The 1941 Victorian Football League season was the 45th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.
In 1941, the VFL competition consisted of twelve 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 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1941 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page-McIntyre System.
Grand final
Melbourne defeated Essendon 19.13 (127) to 13.20 (98), in front of a crowd of 79,687 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).
The 1941 VFL Premiership team was Melbourne.
The VFL’s leading goalkicker was Sel Murray of North Melbourne with 88 goals.
The winner of the 1941 Brownlow Medal was Norman Ware of Footscray with 23 votes. He was the only playing coach to achieve the feat.
Hawthorn took the “wooden spoon” in 1941.
The seconds premiership was won by Essendon. Essendon 12.16 (88) defeated Fitzroy 9.17 (71) in the Grand Final, played as a curtain-raiser to the senior Grand Final on Saturday 27 September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Owing to the military takeover of Corio Oval, Geelong moved its home games to Kardinia Park.
During March, the players of the Geelong Football Club went on strike and refused to train over pay: the players seeking £3 per week, and the club offering £1/10/– per week. The players were upset that the club had also cut their pay during 1940 (from £3 to £1) but had finished the year in a strong financial position; the club claimed the lower offer was due to the extra expense of moving from Corio Oval to Kardinia Park and increased payments to war funds drove the decision. The players acquiesced and accepted the £1/10/– offer, but five senior players resigned from Geelong and crossed to the Victorian Football Association in the aftermath.
In the Round 2 match between Carlton and Richmond, 11 players were injured. Highly talented Carlton rover Jack Hale broke his leg so badly in an accidental entanglement with Richmond centreman Bernie Waldron that he never played again.
The VFL postponed its Round 5 matches and conducted its second patriotic lightning carnival at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday 24 May 1941. Collingwood won the carnival, defeating Melbourne 3.2 (20) to 3.1 (19). The carnival raised £1,526 for the war effort.
On 31 July 1941, Melbourne rover Ron Barassi, Sr. was killed in action at the Siege of Tobruk. He was the first VFL player to be killed in the Second World War. On 16 August 1941, a brief, moving memorial tribute to Barassi was conducted (including a bugler playing "The Last Post") at the Melbourne Cricket Club by spectators, players, trainers, and officials of Melbourne and Collingwood.
In the last minutes of the last quarter of the Second Eighteens Grand Final, which Essendon won, beating Fitzroy 12.16 (88) to 9.17 (71), a Fitzroy player felled an Essendon player and fights broke out all over the ground. As the final bell was sounding a vicious brawl broke out in which almost every player was involved, with many players felled. Both teams were reported for "unseemly conduct". Both clubs were fined £10.
In a lop-sided senior Grand Final, Melbourne, missing at least twelve of its 1941 senior players through either injury or military service, was 47 points ahead at three quarter time, and went on to beat Essendon by 29 points: 19.13 (127) to 13.20 (98).
After defeating Collingwood in Round 5, Carlton had a winning record over every other team in the competition in combined regular season and finals matches. They would hold this distinction until Round 8 of the 1954 VFL season.
