Waverley Park · Sat 16 May 1981 · 79,326 in attendance
| Team | QT | HT | 3QT | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CollingwoodCOLL | 2.2 | 7.3 | 13.3 | 87 |
| EssendonESS | 6.3 | 11.9 | 15.14 | 144 |
Quarter figures cumulative · goals.behinds. Final = 87 and 144.
Essendon won by 57 points.
14.3 (87) — 21.18 (144)
Full listed players, ordered by disposals then goals.
| Player | K | H | D | M | T | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Taylor | 18 | 4 | 22 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Tony Shaw | 16 | 5 | 21 | 3 | — | 1 |
| Craig Davis | 16 | 3 | 19 | 5 | — |
| 3 |
| Graeme Allan | 14 | 4 | 18 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Peter McCormack | 11 | 3 | 14 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Peter Moore | 9 | 5 | 14 | 6 | — | 0 |
| Ray Byrne | 10 | 3 | 13 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Des Herbert | 9 | 4 | 13 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Kevin Morris | 10 | 2 | 12 | 0 | — | 3 |
| Bill Picken | 9 | 3 | 12 | 4 | — | 0 |
| Barry Evans | 7 | 4 | 11 | 1 | — | 1 |
| Ross Brewer | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1 | — | 0 |
| David Twomey | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1 | — | 0 |
| David Young | 6 | 2 | 8 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Mark Weideman | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | — | 2 |
| Mark Hannebery | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | 1 |
| Peter Daicos | 6 | 1 | 7 | 2 | — | 1 |
| Rene Kink | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 2 |
| Geoffrey Austen | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Andrew Smith | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Player | K | H | D | M | T | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garry Foulds | 27 | 5 | 32 | 5 | — | 0 |
| Tony Buhagiar | 26 | 4 | 30 | 10 | — | 2 |
| Glenn Hawker | 17 | 5 | 22 | 4 | — | 3 |
| Alan Reid | 19 | 2 | 21 | 2 | — | 1 |
| Peter Bennett | 12 | 8 | 20 | 4 | — | 0 |
| Merv Neagle | 12 | 7 | 19 | 5 | — | 0 |
| Simon Madden | 13 | 5 | 18 | 8 | — | 7 |
| Grant Fowler | 8 | 8 | 16 | 6 | — | 1 |
| Neale Daniher | 14 | 2 | 16 | 5 | — | 0 |
| Terry Daniher | 8 | 6 | 14 | 3 | — | 1 |
| Paul Vander Haar | 8 | 5 | 13 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Alan Stoneham | 11 | 2 | 13 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Ron Andrews | 9 | 3 | 12 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Justin Madden | 8 | 4 | 12 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Neil Clarke | 7 | 5 | 12 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Max Crow | 9 | 3 | 12 | 7 | — | 0 |
| Mark Eustice | 6 | 5 | 11 | 3 | — | 2 |
| Stephen Carey | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Russell Muir | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | — | 2 |
| Michael Thomson | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | 2 |