football League (VFL), held off a desperate Carlton, looking to win their fourth consecutive flag. In front of more than 37,000 fans, despite being held goalless in the last quarter, The Bloods triumphed by two points. South Melbourne 4 14 38, Carlton 4 12 36.
The film offers a remarkable insight into long-forgotten aspects of the game: place kicks, 'slap' passes, numberless guernseys, players chaired from the field post-match by excited spectators - relics of the past thankfully captured by film exhibitor Charles Cozens Spencer's production.
Read more: www.nfsa.gov.a...
NFSA: 337588
For further information about this clip or for enquiries about commercial use, please refer to [e-mail].

[@cj6859]

I see dustin fletcher

[@wallyandthegators]

+Cj reincarnated

[@SilentHotdog28]

Haha, nice cj

[@michaeldriscoll2278]

yeah but he was past his prime at that point.

[@terry7382]

He wasn’t even born then!

[@joynnywheels]

@@terry7382 wooooosh

[@MarkyColeDaBest]

This is a piece of history. Long live AFL

[@jecos1966]

VFL/AFL

[@EBGamez1]

@@jecos1966 have I seen you before?

[@EBGamez1]

@J G noice to see that AFL is living rent-free in your head :)

[@DV-zv4ox]

Bruh what's with the name tho lmao

[@OldFossil]

@J G awwww, someone's upset about the AFL's success. Looks like someone needs a diaper change! :D

[@NFSAFilms]

You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it. Yes the world was not far away from a big shake up when this was filmed.

[@chloedog47]

If i can got back that far in time, i'm making hats for a living :-)

[@NFSAFilms]

Good call. Hats off to you.

[@DC-js4gk]

They were mad on their hats back then. Throw em in the air, tip them to the ladies. Even kids wore em. Wasn't until the '60s and JFK used the bare head outside as his trademark. He famously wouldn't put on a 10-gallon hat on that fateful morning

[@eddieosborne5328]

my great great grandfather played for collingwood in VFL and he won a premiership with them back in the early 1900s

[@eddieosborne5328]

his name was wally haysom for any of the old folks, he was positioned in the backlines

[@siennacaples1310]

@@eddieosborne5328that’s some nice history.

[@DrWoofOfficial]

Really cool Eddie

[@AussieTVMusic]

Carlton player pulling out of a contest 8:52 Nothings changed.

[@itsry9967]

Haha

[@markdouglas9182]

not really; he's more just standing around hoping something will happen, like most current Carlton players 110 years later.. and Im a Carlton supporter..

[@sentimentalbloke185]

@J G Soccer only has about 250 fans worldwide.

[@gotleft]

8:50 One of the worst cases of staging I have seen. Should be retrospectively referred to the AFL tribunal.

[@BrianJFrk]

This made me Lol for real.

[@crappysud9446]

Manchester United go away no one asked for you fucking opinion like I don’t if your that fucking dumb ti say 240 countries in this world like what the fuck was going inside your head at this point because you are talking the most utter shit I have ever seen

[@benstone5404]

If you look closely the Carlton player actually drives his elbow right in to the Bloods' player's ribs just as he is jumping. There was no staging back then, because there was nothing to be gained - no free kicks were given, and literally knocking someone's block off was part of the game.

[@jamesgraham56]

MANCHESTER UNITED F.C you say that but you have commented this on multiple AFL videos and that means you watch them and the only reason AFL is loved in 4 Australian states is because there are not AFL teams in Tasmania or the Northern Territory and AFL is a national sport where soccer is an international sport which is why it is loved by so many

[@tyfooncheki]

@@jamesgraham56 can confirm AFL is very well loved in tassie

[@briantierney9771]

Melb’s pop’n ...650,000 at that time...Yet 37,000 attend the game.

[@medullaoblongata9670]

I was at this game as the official time keeper. I picked the job up to earn a few extra pennies after my retirement!. I’m the guy in the middle of the crowd with the hat on!. The footballers always looked like they were walking to the gallows. They were told not to smile as the then VFL (as it was known at the time) aggressively marketed the sport as an ‘Unhappy Game’!. The footballer laying injured on the ground later changed his job to a ‘pathway career’ as a professional cadaver and coma model at the fledgling Melbourne University Medical Department. Back in the day Carlton actually had a competitive team and even won a match or two. Collingwood had a lot of off field issues with their players that was either covered up or was ‘waved away’ as a ‘private internal issue’ by the then administrator of the time. Thanks for posting, great memories for me!.

[@NFSAFilms]

Thought that was you ;)

[@RickyisSwan]

I was there too. I was 20 at the time, so today I’m 133 yrs old. Feel like a spring chicken. 🐣🦢🦢🦢

[@shehannanayakkara4162]

Glad you specified the hat, found you straight away!

[@Rob-ww6nc]

​@@RickyisSwanI was there too...born in 1802. In this you will just see the results of my tireless fertilising the grass! Looks black and white. But I can assure you its brown!

[@darrenjray]

In the last pic, the seventh player from the left would be Vic Belcher, the only player to also play in their 1918 flag win. He was named back pocket/ruck in the Swans Team of the Century and died aged 88 in 1977. Player leading out Carlton is captain/coach Fred Elliott.

[@NFSAFilms]

Thanks for the information.

[@banksiasong]

Precious footage, thank you NFSA for uploading it here.

[@MrRealityCheck88]

Amazing. Having no sound actually makes this more intriguing

[@bearmarco1944]

I can just imagine Anthony Hudson and/or Gary Lyon yelling commentary at this game. "And he rushes to kick that ball towards goal... But he misses the football! Carlton still have a chance!"

[@jameschristiansson3137]

No Brian Taylor, yay!

[@pauliejay4161]

Interesting the variation in the uniforms. Some sashes going left, some going right for the Swans. Three guys for Carlton look like they are in NFL gear.

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

First in all codes of football no skin on the legs was shown. Then came shorts just above the knees like these. Then more knee was shown. Shorts kept getting shorter. The NFL & CFL are the only codes of football I know where no leg skin can be shown to this day.

[@cdgh99]

Fantastic footage. I love the crowd with hats and ties...very formal. I wonder how many of the players later went to fight in the great war? Another great clip. thanks.

[@bearmarco1944]

So much that a score of teams got taken out of action, and only four could play.

[@bearmarco1944]

@J G I've heard of you from somewhere. I hope this isn't a second wave where that fuckwit thought that telling people that soccer is good would make people change their minds and decide that soccer is better and just give up Football.

[@OldFossil]

@J G thanks to you coming in every AFL video and boosting views, the game is showing up in more people's recommended videos and therefore growing the beautiful game of Australian Rules Football. I guess I should sort of be thankful for having AFL rent free in your head ;)

[@sk_270-z]

​@J G idk aboit Australia but everyone in the world knows soccer

[@mrstacker1430]

WW1 would have ended the lives of many of the young men there that day. Player and spectator alike.

[@rubinsteve1]

amazing film of the swans first flag, the game itself is of a pretty good standard, some of it is similar to todays game, and its not as slow as one would have thought. Gotta love all those bowler hats in the crowd. LOL

[@NFSAFilms]

I wonder if that hat fashion will ever come back?

[@planetX15]

When did it stop?

[@MarkReedman]

Very appreciative hope earlier footage surfaces one day

[@ronniemillsap]

this is wonderful thank you!

[@sirvidia]

those women's hats must have blocked everyone's view

[@squiddy5681]

Manchester United that was posted 3 years ago and AFL best

[@robertneuer4061]

🥱😴

[@debbieanne7962]

And the huge umbrellas!

[@OldFossil]

@M soccer is a slow sport compared to the fast game of AFL, heck even NRL is faster than soccer. It's just back and fourth ball movement with the rare goal or two. Then they drink, fight and riot because they're so bored just watching it go up and down. This clip from the simpsons sums it up perfectly kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHvYY6SJf56tpNE

[@NFSAFilms]

Hi thanks for your comment. It is a repost in a sense. It was previously posted on our other NFSA channel last year. You may have seen it there. We are in the process of consolidating our two channels and will be posting more of the general NFSA collection here. Some of these will have been posted previously. Sorry if that led to any confusion. It will mean though that we have a vast collection resource to draw on for future posts.

[@ForeverGambino3]

weird to think everyone in this video is dead

[@DC-js4gk]

Why? Almost everyone in every film before 1950 is dead with a few exceptions. Think you can see Angela Lansbury in a 1941 I think Hitchcock movie. She's still going. There was an actress about until recently who won two Oscars in the late '20s! She died last year.

[@kevinaylesbury3657]

FG yer mate hey half of the players were within a couple of years filmed just before ww1 started all those young men and boys in the crowd were either dead or mentally scared within 2 years

[@DDM_08]

not everyone, but a large amount of majority yes.

[@mikenolzeynolan4635]

Sad but true !! Lifes 2 short enjoy it everyday

[@efangrim8470]

@@DDM_08 find me someone who was born in 1909 and is still alive....

[@gotleft]

5:24 holding the man, he never had possession of the ball. What game was that umpire watching?

[@disco1446]

How things change in a relatively short time. In history 100 years is nothing but this might as well be another planet compared to today.

[@personofearth5076]

Even if it makes me dead today I would rather have lived back then. Awesome days.

[@ryankeogh219]

4:39 bahahaha. i bet that dude didn't realise people would still be laughing at him 110 years in the future

[@WalterKingstone]

Haha!

[@bella95]

On KZbin on the Internet 😂😂

[@phildoyle8263]

A scrubby kick to be sure, but he has played in one more League Grand Final at the MCG than you ;)

[@costag7241]

Went in early,bought great tickets for an exemplary standing spectator spot.Only to have this massive hat in front of me.

[@phillipstrommer4668]

She was more appropriately dressed for the Melbourne Cup.

[@johnlane35]

Truly fascinating footage. Hand ball is more of a punch and very little if any foot passing they seem to kick to a contest. still totally recognizable as Aussie rules.

[@gilfavor1river]

John Lane This is what I thought , I can see Aussie rules absolutely , lots of the same thing , but no short passing , a couple of handballs to a team mate , but they also could throw the ball when they had posession up about a foot and punch in mid air. These days that is not allowed , although with the speed the game is played now, some of the hand ball is very suspect. Also saw a couple of blokes mysteriously lying on the ground.With no one about ?????

[@MajesticSkywhale]

+gilfavor1river they thought they were playing soccer and were trying to draw yellow cards.

[@xiq7777]

Priceless.

[@NFSAFilms]

Hi Jason. The NFSA was established in 1984. It's early collections though were part of the National Library of Australia.

[@IfuckingHATEcunts]

Footage of Dustin Fletchers first game? But seriously, very interesting to see how much this game has evolved.

[@gilfavor1river]

IfuckingHATEcunts Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Love the humour!

[@planetX15]

He only played for Essendon though, not for South Melbourne or Carlton.

[@SilentHotdog28]

They had no choice, they would of folded or merged anyway.

[@jaker5555]

The dropkick...oh, remember them? They were great! Fantastic footage.

[@DrFelonious]

The dropkick lives on! Just have a look at Port's cheer squad!

[@MiLLiaN1313]

i love that Carlton didnt even have enough jumper there wearing two sorts.

[@blueycarlton]

They had three, monogrammed, plain blue and the lace up canvasbjacket. The lacce upm would continne

[@blueycarlton]

It is believed that the lace up was last worn in 1918.

[@planetx1595]

@@blueycarlton Then after that it was the monogrammed one, right?

[@rodneymcgiveron]

look how close the goal posts are to the fence ...really great find...also sad to think that maybe a few of these lads might well have been fighting in a World War five years on from this ..

[@tommyslatts3202]

Some absolutely gold comments in here. Awesome footage.

[@TomMarvan]

4:01 interesting handball.

[@phildoyle8263]

There were a few of them. Didn't see any evidence of a "modern" handball, so it must've been the method. Wonder if any modern footballer's have tried it, at any level. Might be a handy skill.

[@fjbutch]

''Cop the place kick'' ! My Grandfather talked about them during his time playing in the 1930s... must say, I can still dob a mean drop kick, and so can my 13 year old son...just passing on the tradition...

[@gilfavor1river]

fjbutch Drop kick is a mighty beautiful kick that has been lost to Aussie football , at its highest level. Stupid I think, a great skill if a player could do good ones they went dead straight. I have played at amateur when the drop kick was still about, we had a bloke playing that would go off on his own and practice it over and over, great for scoring goals , hit it perfectly.

[@fjbutch]

gilfavor1river I have made a couple of short vids on the drop kick with my 13 year old son...checkem' out.. long live the drop kick...

[@planetX15]

+fjbutch "My Grandfather talked about them during his time playing in the 1930s" Who did he play for?

[@fjbutch]

+planetX15 Glenelg, and The MTT. ( Tram ways Trust South Australia.

[@phillipstrommer4668]

I'm impressed that not one person in the crowd gave the Camera the one finger salute.

[@bbking0064]

Judging by the packed stands, it appears even in 1909 it was difficult to get tickets to the grand final.

[@sentimentalbloke185]

Ticketing wasn't introduced until 1957.

[@planetx1595]

​@sentimentalbloke185 Really? So before 1957, going to games were literally free?

[@michaelmorgan1902]

Academy Award performance at 08:50 for staging a free kick. Those women's hats would have been a nightmare to try and watch the game

[@Discovios]

love the south melbourne jumper

[@connorpitt1747]

Just think about it, everyone there is dead

[@NFSAFilms]

:(

[@aegilmoth]

Likely that many died in war too.

[@Ben-gj6fk]

how do you know

[@footballhighlights540]

@@Ben-gj6fk lol

[@TBoneTony]

A good portion of the players and the crowd would have gone off to WW1. Some wouldn't have come back alive. There is a record of names from each VFL club at the time those who gave their lives during WW1. The University of Melbourne Football Club lost at least 16 of their players in WW1 from what I remember. And considering the year of this game was 1909, the following year in 2010 was the year University Football Club finished 6th in a 10 team league and that was their best season. Finished 2 games outside of playing the finals. And from my memory from 2011 to 2014 the University Football Club only won 2 games in their last 4 seasons before disbanding at the end of that season right when WW1 was starting.

[@lealand423]

Thats awesome, the best game in the world.

[@HayleyUnitaAnne]

7:12 kids making faces to the camera's haha, people haven't really changed I suppose

[@ogloc2652]

Hayley Anne some of them look exactly like me and my friends

[@DDM_08]

lol pretty sad to know those kids are dead

[@andremachado4723]

It’s slightly creepy that when the camera turned to the crowd, nearly everyone is staring at it.

[@lumabi25]

I've noticed that about a lot of footage from that era. Must have been the novelty of this new way of taking pictures that move.

[@stephenoconnor9904]

This Classic of Australian Silent Film Footage Shot way way back in 1909, is a fine testament & Example of just.how our Great Australian Game of Aussie Footy, has Stood the test of time over the years Since It's Inception in 1897, to the present day (2019). (The 1909 VFL Grand Final Match Was Won By South Melbourne By 2Pts,Over A Gallant Carlton, 4 14 38 (South Melbourne) To 4 12 36.(Carlton).

[@phillipstrommer4668]

In this game Carlton were going for their Fourth Premiership in a row. They also lost the Grand Final the following year to Collingwood.

[@scoldedcat]

Willy-Nilly diagonal stripes on the South Melbourne jumpers. Cool ! They should bring it back in.

[@markmooroolbark252]

Magnificent.

[@rodneymcgiveron9563]

dig them up and they'd still beat the current Carlton

[@bearmarco1944]

I can imagine some 2020 match with Anthony Hudson yelling at the game. "And there goes Len Mortimer, ready for a goal for South Melbourne... And he kicks it into the goals! Too bad he's got an injury though, left foot came off. Yet again, that was a great goal, a lot more like it coming from Mortimer." Then Lyon says; "Well, happens when you've got actual skeletons playing the game, but they've now got Carlton up by 14 points. They do seem a bit confused they aren't being squashed, we did forget to say that there's a salary cap of $14 million, or for them, 60 shillings."

[@crocodilepeter]

The West Adelaide Football Club is emblazoned across the Scoreboard advertisement !

[@benji274]

They won the SAFL flag that year

[@petervasic2515]

@@benji274 sure did

[@benji274]

Yes, they won four of their 9 flags between 1908-12

[@Full-Metal-Jason]

2 bloods won that year

[@zuhri5820]

Cool seeing the Old Swans against Old Carlton :D

[@NFSAFilms]

No Film Australia is actually celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. It was the last incarnation of the Government film making organisation that was originally called the Photographic and Cinema Branch 1913, The National Film Board 1945, The Commonwealth Film Unit 1956 and finally Film Australia 1973. As a production facility it was wound up in 2008. The collection is now part of the NFSA. Confused yet?

[@memeeater420]

Man this footage is so old that it actually kinda scares me a bit cuz think about it. Everyone in this video is literally dead. Either died from WWI or WWII or just died of old age.

[@TBoneTony]

Back in 1909, the AFL was known as the VFL and there were only 10 teams in the league. This was back when the University of Melbourne had their own Football Club in the VFL. That is how old this footage was taken.

[@ACDZ123]

Other states had their own teams ..VFL was just Victoria. WAFL and SANFL also existed

[@SkinnyCow.]

ghosts, every last one of them

[@dejaycee1]

fantastic! thank you.

[@Misterman668]

All the kids that don’t watch footy a lot be like: OmG wHeRe’s DuStIn mArTiN?

[@gilfavor1river]

I've just had another look at this bit of magic footage. The place kick, the crowd enormous, how would you be standing behind some of those womens' hats???? The handball where you could throw it up and then punch it, but so many familiarities except for ten million ball ups. I noticed that Carlton had, it seems, two different sets of jumpers , where South had just the sash. Same goal posts , in white umpires, just brilliant. Here's some trivia for you I read the other day that the poor old blues had hit their lowest percentage points in a season ever in 2015, the last that was lower was in 1901, 8 years before this game!

[@veganath]

Don't call them *Blues* for nothing...lol

[@joetrump5723]

so many hats~!

[@Magpie_Mark92]

I wish there was more pre 1960s footy on film

[@sentimentalbloke185]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zpi1op2qnMqWe7s kzbin.info/www/bejne/raqsk2mFapeoqaM

[@lusofton1175]

Kade Simpson played in this match. The man is actually immortal.

[@RadicalCaveman]

Yes, he is actually still alive, even though he's in his 130's now. In fact, he's very healthy and shows no signs of aging. The only bad thing is, he now lives in Sydney.

[@jasoncarpp7742]

Ok. So Film Australia was established in 1913. This footage was filmed in 1909, just a few years prior.

[@radic888]

No one dared go out without a hat on.

[@Charles-SG]

We only lost by a few points. If we’d have won it would’ve been our 4th win in a row,

[@shaundavey6770]

Some good draft prospects for Geelong this season

[@paladin313]

Being an American fan of Aussie Rules, I am in awe of how it seems little has changed in the game as far as play and rules, (though the place kick off the ground threw me off a bit.) How much was different in the rules then and how does that differ from now? (It must have been quite the defensive game if both teams had only scored 5 behinds and no goals @5:23.)

[@debbieanne7962]

Well now you can't just throw the ball to each other. No one ever does a place kick anymore, not for the last 90 years. The drop kick was last used in about the 1960s. The game is much faster now. And of course now every player wears matching jumpers! 112 years now since this game. Every person there would now be long dead

[@shaneb315]

The final score was South Melbourne 4 .14 . 38 v Carlton 4.12. 36 .

[@stephenscholes4758]

@@debbieanne7962 I found the respective speeds similar

[@KennyTC63]

@@stephenscholes4758 I'm old enough (just) to remember the drop-kick being used into the late seventies by some players. What you say about the speed of the game, the game has been played at speed since the mid 1950's but it took the VFL a further 20 years to finally go with a dual umpire system (1976). Today's game is not as quick as it was when I was younger. The zoning, flooding and negative mind-set coaching has seen to that. Bring back the 70,s 80,s and 90,s!!

[@kaisahfx1246]

​@@KennyTC63can you still place kick for goal?

[@gerrym75]

The Milliner's were the real winners on that day

[@darthgeros5863]

Carlton has 2 different jumpers out there. It is also weird seeing the Punt Kick and throwing it before handballing, how the game has evolved

[@debbieanne7962]

When was the handball invented?

[@stephenscholes4758]

Even in the '70's players could be seen with (albeit slightly) different jumpers

[@planetx1595]

I think they had three, monogrammed, lace up and plain blue (if I'm not mistaken)

[@pattomuso]

A Place Kick!!

[@johnpeel8005]

For all the NRL followers. This is 1909 and the rugby league sport had been going for ONE year!

[@blueycarlton]

Rugby League 1 year, while this was Australian Football's 51st year. Carlton's narrow loss in this match means they missed out on winning the premiership 4 times in a row.

[@OldFossil]

truly remarkable!

[@coldacre]

love that “handball” at 4:03!

[@phildoyle8263]

There's afew of them, so it must've been the style at the time.

[@planetX15]

Is this a re-post?

[@lusofton1175]

Great to be able to see Dustin Fletchers 1000th match, good on him XD

[@helenahayes6150]

wow - I thought the population back then was too small to get that many people together

[@petrusamp7792]

Melbourne had half a million people by 1890. What did you think the population as in 1909? 50 people?

[@Mirrorgirl492]

That WAS everyone in Melbourne. Everyone went to the game.

[@tivet4]

You can see count people over 40,000 that football league ground size cricket ground .. soccer small ground little people

[@lachlantrainvideos]

Creepy that EVERYONE in this video is now dead.

[@hanajinks1044]

Why?

[@lachlantrainvideos]

@@hanajinks1044 I don’t even know I was a stupid 14 year old

[@DerSpiess11]

Wonder how many of these young men lost their lives, in Gallipoli, on the Somme, & Ypres, etc, just a few years later.

[@phildoyle8263]

Notice how different the handball is; a toss-it-up-and-pop-it-over-the-head-of-your-opponent action. Incorrect disposal was a bad then as now. But at 3:05 the ump pays for high tackle, so even then they were defending the head. And contrast to 3:48 where he ducks into it, and it gets paid as well. The Carlton mids certainly dished it out around the ruck. Lack of commentary improves the spectacle, as always.

[@markdp1983]

8:48 the South player was whacked behind play; I hope they used this film at the Tribunal hearing?!

[@sentimentalbloke185]

First use of video footage at the tribunal was in 1973.

[@seanlowe4785]

Low scoring and the skills were pretty sloppy back then, reminds me of a fledgling AFLW competition just starting out. Just can't convince people that the men were average for many years until it got better.

[@larrywalker6105]

This even before Pratty came along. Srange looking hand pass. Have they ever played any modern game with those shorts?

[@noelroberts8199]

The game was a better spectacle then than it is today with a lot of free flowing footy. Was this the MCG if it is it's changed slightly.....

[@desiredrapfilms]

Crazy they have no idea what’s about to hit them with two massive wars just around the corner 😢

[@Kevin-oh2je]

Wow...awesome...before my father was born in 1920, before WWI

[@jamestulk5111]

Where are the scarves and beanies?

[@michaelcipriano1713]

Amazing footage. Looks like the crowd is so peaceful and out to enjoy a good game of footy, unlike the crowds of today that spoil it for others. Wonder how much a ticket for the game was back then and player payments? Was the young kid that ran out with the players Kevin Bartlet or Bruce Doull?

[@sentimentalbloke185]

Cost a shilling to get into the outer (about $7.50 today) & an extra shilling for a seat in the grandstand.

[@shannen1499]

YEAH THE BLOODS

[@michaelshea5885]

wow the rules were really different then, just like the american football version of aussie rugby

[@swaney233]

how could a player be reported - with no numbers?

[@Seege8485]

i was there, great game.

[@michaeloberhofer7183]

Love the place kick! I have a feeling its still in the rules! Carlton were already dirty bastards! The "blood stained Angels" living up to their name! Cant believe those shorts are back in!

[@aronh4885]

why are there 3 different jumpers on the field? carlton's, white with stripe and grey (red?) with white

[@tyfooncheki]

Carlton played with 2 jumpers, the monogram and then the lace up which was yellow and light blue if my Carlton history book serves me right. And south melbourne with the white and red stripe

[@aronh4885]

@@tyfooncheki 6 years it took to get a reply! I have absolutely no memory of ever seeing this footage or leaving the comment but it's fascinating. Thanks

[@JordyJayHomer]

@@aronh4885 ...and another 3 years for your second like 👍

[@28carat]

Final score? Cup presentation? Sack the cameraman! LOL

[@sentimentalbloke185]

No premiership cup until 1959.

[@planetX15]

@@sentimentalbloke185 Melbourne were the first team to receive the cup, right?

[@sentimentalbloke185]

@@planetX15 correct. Johnny Beckwith received the cup in his last game as Melb captain. Barassi took over the following year.

[@BG-id2cv]

Interesting aspect of this footage is that all players tried to keep their feet and did not go to ground when picking up the ball and appeared to be very few stoppages (I didn't see one stoppage); This maybe a legacy from Rugby, where a player is not allowed to pick the ball up when on the ground, otherwise it's a penalty. Food for thought for the current AFL rules where players lying on the ground and are still allowed to pick up the ball. A rule change such as this would reduce many stoppages IMHO.

[@phildoyle8263]

There are about five thrown ins though. With positional play as shown here it was a lot less congested at the contest, which is why less stoppages. In Rugby you can pick the ball up off the ground as long as you are behind it relative to your own goal. The reason they don't id there';s no advantage ,- you pick it up and someone jumps on you and you are tackled and you either have to release straight away (union) or it's a play-the-ball (league). With no prior opportunity rule there's no benefit in either code. The broader issue is players keeping their feet in the contest, which is an evaporating skill a cross the board. I think this can be put down to modern football shoes, which are simply not fit for purpose. Incredible that someone earning six figures cannot buy equipment that suits their job!

[@phillipstrommer4668]

That hat!..I mean that hat. I first saw this a few years ago and ever since I've been having recurring nightmares about being attacked by killer hats.

[@stephenscholes4758]

Apart from handball, it looks surprisingly modern

[@NFSAFilms]

Hmm! A child of the digital age perhaps? This clip is from the NFSA's general collection not part of the Film Australia Collection. We will be presenting more from the NFSA holdings on here in the future. Who knows what mysteries we may uncover.

[@briantierney9771]

The Goal post was crooked/slight vertical lean....lol! ( early in the Vid.)

[@2real50]

at 4:00 that hand ball tho haha

[@ethandeery1833]

trees G to

[@DC-js4gk]

Funny you mentioned throw. The VFA introduced the throw to try and draw crowds in the '30s and for a while it worked. But fans tired of it, it didn't look like Aussie Rules any more and they scrapped it in the late '40s. Who knew Another interesting attempt was last team to touch it out gives away a free, a la soccer or basketball. That had the unexpected effect of all the play becoming congested down the middle of the ground. Then there's the dreaded 50's 60's flick-pass, soon outlawed. Now we have the "overhead reverse handball" which I believe should be stamped out. Looks like a throw. Saw a slap-pass just last week, he almost got away with it!

[@joelperrin7421]

Jack higgins where u at

[@leecarney4373]

It says MCG in the description, but says its in Sth Melbourne, so does this mean it was called that then but in a different place?

[@craigieboy7283]

When it said south Melbourne that was like a new sentence so yea

[@jasoncarpp7742]

When was NFSA Australia founded? This footage was shot in 1909.

[@YourLocalGummiBearsFan]

Why Didn’t This Come With Sound? I’m Sure That 2023 AFL Will Dub This Over.

[@markjones628]

Best On Ground 3 Votes - Dustin Martin.