1978 VFA season

The 1978 Victorian Football Association season was the 97th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 18th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Prahran Football Club, after it defeated Preston in the Grand Final on 24 September by 22 points; it was Prahran's fifth and last Division 1 premiership. The Division 2 premiership was won by Frankston; it is the only Association premiership in either division won by the club to date.

1978 VFA Premiership Season
Teams20
Division 1
Teams10
PremiersPrahran
(5th premiership)
Minor premiersPort Melbourne
(12th minor premiership)
Division 2
Teams10
PremiersFrankston
(1st D2 premiership)
Minor premiersFrankston
(2nd D2 minor premiership)
← 1977
1979 →

Division 1

The Division 1 home-and-away season was played over 18 rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system. The finals were played at the St Kilda Cricket Ground.

Ladder
1978 VFA Division 1 Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPAPctPTS
1 Port Melbourne 18 13 5 0 2305 1994 115.5 52
2 Preston 18 12 5 1 2175 1995 109.0 50
3 Prahran 18 11 6 1 2221 1965 113.0 46
4 Dandenong 18 11 7 0 2276 2017 112.8 44
5 Coburg 18 10 8 0 2087 1887 110.5 40
6 Sandringham 18 8 10 0 2054 1967 104.4 32
7 Brunswick 18 8 10 0 1820 1907 95.4 32
8 Geelong West 18 7 11 0 1936 2180 88.8 28
9 Caulfield 18 6 12 0 1937 2301 84.1 24
10 Mordialloc 18 3 15 0 1783 2381 74.8 12
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points Source[1]

Finals
Semi Finals
Sunday, 3 September Prahran 21.16 (142) def. Dandenong 17.15 (117) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 7,932) [2]
Sunday, 10 September Port Melbourne 19.16 (130) def. by Preston 20.14 (134) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 14,480) [3]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 17 September Port Melbourne 16.16 (112) def. by Prahran 20.14 (134) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 10,475) [4]
1978 VFA Division 1 Grand Final
Sunday, 24 September Preston def. by Prahran St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 29,565) [5]
5.3 (33)
10.11 (71)
13.12 (90)
 17.17 (119)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 8.3 (51)
9.7 (61)
18.12 (120)
 21.15 (141)		 Umpires: Rex Wenn
Cann 4, Gonsalves 3, Lorenzini 2, Marks 2, Renwick 2, Wilmot 2, Durward, Ringin Goals Smith 7, Johnston 4, Preen 4, Austin 2, Clarke, Dwyer, Kekovich, Taylor
Wilmot, for striking Kekovich in the third quarter
Wilmot, for striking McGuinness in the third quarter
Martin, for striking Kekovich in the third quarter
Martin, for striking Jeffrey in the third quarter
Martin, for headbutting Chapman in the third quarter		 Reports Anderson, for striking Gonsalves in the third quarter
Kekovich, for attempting to striking Martin in the second quarter
McGuinness, for striking Marshall in the third quarter

Awards
  • The leading goalkicker for the third consecutive season was Fred Cook (Port Melbourne). Cook kicked 103 goals in the home-and-away season[1] and 115 goals overall.[4]
  • The J. J. Liston Trophy was won jointly by Barry Nolan (Brunswick) and Trevor Durward (Preston); the two could not be separated on countback, each polling fourteen first preferences and four second preferences, for a total of 32 votes. Laurie Burt (Coburg) was third with 28 votes.[6]
  • Preston won the seconds premiership. Preston 10.13 (73) defeated Port Melbourne 10.12 (72) in the Grand Final,[4] played as a stand-alone match on Saturday 16 September at Toorak Park.[3]
  • Werribee won the lightning premiership. Werribee 5.2 (32) defeated Sandringham 3.10 (28) in the Grand Final, played as a curtain-raiser to the senior Grand Final on Sunday 24 September.[5] Werribee was the only Division 2 club to win the lightning premiership in the eight years it existed from 1972–1979, and it was the first Association title of any kind won by the club.

Division 2

The Division 2 home-and-away season was played over eighteen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system; all finals were played on Sundays at Toorak Park.

Ladder
1978 VFA Division 2 Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPAPctPTS
1 Frankston (P) 18 15 3 0 2608 1787 145.9 60
2 Camberwell 18 14 4 0 2341 1527 153.3 56
3 Oakleigh 18 12 5 1 2284 1964 116.2 50
4 Yarraville 18 12 6 0 2136 1833 116.5 48
5 Northcote 18 10 8 0 2222 1944 114.3 40
6 Waverley 18 8 9 1 1881 2065 91.0 34
7 Sunshine 18 7 10 1 1930 2243 86.0 30
8 Werribee 18 6 12 0 1816 2277 79.8 24
9 Williamstown 18 3 15 0 1852 2462 75.2 12
10 Box Hill 18 1 16 1 1638 2606 62.8 6
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points Source[7]

Finals
Semi Finals
Sunday, 20 August Oakleigh 28.22 (190) def. Yarraville 15.10 (100) Toorak Park (crowd: 5,000) [8]
Sunday, 27 August Frankston 18.12 (120) def. Camberwell 16.8 (104) Toorak Park (crowd: 6,500) [1]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 3 September Camberwell 15.26 (116) def. Oakleigh 10.19 (79) Toorak Park (crowd: 5,000) [2]
1978 VFA Division 2 Grand Final
Sunday, 10 September Frankston def. Camberwell Toorak Park (crowd: 8,000) [9]
1.2 (8)
7.7 (49)
9.8 (62)
 15.13 (103)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 2.4 (16)
5.5 (35)
9.11 (65)
 13.11 (89)		 Umpires: Roy Groom
Hunter 6, Orchard 3, Roberts 3, Bell, Boyd, Sampson Goals Hammond 5, B. Smith 3, Adgemis, Hirst, Spithill, Withers, Wright
Lewis, for striking Hook in the second quarter Reports
  • Scores were level twenty minutes into the final quarter.

Awards
  • The leading goalkicker for Division 2 was Mark Fotheringham (Yarraville) who kicked 100 goals in the home-and-away season[7] and 105 goals overall.[8] Fotheringham, aged 21, was playing his first season of senior Association football.[10]
  • The J. Field Medal was won by Lance Styles (Waverley), who polled 39 votes. Styles finished ahead of Richard Radziminski (Sunshine), who finished second with 37 votes, and Ray Orchard (Frankston), who finished third with 30 votes.[6]
  • Oakleigh won the Seconds premiership. Oakleigh 24.10 (154) defeated Camberwell 23.12 (150) in the Grand Final,[3] played as a stand-alone match on Saturday, 9 September at Northcote Park.[2]

Notable events

NFL Night Series

The top three Association clubs from 1977 – Port Melbourne, Sandringham and Coburg – were invited to participate in the NFL Night Series, known this year as the Escort Cup. In the competition, played on Tuesday nights concurrently with the premiership season:

Interleague matches

The Association played an interleague representative match against Queensland for the second consecutive season.

1978 Interleague Matches
Sunday, 4 June Queensland 18.14 (122) def. V.F.A. 12.20 (92) Gabba [18]

Other notable events
  • On 28 May, Box Hill ended a 29-game losing streak dating back to Round 15, 1976, after coming from seven goals behind to draw with Sunshine; Sunshine 15.17 (107) led Box Hill 9.11 (65) at three-quarter time, but Box Hill made up the deficit with the wind in the final quarter to record a draw, 17.17 (119) apiece.[19] Box Hill's winless streak extended to 34 games before it recorded its sole win for the season against Williamstown in Round 13.[20]
  • On 20 August, Preston recovered from a 39-point half time deficit to defeat Coburg by one point. When the final siren sounded, the scoreboard showed the clubs tied on 17.12 (114) apiece, but after the goal umpires conferred, the score was confirmed to be Preston 17.13 (115) d. Coburg 17.12 (114).[8]
  • In the Division 1 preliminary final, Prahran overcame a four-goal final quarter deficit to defeat Port Melbourne by 22 points; the win broke an eleven-game losing streak by Prahran against Port Melbourne.[4]
  • Prior to the Division 2 Grand Final, Frankston and Camberwell players became engaged in a scuffle after a disagreement during the warm-up.[9]
  • In its Lightning Premiership semi-final, Werribee forward John Bellin kicked a goal after the final siren to secure victory against Coburg; Werribee 7.1 (43) d. Coburg 6.2 (38).[4]
  • List of VFA/VFL Premiers

References
  1. Marc Fiddian (28 August 1978). "Dandy way to stay in finals". The Age. Melbourne. p. 25.
  2. Marc Fiddian (4 September 1978). "Two Blues dump Dandy". The Age. Melbourne. p. 29.
  3. Marc Fiddian (11 September 1978). "Bullants nip Port". The Age. Melbourne. p. 29.
  4. Marc Fiddian (18 September 1978). "Five-goal Sam hits his straps". The Age. Melbourne. p. 28.
  5. Marc Fiddian (25 September 1978). "Prahran steps on the Bullants". The Age. Melbourne. p. 27.
  6. Marc Fiddian (31 August 1978). "Trevor, Barry tie for Liston Trophy". The Age. Melbourne. p. 30.
  7. Marc Fiddian (14 August 1978). "Association details". The Age. Melbourne.
  8. Marc Fiddian (21 August 1978). "Preston in by point". The Age. Melbourne. p. 31.
  9. Marc Fiddian (11 September 1978). "VFA first for Frankston". The Age. Melbourne. p. 29.
  10. Marc Fiddian (31 July 1978). "Young Eagle flies high". The Age. Melbourne. p. 32.
  11. Stephen Phillips (10 May 1978). "NSW Cooked". The Age. Melbourne. p. 28.
  12. "NFL game to Port". The Age. Melbourne. 21 June 1978. p. 24.
  13. "Port's brave bid fails". The Age. Melbourne. 19 July 1978. p. 24.
  14. Stephen Phillips (24 May 1978). "'Cowboy' has umps in gun". The Age. Melbourne. p. 27.
  15. Stephen Phillips (5 July 1978). "Bunton lands a winner". The Age. Melbourne. p. 25.
  16. Stephen Phillips (7 June 1978). "Coburg beats East Perth". The Age. Melbourne. p. 24.
  17. "Coburg flops". The Age. Melbourne. 28 June 1978. p. 26.
  18. Marc Fiddian (5 June 1978). "VFA out of the running". The Age. Melbourne. p. 24.
  19. Marc Fiddian (29 May 1978). "Losing run draws to an end". The Age. Melbourne. p. 29.
  20. "Association details". The Age. Melbourne. 10 July 1978. p. 29.
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