As in 1942, only eleven of the league's twelve clubs competed, with Geelong remaining in recess due to travel restrictions during World War II. The season ran from 8 May until 25 September, and comprised a 15-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
In 1942, the VFL competition consisted of eleven teams of 18 on-the-field players each (Geelong did not field a team due to wartime rail and road transport restrictions), 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. During the first eleven rounds, each team played each other once, and had one bye which was worth four premiership points; after round 11, the team in last position on the ladder was eliminated from the competition, and the remaining ten teams played five matches each in rounds 12 to 16, with fixtures determined by the league using a pre-arranged and unequal formula under which the higher placed teams would face a more difficult draw.[1] At the end of the home-and-away season, the top four teams based on the full sixteen rounds progressed to a finals series using the Page–McIntyre system to determine the season's premiers.
Source: "How the clubs stand". The Football Record. Vol.30, no.14. Melbourne, VIC. 31 July 1943. p.10. Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
Hawthorn's coach Roy Cazaly renamed the club "The Hawks" from "The Mayblooms". This season was the closest Hawthorn came to a finals appearance in its first 32 seasons (1925–56) in the VFL, finishing one spot outside the final four only by an inferior percentage to Carlton.
In the spiteful Round 1 match between Essendon and South Melbourne, a vicious brawl broke out in the last quarter when South Melbourne's Jack "Basher" Williams felled Ted Leehane (apparently in a square-off retribution for Leehane's similar action against Williams in the 1942 preliminary final) which involved a dozen players, team officials, trainers, fans, and police. Three players were reported: Williams received an eight-week suspension for striking Leehane, Dick Reynolds, Gordon Lane, and Perc Bushby, 1940 Brownlow Medal winner Herbie Matthews was suspended for four weeks for striking Allan Hird, and Bushby was suspended for two weeks for striking Williams in retaliation.
Entering Round 11, St Kilda and South Melbourne were tenth and eleventh on the ladder with two premiership points separating them; as such, the match between those two clubs in Round 11 directly decided which club was eliminated after the first set of home-and-away matches. South Melbourne won the game by 35 points.[3]
Munitions worker Bob Chitty played for Carlton in Round 15 despite losing the top of his finger during the week in a workplace accident.
Richmond's centre half-forward Jack Broadstock went Absent Without Leave (AWL) from his Army duties in order to play in the 1943 grand final. He was arrested by the Military Police upon his arrival at Princes Park, and it was only after some very persuasive talking by Richmond captain Jack Dyer, who was himself a policeman with the Victorian Police Force, that Broadstock's commanding officer dropped the matter and allowed him to play in the match. Broadstock went on to kick a goal and be one of Richmond's best players.
For the first time, no score of four or fewer goals was kicked in a VFL season.
The seconds premiership was won by St Kilda for the second consecutive season. St Kilda 11.14 (80) defeated Fitzroy 8.6 (54) in the Grand Final, played as a stand-alone match on 18 September at Victoria Park.[4][5]
↑"Fixtures". The Football Record. Vol.30, no.12. Melbourne, VIC. 17 July 1943. p.11.
↑Rodgers, Stephen (1992), Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results, 1897–1991 (3rded.), Ringwood, VIC: Viking O'Neil, p.304
↑"Two pennants to St Kilda". The Argus. Melbourne. 20 September 1943. p.9.
↑"Seconds Grand Final". The Argus. Melbourne. 17 September 1943. p.9.
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
Known as the Victorian Football League from 1897–1989; no grand finals were held in 1897 and 1924
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