top four teams were to play off against each other in a round-robin series played over the following three weekends. The match-ups in the first week would be drawn by lot, the match-ups in the second week would be determined by pairing the winners and the losers from the first week against each other, and the remaining pairings would then contest the third week. If one club finished as the outright winner of the round-robin series on win–loss record (i.e. without using percentage as a tie-breaker), that club would automatically win the premiership. If two clubs had finished with the same win–loss record, those two teams would contest a Final on the following Saturday to decide the premiership. If three (or all four) clubs had finished with the same win–loss record, the top two clubs as determined by using percentage as a tie-breaker would contest a Final on the following Saturday to decide the premiership. As originally planned, the takings for the first week of the finals were donated to charity; the remaining takings were divided amongst the league. Venue controversy A point of contention was the venue for the finals matches. The venues were originally to be drawn by lot, but in early August, the league decided to fix the venues in advance, and in doing so did not schedule a final at Geelong's home ground of Corio Oval, which offered much lower gate takings than the four venues in Melbourne where the matches were originally scheduled (the MCG, the Brunswick Street Oval, the Lake Oval and the East Melbourne Cricket Ground). This decision was later reversed after Geelong, who had won the minor premiership, lodged an official complaint with the league stating that this arrangement would be unfair to the club and its supporters. The league agreed with this assessment, and when the finals system was determined on August 17, Geelong was scheduled to host its match in the first week. Matches Week one First round final ( vs. ) staged a tremendous last quarter fightback to beat by a goal. Geelong were unable to stop an Essendon comeback in which Tod Collins and Arthur Cleghorn reduced the deficit to a goal, before an error by Geelong player Henry Young let Colin Campbell in for the equalising goal. Essendon player Harry Wright scored a goal soon after and the game was sealed. First round final ( vs. )