1917 VFL season explained

Year:	1917
Date:	12 May—22 September 1917
Teams:	6
Premcount:	4
Mpcount:	5
Leadinggoalkicker:	Dick Lee
Goals:	50
Matches:	49

The 1917 VFL season was the 21st season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. Played during the latter stages of World War I, six of the league's nine clubs featured in 1917, with and returning after being in recess the previous season. The season ran from 12 May to 22 September, comprising a 15-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

won the premiership, defeating by 35 points in the 1917 VFL grand final; it was Collingwood's fourth VFL premiership. Collingwood also won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 10–4–1 win–loss–draw record. Collingwood's Dick Lee won his sixth leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

In 1917, the VFL competition consisted of six teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their place on the field at any time during the match.

Each of the six teams played each other three times in a 15 match home-and-away season (Geelong, Richmond, and South Melbourne each hosting eight games, while Carlton, Collingwood, and Fitzroy each hosted seven).

Once the 15 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1917 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".

Round 1

|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Home team| Home team score| Away team| Away team score| Venue| Date|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 11.11 (77)| | 4.4 (28)| Victoria Park| 12 May 1917|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 9.18 (72)| | 4.14 (38)| Lake Oval| 12 May 1917|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 6.9 (45)| | 6.9 (45)| Brunswick Street Oval| 12 May 1917

Round 2

|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Home team| Home team score| Away team| Away team score| Venue| Date|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 6.16 (52)| | 8.16 (64)| Punt Road Oval| 19 May 1917|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 13.7 (85)| | 8.6 (54)| Princes Park| 19 May 1917|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 6.10 (46)| | 8.16 (64)| Corio Oval| 19 May 1917

Round 3

|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Home team| Home team score| Away team| Away team score| Venue| Date|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 14.6 (90)| | 6.16 (52)| Punt Road Oval| 26 May 1917|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 8.14 (62)| | 11.12 (78)| Brunswick Street Oval| 26 May 1917|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 5.16 (46)| | 3.13 (31)| Lake Oval| 26 May 1917

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
bgcolor=FFFFBB		Qualified for finals

|- style=background:#FFFFBB| 1 || align=left | (P) || 15 || 10 || 4 || 1 || 1030 || 772 || 133.4 || 42|- style=background:#FFFFBB| 2 || align=left | || 15 || 9 || 5 || 1 || 843 || 724 || 116.4 || 38|- style=background:#FFFFBB| 3 || align=left | || 15 || 9 || 6 || 0 || 911 || 772 || 118.0 || 36|- style=background:#FFFFBB| 4 || align=left | || 15 || 6 || 8 || 1 || 832 || 963 || 86.4 || 26|-| 5 || align=left | || 15 || 6 || 9 || 0 || 735 || 927 || 79.3 || 24|-| 6 || align=left | || 15 || 3 || 11 || 1 || 761 || 954 || 79.8 || 14|}

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 56.8
Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Semi-finals

Preliminary final

Grand final

Season notes

Geelong and South Melbourne, having refused to compete in 1916 on "patriotic grounds" returned to the VFL competition, having concluded that the drop in the number of recruits in 1916 indicated that the VFL competition had no effect on military recruitment. The Geelong players met their own expenses and played as amateurs, with the club donating all of its 1917 profits to war funds.
On 12 May 1917, recruiting officers visiting VFL grounds were heckled by spectators.^[1] On another occasion a Fitzroy crowd attacked a recruiting sergeant.^[1]
On 4 August, the entire thirteenth round was put back a week, at the request of the State War Council, so that recruiting meetings could be held at each VFL ground.

Awards

The 1917 VFL Premiership team was Collingwood.
The VFL's leading goalkicker was Dick Lee of Collingwood with 50 goals (54 after finals).
Richmond took the "wooden spoon" in 1917.

References

Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998.

Sources

1917 VFL season at AFL Tables
1917 VFL season at Australian Football

Notes and References

Book: Ross. John. 100 Years of Australian Football. 1996. Viking Books. Ringwood, Australia. 9781854714343. 382.