Photo excerpt of the 1902 Grand Final from the Argus
1902: New era, old rivals
The 1901-1902 off season presented the VAFL with only small changes to the club presentation, such as jumper design, however, one major event was going to change the sport forever. On January 17th, South Melbourne, a club that was once a top tier team, had dropped to sub par levels due to their loss of many good players after they joined the VFL, and to counter this they hired the first professional coach in Australian football history, ex-Fitzroy player Jack Worral. Immediately, Worral made a difference in the club, leading training sessions, and recruiting talent, all of which led to the roles that a club coach holds today. His "successful" pre-season encouraged other clubs to hire their own coaches in the future.
The season opened on the now traditional Carlton v Fitzroy match, now being played at the MCG, drawing a crowd of 22,000. Playing is a heavy downpour, with the ground flooding, Fitzroy dominated the reigning premiers, demolishing them by a then record of 88 points. That was turned around the following week however, as South Melbourne beat Fitzroy by 56 points, getting them the top ladder position.
The round 5, last place Williamstown managed to pull of an upset victory against 2nd place Essendon. Williamstown led all day against the player depleted Essendon who lost many of their better players against Footscray in round 3, and at the final bell, Williamstown led 43 to 21. This win however, didn't make a big impact on Williamstown's season, as a week later, St Kilda beat them back into last place to the tune of 54 points.
St Kilda, a team that had relatively little success prior to the 1902 season, ran up the ladder following a 2 point win over Collingwood. Half-way through the 1902 season, after seeing the dramatic fly up of South Melbourne on the ladder, officially hired former Geelong player Charles Brownlow to become coach of the club. This led to 8 stunning wins in a row for the club, including the defeat of 4th place Carlton from 6th spot in round 9. Their stunning rise closed off the top 4 by round 14, and were ready to take on their first finals.
End of Season Ladder:
1.South Melbourne
2.Fitzroy
3.Essendon
4.St Kilda
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5.Footscray
6.Carlton
7.Geelong
8.Collingwood
9.Prahan
10.Port Melbourne
11.North Melbourne
12.Williamstown
13.Melboune
14.Richmond
Finals
During the season, the VAFL commissions board decided to included a new law to the finals system, the right to challenge. It aloud the minor premier to challenge the grand final victor to a rematch if the minor premier played in it and lost, or challenge the grand final victor if they had not played in it.
The finals series opened up to a 45 point thrashing by South Melbourne over Fitzroy in damp weather at the MCG. South Melbourne took the lead in the highest scoring quarter up to that point (46 points), and Fitzroy, behind Gerald Brosnan, attempted to claw their way back, but to no fruition. The next match was between Essendon and St Kilda. Played in the afternoon due to Essendon's delay, St Kilda got off to a fast start, kicking 2 goals to 1 behind. Essendon later caught up in the 2nd quarter, taking a 2 point lead into half time. The continued to apply to pressure in the 3rd and 4th quarters, taking a 16 point victory into the next week.
In the semi-final, Fitzroy, with many retiring players had to face up against the relatively new faces of Essendon. Fitzroy's fast start was quickly neutralized by a strong defence. They carried their forward moment into the 3rd and 4th quarters, and the Grand Final was gradually getting away from Fitzroy. Essendon's 24 point victory over Fitzroy led them to face off against their seasonal rivals, South Melbourne.
In the second semi-final or the first Grand Final, a crowd of 37,000 saw Essendon overcome a then highest grand final margin of 27 points, and win in 36 degree weather. The first quater saw South Melbourne go up by 15 points before a 2nd quarter "blow-out" to 27 points. Essendon drew the score back down to 21 points just before half-time. Essendon continued their comeback by performing a Footscray-esque manoeuvre of throwing everything forwards, and applying pressure to the other teams defences. Drawing the score back to a margin of 3. In the final quarter, Essendon, with all the momentum behind them scored 2 goals to none score to win the game by 9 points. However, South Melbourne, as minor premiers challenged Essendon to a rematch the following week.
Grand Final
The 1902 VAFL Grand Final, also known as the 1902 second Grand Final, was played at the MCG in relatively warm weather in front of a crowd of 32,000 spectators. South Melbourne, following their loss the week before, challenged Essendon under the right to challenge law, and before they new it, the game began. Essendon, rather than let South Melbourne get away like they did the week before locked down their defences in the first quarter. This method, although not allowing South Melbourne to score, disallowed them a quick break out of their defence, and in the first quarter, the score was 2 points to 1 in Essendon's favour. The second quarter was far more smooth than the first, with both teams scoring 2 goals in the quarter, however, Essendon remained in front for the half-time break.
Coming back onto field, the two progressed into a more frenzied stage, as none of the teams could get a clear break from the other, until a late quarter surge by Essendon gave them a 9 point lead going into the 4th quarter. Finally, with South Melbourne tired and seemingly defeated, Essendon blew the game open, and 4 goals in the last quarter sealed the game, giving Essendon the premiership by 16 points.
1st Quarter:
Essendon - 0 goals, 2 behinds - 2 points
South Melbourne - 0 goals, 1 behind - 1 point
2nd Quarter:
Essendon - 2 goals, 4 behinds - 16 points
South Melbourne - 2 goals, 2 behinds - 14 points
3rd Quarter:
Essendon - 4 goals, 5 behinds - 29 points
South Melbourne - 3 goals, 2 behinds - 20 points
4th Quarter:
Essendon - 8 goals, 7 behinds - 49 points
South Melbourne - 5 goals, 3 behinds - 33 points
Following the seasons end, Fitzroy decided to modernize their image by converting from their old leather, lace up jumper to a modern woollen jumper. The VAFL also decided to unveil a new design for the VAFL logo, which was used until the VAFL's conversion to a national league, and was eventually picked up by the new Victorian Football League (1922) and used until 2009.
The new logo for the VAFL