Played during the peak of World War II, only eleven of the league's twelve clubs competed, with Geelong withdrawing due to travel restrictions. The season ran from 9 May until 19 September, and comprised a home-and-away season in which each club played either 14 or 15 games, followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
World War II had many effects on the organisation of football in Australia:
Geelong was unable to compete in the competition because of wartime travel restrictions. Temporary transfers to other clubs were available to Geelong players (limit of three per club).
Melbourne and Collingwood struggled to field teams, and at one stage considered amalgamating into a joint team,[1] however they were both ultimately able to compete.
Hawthorn and Collingwood withdrew their teams from the reserves competition.
Available servicemen were often called upon to make up the numbers – this accounts for the drop in form of the Melbourne team, having previously won three premierships in a row.
The VFA went into recess, and any eligible players were given temporary league permits.[2]
The Brownlow Medal was suspended until 1946.
Many ground changes were also forced upon teams, as their usual home grounds were used in the war effort. The new grounds used were Yarraville Oval (Footscray), Toorak Park (St Kilda), Punt Road Oval (Melbourne) and Princes Park (South Melbourne).[3]
In 1942, the VFL competition consisted of eleven teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus one substitute player, known as the 19th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances. Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 16 rounds; once the 16 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1942 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.
The determination of the 1942 season's fixtures was complicated by the fact that when the VFL decided to proceed with senior football on 1 April,[5] it was not known which grounds would be available. All 1941 grounds except Windy Hill and the Brunswick Street Oval were candidates for long-term appropriation by the military, and the VFL announced that unless three grounds were available, it would not play the season.[6] Consequently, each round's fixture through the first eleven weeks was set only on the previous Wednesday week, rather than being pre-determined at the start of the season. Ultimately the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Lake Oval, the Western Oval, and the Junction Oval all became unavailable; but, several Victorian Football Association grounds became available when the VFA announced on 21 April that it was going into recess, resulting in St Kilda and Footscray moving to Toorak Park and Yarraville Oval respectively,[7] and the remaining ground losses were managed by Melbourne sharing the Punt Road Oval with Richmond and South Melbourne sharing Princes Park with Carlton.
During the first eleven rounds, each team played each other once and had one bye. The remaining five rounds (Rounds 12 to 16) featured the same matches as Rounds 1 to 5. This resulted in an uneven fixture in which six teams played 15 matches, and five teams played 14 matches. Teams were awarded four premiership points for each bye, so the teams with an extra bye were favoured by this draw.[3]
In Round 2, Melbourne and Richmond set the record for the highest aggregate score in a game, with the teams combining for 48.25 (313). This record would stand for thirty years, eventually being broken in the 1972 Grand Final.
Melbourne was led on to the field by RAAF air ace Squadron Leader Keith "Bluey" Truscott, DFC and Bar. Truscott unfurled Melbourne's 1941 premiership flag and, very obviously lacking match condition, played an average game, kicking a single goal in his team's 79-point loss, which proved the last of his fifty career senior games).
The second half of the 1942 Grand Final was delayed as the captains Jack Dyer and Dick Reynolds, both of whom were in "reserved" occupations and, therefore, exempt from military service (Dyer was a police officer, and Reynolds a munitions worker), made speeches to the crowd in support of the wartime Austerity Loan.
On Saturday, 26 September, the premiers, Essendon played a patriotic match against a Combined Services Team that included former VFL stars Laurie Nash, Bob Pratt and Ron Todd (all of whom had been lost to the VFL since crossing to the Victorian Football Association before the war). Essendon won 24.18 (162) to 20.15 (135) before a crowd of 10,000 at Princes Park.[8]
Hawthorn recorded its only win of the season over Collingwood in Round 5, the first time that the Hawks had beaten the Magpies since they joined the VFL in 1925 after 29 losses. Hawthorn were to lose nineteen in a row to the Magpies between 1944 and 1954 before its first peacetime victory in Round 4, 1955.
The seconds premiership was won by St Kilda. St Kilda 13.10 (88) defeated Fitzroy 7.15 (57) in the Grand Final, played as a stand-alone match on 12 September at the Punt Road Oval.[9][10]
References
^Percy Taylor (21 April 1942). "Two league clubs may combine". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 6.
^"Moves of VFA players". The Argus. Melbourne. 7 April 1945. p. 8.
^ abcRodgers, Stephen (1992), Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results, 1897–1991 (3rd ed.), Ringwood, VIC: Viking O‘Neil
^'Cancelling of Holidays: Mr. Curtin Defines Extent of Ban'; Sydney Morning Herald; 27 May 1942, p. 6
^'League to Play Football'; The Argus, 2 April 1942, p. 8
^'League Football Doubtful'; The Argus, 4 April 1942, p. 1
^'Association Against Football – Scratch games May Be Played'; The Argus, 21 April 1942, p. 6
^Percy Taylor (28 September 1942). "Thrilling football – Essendon d. Services". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 6.
^"St Kilda's success". The Argus. Melbourne. 14 September 1942. p. 6.
^"League seconds". The Argus. Melbourne. 12 September 1942. p. 10.
Hogan, P., The Tigers of Old, The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996. ISBN0-646-18748-1
Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN0-9591740-2-8
Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN0-670-90809-6
Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN0-670-86814-0
