vfl 1961 round 18

essendon (9-8) vs collingwood (5-12)

dons and pies draw saving the later from a possible wooden spoon. essendon (9-1-8) finish 7th. collingwood (5-1-12) finish 9th one of the worse grand final hangovers.

Essendon	88
Collingwood	88

richmond (5-12) vs hawthorn (13-4)

hawks beat tigers by 25. hawthorn (14-4) finish 1st for the first time and will host melbounre in major semi. richmond (5-13) finish 10th.

Richmond	56
Hawthorn	81

footscray (10-7) vs geelong (10-1-6)

dogs replace cats in finals by 21. footscray (11-7) play st kilda in minor semi finishing 4th . geelong (10-1-7) finish 6th.

Footscray	84
Geelong	63

carlton (9-8) vs melbourne (11-1-5)

dees beat blues by 1. melbourne (12-1-5) finish 2nd and play hawthorn in major semi. carlton (9-9) finish 8th.

Carlton	90
Melbourne	91

st kilda (10-7) vs north (4-1-12)

saints beat roos by 5 to break 22 year finals drought. st kilda (11-7) finish 3rd and host footscray in minor semi. north (4-1-13) finish last.

St. Kilda	72
North Melbourne	67

fitzroy (9-1-7) vs south (5-12)

lions smash swans by 103. fitzroy (10-1-7) finish 5th. south (5-13) finish 11th.

Fitzroy	179
South Melbourne	76

ladder

LP	Club	P	W	L	D	For	Agn	%	Pts
1	Hawthorn	18	14	4	0	1467	1173	125.06	56
2	Melbourne	18	12	5	1	1510	1151	131.19	50
3	St. Kilda	18	11	7	0	1373	1173	117.05	44
4	Footscray	18	11	7	0	1334	1216	109.70	44
5	Fitzroy	18	10	7	1	1469	1258	116.77	42
6	Geelong	18	10	7	1	1367	1362	100.37	42
7	Essendon	18	9	8	1	1462	1335	109.51	38
8	Carlton	18	9	9	0	1279	1325	96.53	36
9	Collingwood	18	5	12	1	1166	1375	84.80	22
10	Richmond	18	5	13	0	1126	1428	78.85	20
11	South Melbourne	18	5	13	0	1187	1644	72.20	20
12	North Melbourne	18	4	13	1	1133	1433	79.07	18

semi finals

minor

st kilda v footscray

major

hawthorn v melbourne

this is only the hawks 2nd finals appearence ever and first minior premership . and the saints first in 22 years. all but 1 flag and all but 2 grand final appearences by the 4 going in are from melbournne.