Windy Hill · Sat 4 Apr 1981 · 26,754 in attendance
| Team | QT | HT | 3QT | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EssendonESS | 1.4 | 6.8 | 10.12 | 111 |
| North MelbourneNM | 5.1 | 8.2 | 11.5 | 99 |
Quarter figures cumulative · goals.behinds. Final = 111 and 99.
Essendon won by 12 points.
16.15 (111) — 15.9 (99)
Full listed players, ordered by disposals then goals.
| Player | K | H | D | M | T | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Buhagiar | 17 | 7 | 24 | 3 | — | 3 |
| Merv Neagle | 14 | 8 | 22 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Neale Daniher | 20 | 2 | 22 | 1 | — |
| 0 |
| Shane Heard | 12 | 6 | 18 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Alan Reid | 11 | 5 | 16 | 6 | — | 1 |
| Glenn Hawker | 10 | 6 | 16 | 1 | — | 1 |
| Paul Vander Haar | 9 | 6 | 15 | 4 | — | 0 |
| Peter Bennett | 15 | 0 | 15 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Stephen Carey | 12 | 2 | 14 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Max Crow | 10 | 3 | 13 | 5 | — | 3 |
| Grant Fowler | 11 | 2 | 13 | 0 | — | 2 |
| Garry Foulds | 12 | 1 | 13 | 1 | — | 1 |
| Ron Andrews | 10 | 2 | 12 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Neil Clarke | 7 | 5 | 12 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Terry Daniher | 8 | 2 | 10 | 5 | — | 2 |
| Denis Scanlon | 10 | 0 | 10 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Neil Besanko | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Phil Carman | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | 1 |
| Roger Merrett | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 2 |
| Simon Madden | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Player | K | H | D | M | T | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xavier Tanner | 18 | 4 | 22 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Wayne Schimmelbusch | 19 | 2 | 21 | 3 | — | 1 |
| Alan Jarrott | 11 | 8 | 19 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Peter Spencer | 15 | 3 | 18 | 5 | — | 1 |
| John Law | 15 | 2 | 17 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Rodney Wright | 13 | 1 | 14 | 3 | — | 1 |
| David Dench | 12 | 2 | 14 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Stephen Icke | 8 | 6 | 14 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Gary Dempsey | 10 | 4 | 14 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Ross Glendinning | 13 | 0 | 13 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Kym Hodgeman | 10 | 2 | 12 | 1 | — | 1 |
| Malcolm Blight | 8 | 3 | 11 | 1 | — | 4 |
| Maurice Boyse | 6 | 5 | 11 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Phil Kelly | 9 | 1 | 10 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Stephen McCann | 7 | 2 | 9 | 4 | — | 0 |
| Doug Smith | 7 | 1 | 8 | 4 | — | 1 |
| Daryl Schimmelbusch | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | 1 |
| Brian Wilson | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Kerry Good | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | — | 4 |
| Stephen Easton | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | — | 1 |
Schimmelbusch 1, Spencer 1, Wright 1, Hodgeman 1, Blight 4, Smith 1, Schimmelbusch 1, Good 4, Easton 1