In the latest of his Classic Matches series, Jim Main looks back at the Swans’ most important match against Melbourne.

South Melbourne v Melbourne
Preliminary Final, September 26, 1936
MCG

South Melbourne might have had a golden era in the mid-1930s, but just one premiership (1933) from four consecutive Grand Final appearances from 1933-36 was disappointing considering its dominance in these seasons.

The Swans finished on top of the ladder in 1936, but unexpectedly went down to Collingwood by just three points in the second semi-final.

In the previous week’s first semi-final, Melbourne defeated Carlton by nine points, which meant that South had to play the Redlegs in the MCG preliminary final – the first finals clash between the two clubs.

South might have been the raging favourite, but Melbourne had thrashed the Swans by 52 points at the MCG in round 12.

The preliminary final attracted 50,758 fans, with champion South full-forward Bob Pratt expected to play a pivotal role, even though he had kicked just 56 goals to that stage of the season.

South, as expected, tried to run its opponent off its feet with clever precision passing, but the Redlegs countered this with tight man-to-man marking.

The Swans were fortune to lead by two points at the first change, but deadly accuracy in front of goal in the second quarter gave them a 16-point lead at half-time.

Melbourne tried to counter South’s pace with physical aggression, but made several inexplicable mistakes close to goal, with one shot by Eric Glass scoring only a behind when it was ruled the ball had come off his thigh.

South took the initiative after half-time through the good play of Pratt, Laurie Nash and former Carlton player Maurice “Mocha” Johnson.

A Pratt goal gave South breathing space, but Swan fans groaned when Austin Robertson blotted the red and white copybook with the Swans’ first behind of the match.

Melbourne then missed two relatively easy chances and South made them pay for their inaccuracy with goals from Nash and Syd Dineen.

However, Melbourne hit back in the final minutes of the third quarter to trail South by just 14 points at the final break.

When Roy Moore kicked South’s twelfth goal early in the final quarter, Melbourne buckled at the knees.

South then caught Melbourne’s inaccuracy disease and scored six straight behinds before Pratt settled the issue with a late goal.

The Swans, so accurate over the first three quarters, scored 2.10 in the final quarter to win by 26 points.

The headline in The Argus the following Monday declared: SOUTH SHOULD WIN PREMIERSHIP.

Football writer Percy Taylor described South’s victory over Melbourne as “well-deserved and convincing”. He suggested South had “greater pace and dash, better position play and much stronger shooting for goal”.

He also described the preliminary final as a “strange game”, and added that although Melbourne played with plenty of determination, South “set its teeth grimly” to thwart most Redleg thrusts.

Taylor named South winger Herbie Matthews as the best player on the ground, followed by Jack Graham and captain-coach Jack Bisset.

South was favoured to defeat Collingwood in the Grand Final because several Magpie players, including champion full-back Jack Regan and Harry Collier, were under injury clouds.

Both these Magpie stars played in the Grand Final and Collingwood defeated South by 11 points.

South Melbourne    2.0     7.0     11.1     13.11 (89)
Melbourne               1.4     3.8      7.12      8.15 (63)

Best: Mathews, Graham, Bisset, Dineen, Pratt, Nash.
Goals: Pratt 5, Moore 2, Dineen 2, Nash 2, Thomas, Robertson.

B: Jack Austin, Ron Hillis, Reg Richards
HB: Bill Faul, Jack Graham, Jim Cleary
C: Herbie Matthews, Len Thomas, Jim Reid
HF: Owen Evans, Laurie Nash, Roy Moore
F: Syd Dineen, Bob Pratt, Maurice Johnson
Foll: Jack Bisset, Dinny Kelleher, Austin Robertson
19th man: Frank Davies
Emg: Stan Mullane, Charlie Pettiona

• Amazingly considering that both South Melbourne and Melbourne were founding VFL members in 1897, the only other finals clash between the clubs was in 1987, when Melbourne defeated the Sydney Swans by 76 points in the first-semi final.