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I've been saying for many many years I wish the AFL would award retrospective Norm Smith medals. I don't know if there ever used to be a best player for grand finals prior to 1979, but I'd be happy with the games being re-watched by a panel and votes awarded as they currently are. If there is video footage of an entire grand final, these games should have a Norm Smith medallist.
If you have a copy of a recent AFL Record Season Guide, there is a mention of this underneath the Norm Smith Medallists, in the AWARDS section. It is titled Grand Final Best on Ground: 1965-1978, and reads:
In 2001, the AFL Record named the players who were best on ground in the Grand Finals between 1965 and 1978. A panel of football and media experts was selected for each year and asked to judge the best on ground. Because there is little or no vision of Grand Finals before 1965, that was deemed to be the cut-off point. The selections were:
1965 Ted Fordham (Essendon)
1966 Ian Cooper (St Kilda)
1967 Bill Goggin (Geelong)
1968 Gary Crane (Carlton)
1969 Michael Green (Richmond)
1970 David McKay (Carlton)
1971 Kelvin Moore (Hawthorn)
1972 Robert Walls (Carlton)
1973 Kevin Bartlett (Richmond)
1974 Kevin Sheedy (Richmond)
1975 Brent Crosswell (North Melbourne)
1976 John Hendrie (Hawthorn)
1977 Len Thompson (Collingwood)
1977 Arnold Briedis (North Melbourne) REPLAY
1978 Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn)
So it seems as though there has been official recognition of these players, but whether that has extended to them receiving a medal, a certificate, or some other memento, I'm not sure.
This one almost happened again in 2016. Freo fell 15 spots, from minor premiers last year to 16th, and might have "won" the spoon in other years. Lucky for them, this year had the shockingly awful Essendon and BrisbaneTeam Falls from Finalists to Wooden Spooner - The Brisbane Lions endured a horrible second season in 1998, falling from the 1997 finals to last position.
The general lack of consensus is disturbing:
YEAR| FOOTY RECORD | JIM MAIN
\1965|Ted Fordham (ES)|Ken Fraser (Es)
\ 1966 |Ian Cooper (SK)|Ian Cooper (SK)
\1967|Bill Goggin (GE)|Bill Barrot (RI)
\1968|Gary Crane (CA)|John Nicholls (CA)
\ 1969 |Michael Green (RI)|Michael Green (RI)
\1970|David McKay (CA)|Brent Crosswell (CA)
\1971|Kelvin Moore (HW)|Don Scott (HW)
\ 1972 |Robert Walls (CA)|Robert Walls (CA)
\1973|Kevin Bartlett (RI)|Kevin Sheedy (RI)
\1974|Kevin Sheedy (RI)|Royce Hart (RI)
\1975|Brent Crosswell (NM)|John Rantall (NM)
\ 1976 |John Hendrie (HW)|John Hendrie (HW)
\1977|Len Thompson (CO)|Stan Alves (NM)
\1977R|Arnold Briedis (NM)|John Byrne (NM)
\1978|Robert DiPierdomenico (HW)|Leigh Matthews (HW)
I was at that st kilda game and aware of the record thanks to "Every game ever played" I'd taken notice of teams kicking consecutive goals and it hadn't been done since then.Progression of the team record for most consecutive goals kicked without a behind in a game
goals | team | opponent | game | score progression
\11|Fitzroy|Collingwood|round 8, 1907|0.0 to 11.0
\12|Essendon|Collingwood|round 4, 1911|?
\12|Richmond|Fitzroy|round 8, 1928|7.6 to 19.6
\13|Collingwood|Richmond|round 1, 1929|0.0 to 13.0
\13|Carlton|Hawthorn|round 20, 1970|0.0 to 13.0
\13|Carlton|Essendon|round 16, 1972|3.4 to 16.4
\13|Fitzroy|Melbourne|round 9, 1975|3.5 to 16.5
\13|Footscray|Melbourne|round 2, 1976|6.4 to 19.4
\15|Geelong|St Kilda|round 5, 1979|5.8 to 20.8
\16|St Kilda|Richmond|round 18, 2006|9.6 to 25.6
With Sam Mitchell moving to West Coast, he becomes the oldest player ever traded and the second most experienced player to change club.
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