1965 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1965.

Premiership season

In 1965, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th 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 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.

Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1965 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Ladder

Night Series Competition

The night series were held under the floodlights at Lake Oval, South Melbourne, for the teams (5th to 12th on ladder) out of the finals at the end of the season.

Final: North Melbourne 14.13 (97) defeated Carlton 9.3 (57).

Premiership Finals

First Semi-Final

Second Semi-Final

Preliminary Final

Grand final

Awards

• The 1965 VFL Premiership team was Essendon.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was John Peck of Hawthorn who kicked 56 goals.
• The winner of the 1965 Brownlow Medal was Ian Stewart of St Kilda with 20 votes. He won on a count-back from Noel Teasdale of North Melbourne.
  • As a consequence of its 1981 decision to change its rules relating to tied Brownlow Medal contests, the AFL awarded a retrospective medal to Noel Teasdale in 1989.
• Hawthorn took the "wooden spoon" in 1965.

Notable events

• In January, Melbourne's 1964 premiership captain Ron Barassi astounds the VFL community by announcing that he will be the 1965 captain/coach of Carlton.
• Richmond had moved its "home ground" to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (sharing it with Melbourne), whilst continuing to train at the Punt Road Oval. In round 1, Richmond played its first "home" match at the MCG, against Melbourne in front of 36,283 spectators; Melbourne win by a goal, 7.5 (47) to 6.5 (41).
• North Melbourne and St Kilda had moved their training base and their "home ground" to Coburg Oval and Moorabbin Oval respectively. In round 1, North Melbourne played its first "home" match at the Coburg Oval, against South Melbourne in front of 13,774 spectators; the ground is in shocking condition and North Melbourne lose 6.10 (46) to 4.12 (36). In round 1, St Kilda played its first "home" match at the Moorabbin Oval, against Collingwood in front of 51,370 spectators (an all-time crowd record for the Moorabbin Oval); St Kilda win 8.12 (60) to 8.6 (54).
• In the round 2 match against Essendon, Hawthorn forward Garry Young sustains a painful injury from a hard knock. Hawthorn captain Graham Arthur stands over him and says "Get up you weak bastard". Young returns to the play and does his best to continue. Eventually he leaves the ground. He went straight to hospital where it was discovered that he had a perforated bowel and peritonitis, both of which are life-threatening conditions. He never played again.
• In round 6, Essendon forward Geoff Gosper is the first VFL player to play with a mouthguard.
• On Saturday 19 June, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Victoria thrashes South Australia 19.17 (131) to 9.18 (72); however, the tables are turned in the return match on 10 July, in Adelaide, when South Australia thrashes Victoria even more comprehensively 12.11 (83) to 3.1 (19).
• Norm Smith, a six-premiership Melbourne coach, was sacked after round 12 and then reinstated before round 14. Smith had been unhappy about his lack of support from the Melbourne Football Club in the libel case that had been brought against him by VFL umpire Russell Blew.
• At the end of the season, North Melbourne Football Club declares its move to Coburg Oval a failure, and state that it will play all of its future "home games" at the Arden Street Oval once again.
• Melbourne miss the finals for the first time since 1954, and St Kilda play in a Grand Final for the first time since 1913.
• Essendon's half-forward flanker John Somerville was felled behind play in first 10 minutes of the 1965 Preliminary Final. His opponent for the day, Collingwood's Duncan Wright, was never selected to play for Collingwood again. The field umpire, Ron Brophy, was never selected to umpire a VFL match again. (See Duncan Wright and John Somerville.)

References

• Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872-1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
• Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897-1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN 0-670-90809-6
• 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

External links

• 1965 Season - AFL Tables
• Richard Allsop, "Round 15 Footy Flashbacks: Player of the week – Garry Young", (Official Website of the Hawthorn Football Club, 11 July 2007)