title: 1951 VFL grand final
text: # 1951 VFL grand final
  
  The 1951 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 1951. It was the 54th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1951 VFL season.
  
  ## The match
  
  ### Geelong
  
  The match, attended by 84,109 spectators, was won by Geelong by 11 points (the club's fourth premiership). The win by Geelong — its first since winning the 1937 VFL Grand Final — capped off a brilliant season; the team won the Minor Premiership, its back-pocket, Bernie Smith, won the Brownlow Medal, and its full-forward, George Goninon, was the league's leading goalkicker.
  
  ### Essendon
  
  Essendon went into the match without star full-forward John Coleman who had been suspended in controversial circumstances for four matches. On the day of the match, champion ruckman John Gill had a heavy cold and declared himself unfit to play. At the last minute, the Essendon coach, Dick Reynolds, who had retired the year before, was re-registered as a player; Fred Payne replaced Gill in the run-on team, and Reynolds became 19th Man.
  
  ## Teams
  
  | Geelong | Essendon |
  | - | - |
  
  Geelong :
  
  | B: | Bernie Smith | Bruce Morrison | Loy Stewart |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | HB: | Bert Worner | John Hyde | Russell Middlemiss |
  | C: | Syd Tate | Leo Turner | Terry Fulton |
  | HF: | Russell Renfrey | Fred Flanagan (c) | Bob Davis |
  | F: | Bill McMaster | George Goninon | Peter Pianto |
  | Foll: | Tom Morrow | Jim Norman | Neil Trezise |
  | Res: | Les Reed | Ron Hovey |
  | Coach: | Reg Hickey | Reg Hickey | Reg Hickey |
  
  Essendon :
  
  | B: | Les Gardiner | Bill Brittingham | Doug Bigelow |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | HB: | Harold Lambert | Roy McConnell | Norm McDonald |
  | C: | Chris Lambert | Alan Dale | Lance Mann |
  | HF: | Ron McEwin | Bill Snell | Jack Jones |
  | F: | Fred Payne | Keith McDonald | Greg Tate |
  | Foll: | Wally May | Bob Syme | Bill Hutchison (c) |
  | Res: | Jack Clarke | Dick Reynolds |
  | Coach: | Dick Reynolds | Dick Reynolds | Dick Reynolds |
  
  ## Statistics
  
  ### Score
  
  | Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Geelong | 3.8 (26) | 4.10 (34) | 9.13 (67) | 11.15 (81) |
  | Essendon | 1.0 (6) | 6.2 (38) | 6.4 (40) | 10.10 (70) |
  | Attendance: 85,795 |
  
  ### Goalkickers
  
  | Geelong: Goninon 4 Davis 1 Flanagan 1 McMaster 1 Morrow 1 Norman 1 Pianto 1 Trezise 1 | Essendon: K McDonald 2 Syme 2 Hutchison 1 Jones 1 May 1 Payne 1 Snell 1 Tate 1 |
  | - | - |
  