| Venue: M.C.G. | Date: Saturday April 17, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Lost by 27 points | Umpire: P.Sheales | Crowd: 42,885 Receipts: $19,889 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: A.Jesaulenko 6, R.McLean 3, S.Jackson 2, T.Keogh 1, A.Gallagher 1, P.Jones 1, R.Walls 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: V.Waite (BOG), A.Jesaulenko, J.Nicholls, P.Jones, B.Gill, I.Robertson. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: Nil | Injuries: A.Gallagher (ankle), P.Pinnell (thigh) | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Melbourne had started the season brilliantly with a 105 point thrashing of 1970 finalist South and a 44 point win at the Western Oval. This clash with the reigning premiers would disclose whether they really had improved significantly from their dire standards of the previous two years (last in 1969 and 3rd-last in 1970).When the Blues closed to within 12 points early in the last quarter wise heads nodded sagely and opined that the natural order was about to be restored. Unfortunately the Demons hadn't read the script and instead pulled away to win by 27 points.
In truth the Blues had been kept in the game by a herculean performance in the last line of defence by Vin Waite and a 6-goal haul from Jezza.
We had played the teams who had finished in the last 3 spots of 1970 and were 1-2. This premiership defence wasn't going to be any walk in the park.
Melbourne's coach Ian "Tiger" Ridley is on top of the world after a shock win against the reigning premiers Carlton, this was despite Alex Jesaulenko kicking six goals for the Blues. Melbourne's win was all the more impressive because they looked so confident. From the first quarter, the Demons always looked so confident. Melbourne's big guns completely overshadowed the Blues' big names. - Footy Week.
Team
| B: | 21 Barry Gill | 20 Geoff Southby | 30 Vin Waite |
| HB: | 15 Phil Pinnell | 43 David McKay | 35 Barry Mulcair |
| C: | 32 Bryan Quirk | 34 Ian Robertson | 4 Bruce Doull |
| HF: | 5 Syd Jackson | 42 Robert Walls (vc) | 14 Ricky McLean |
| F: | 28 Peter Jones | 25 Alex Jesaulenko | 8 Trevor Keogh |
| Ruck: | 2 John Nicholls (c) | 1 Serge Silvagni | 10 Adrian Gallagher |
| Res: | 49 Andy Lukimitis | 22 Neil Chandler | |
| Coach: | Ron Barassi | ||
Round 2 | Round 4