There had been some concern over star ruckman Len Thompson, who had not trained for the entire week leading up to the Grand Final on doctor's orders. Umpires The umpiring panel for the match, comprising one field umpire, two boundary umpires and two goal umpires is given below. Numbers in brackets represent the number of grand finals umpired, including 1970. Match summary Conditions were perfect at the MCG. The attendance of 121,696 spectators was the highest in the history of the league, a record still held today. Carlton captain Nicholls won the toss and chose to kick toward the Punt Road End. First quarter Kicking against a very slight breeze, Collingwood were into attack straight away when umpire Jolley awarded a free kick to Jenkin from the opening bounce. For the next 20 minutes, the Collingwood midfielders continually won the ball and drove deep into the forward line with long kicks, while the Blues struggled to maintain any sort of meaningful possession. Collingwood opened the scoring with behinds to Wayne Richardson and Britt before ex-captain Tuddenham gathered the ball from a handpass under pressure from Max Richardson, evaded an attempted bump and snapped the first goal of the game at the 5-minute mark. McKenna followed up with his first goal of the match at the 13-minute mark, converting a free kick set shot after great play upfield from O'Callaghan, Price and Tuddenham. After missing a snapshot earlier in the quarter, Britt received a handball from McKenna in the forward pocket to score Collingwood's third goal at the 21-minute mark. Up to that stage, Carlton had yet to register a score, but the Magpies' had been inaccurate finishing in front of goal. It took the Blues until the 23-minute mark of the quarter to register its first score, with a behind to Crosswell after bringing the ball forward through scrappy play. A minute later, Jesaulenko had a great chance to kick Carlton's first goal when he took a strong mark from a rushed kick forward by Silvagni, only to miss his set shot from directly in front. Collingwood responded at the 29-minute mark when a pass from Wayne Richardson found McKenna, whose set shot from 20 yards out on a slight angle gave him his second goal for the game. The quarter-time siren sounded shortly afterward, with Collingwood 29 points ahead. Second quarter The Blues finally scored their first goal of