The teams had finished the home and away season with 15 wins each, with Geelong claiming the minor premiership and two victories over Richmond during the season. Richmond turned the tables and defeated Geelong by 33 points in the semi-final held two weeks prior,[3] with Geelong recovering the following week to defeat Carlton by six points in the preliminary final, despite trailling by 47 points at quarter time.[2]
Match summary
After winning the toss and electing to kick to the Punt Road End, Les Hardiman kicked the first goal for Geelong within the first two minutes of the match.[1] In a hard and contested contest,[1] scoring was limited in the first half, with neither team able to utilise the advantage of the strong breeze blowing towards the Punt Road goal, with Geelong kicking late goals into the wind to lead at half time by seven points.[3] Geelong kicked away in the third quarter to set up the victory, taking advantage of the conditions to lead by 24 points going into the final quarter.[3]Alan Geddes playing on the wing for Richmond was noted as his team's best player, with Jack Carney a matchwinner for Geelong, handily beating his opponent Stan Judkins.[3]
Thus was the curtain rung down on the 1931 season — the season in which Geelong finished at the head of the list in the first round and capped that excellent performance by the finer one of winning another premiership pennant to float from their stand.
^ abc"FOOT BALL". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 26, 570. Victoria, Australia. 12 October 1931. p. 9. Retrieved 13 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
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