1927 Collingwood beats Richmond in freezing wet conditions 2:13 to 1:7. The lowest winning and losing scores in history.
1928 Collingwood draws the Semi and Richmond has to wait two weeks to play them in the GF and loses 13:18 to 9:9
1929 Richmond wins the grand final, but under the rules Collingwood who finished top of the ladder had the right to challenge and won the replay the next week.
1930 Geelong wins the grand final and again Collingwood challenged and won the replay. Coll d Rich by 3 points in the semi final.
The softest fourpeat ever, and if you want more pain.
1919 Richmond beats Coll in the GF and Coll as minor premier challenges and wins the replay.
1924 There is no grandfinal, just three weeks of round robin matches for the top four. Rich beats Ess in the last round and Ess and wins the premiership on percentage!
Aah, The Argus System and the Revised Argus System. Bloody terrible they were. Would have been early 1930s they came up with the final 4 (McIntyre System?) which was so much better.
Still, that was the system back then and there was always speculation that the team who finished top after the H&A would throw the first final to make the VFL more money and ensure a Grand Final. You can only play to the rules at the time. My impression of the late 20s has always been that Collingwood were the best team, followed by daylight, followed by Richmond, followed by daylight, then the rest. Pity we were great when Collingwood were exceptional.
Do you listen to the Kick to Kick podcast by chance? If you don't you should check it out.
DS