Melbourne were competing in the finals for the 11th consecutive season. They were also playing in their eighth Grand Final in 11 seasons and fighting for their sixth Premiership in that time.
Match summary
With Melbourne leading by 11 points at the final break the match is remembered for its thrilling last quarter. In the early stages Melbourne had plenty of opportunities to kick goals but could only manage behinds and it was Collingwood's Des Tuddenham who kicked the first goal of the term. 17 minutes into the quarter Collingwood trailed by 9 points but were within a kick when Ray Gabelich kicked goal from a boundary throw in. Gabelich kicked another to put them in front soon afterwards, a goal that is now regarded as one of the most famous in grand final history. He had received the ball near centre half forward and due to Melbourne having spent the previous minutes in their own forwardline and Collingwood moving the ball upfield quickly, there were no defenders ahead of Gabelich. A 109 kg ruckman, Gabelich ran towards the goal, bounced the ball four times, nearly losing it on each occasion, and with Melbourne players gaining on him put it through the big sticks. Collingwood were now 3 points up and time on was nearing. After the restart Melbourne's Barry Bourke kicked the ball into their 50 and it was marked by rover Hassa Mann. He was directly in front and only 20 metres out but his shot for goal came off the side of his boot and he could only manage a behind. Melbourne had another chance to win the game however when they kicked the ball towards the goalsquare. A big pack of players went for the ball but it spilled to the ground where Melbourne defender Neil Crompton gathered the ball and kicked a goal. It was his only goal of the season and he had only been forward because he'd followed his opponent upfield. In the final minutes, Collingwood had the ball in their forward line. Collingwood's Ian Graham had a chance to goal with a difficult snap from the boundary but missed. Melbourne held on against intense pressure from Collingwood until the siren sounded leaving Melbourne winners by 4 points.
It was widely believed that Terry Waters had kicked two goals in the grand final, although in January 2020, it was revealed that one of Water's goals had indeed been scored by fellow Magpie Ian Graham instead. Water admitted that he did not remember kicking one of his goals. An even bigger twist is that for 55 years, Waters was the outright top Collingwood with 43 goals but the change brought a tie between the two on 42 a piece
