This was Melbourne's fourth successive Grand Final appearance and third successive premiership. Ron Barassi starred for the Demons with five goals, four of them in the first half to put the game out of Essendon's reach. Melbourne's coach Norm Smith had previously participated in successive premierships as a player, from 1939 to 1941.
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