The Goalpost Final

The 1967 Tasmanian State Premiership Final remains one of the most infamous and controversial games of Australian Football ever played.

The contest was played to decide the winner of the Tasmanian State Premiership tournament played between the premiers of all the various Tasmanian football leagues; the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL), the Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) and the North West Football Union (NWFU).

In 1967, North Hobart (from the TANFL) and Wynyard (from the NWFU) played off for the state premiership in what promised to be an enthralling game.

Late in the final quarter of the thrilling - and at times violent - contest, Wynyard led North Hobart by the smallest of margins; 92-91. Right at the death of the game, North Hobart's John Devine received a free kick for holding the man and sent the ball deep inside the Redlegs' attack.

What happened next is heavily debated.

The official version of events, according to the umpire, was that Devine's kicked was marked by North Hobart full forward David Collins approximately 15 metres out from goal, on a slight angle, just before the siren sounded. However, whether this mark was actually taken before the siren sounded is a point of contention. Wynyard capatin-coach John Coughlan said later that he heard the siren and seen the umpire raises his hands before the mark was taken. He thought Wynyard had won the premiership by a point.

Yet, this was not the case - certainly not in the view of the umpire. Amidst the confusion of these final seconds, a Wynyard Cats player knocked the ball out of Collins' hand, presumably assuming they had the flag won. This caused a 15-yard penalty and then the game descended into chaos.

While, Wynyard players argued with the umpire, spectators took the matter into their own hands. An extraordinary ground invasion followed with thousands bursting onto the oval as Collins attempted to take his kick. Umpires, players and officials lost complete control of the situation with the pitch invaders turning mob-like. Meanwhile, nobody knew who had won the premiership as Collins was unable to clear the space to take his kick.

Collins, keeping the ball under his jumper, persisted until all hope of maintaining order was lost when Wynyard fans pulled the goal posts down. Hence, why the game is known in football folklore as the "Goalpost final". With no goal posts left, Collins' kick at goal was going to be impossible. As police slowly gained some control over the crazy situation, Collins was the last player to leave the ground under police protection - football in hand.

He would keep the football for years later but was never be granted the opportunity to take his kick, despite expecting to be granted the opportunity the following day.

Instead, the game was declared no result.

24 years after the game, the two coaches returned to West Park Oval to witness David Collins take the kick in a television report. The results can be seen on YouTube here.

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