Gabba · Sun 28 Jun 1981 · 20,351 in attendance
| Team | QT | HT | 3QT | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HawthornHAW | 4.4 | 10.7 | 17.10 | 133 |
| EssendonESS | 5.2 | 14.8 | 18.12 | 151 |
Quarter figures cumulative · goals.behinds. Final = 133 and 151.
Essendon won by 18 points.
20.13 (133) — 22.19 (151)
Full listed players, ordered by disposals then goals.
| Player | K | H | D | M | T | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leigh Matthews | 12 | 12 | 24 | 4 | — | 3 |
| Colin Robertson | 17 | 6 | 23 | 9 | — | 1 |
| Michael Tuck | 15 | 6 | 21 | 3 |
| — |
| 2 |
| Terry Wallace | 13 | 7 | 20 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Geoff Ablett | 15 | 3 | 18 | 2 | — | 1 |
| Norm Goss | 16 | 1 | 17 | 2 | — | 1 |
| Rick Davies | 10 | 6 | 16 | 6 | — | 4 |
| Alan Goad | 11 | 5 | 16 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Peter Russo | 8 | 7 | 15 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Peter Murnane | 9 | 5 | 14 | 0 | — | 5 |
| Russell Greene | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0 | — | 1 |
| Chris Mew | 11 | 3 | 14 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Rodney Eade | 9 | 3 | 12 | 3 | — | 1 |
| Mark Turner | 9 | 2 | 11 | 2 | — | 1 |
| David Polkinghorne | 7 | 4 | 11 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Michael Moncrieff | 7 | 3 | 10 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Robert DiPierdomenico | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Kelvin Moore | 8 | 0 | 8 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Don Scott | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Ian Paton | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Player | K | H | D | M | T | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merv Neagle | 20 | 7 | 27 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Graeme Schultz | 16 | 4 | 20 | 4 | — | 5 |
| Justin Madden | 15 | 5 | 20 | 6 | — | 1 |
| Tony Buhagiar | 13 | 7 | 20 | 4 | — | 0 |
| Garry Foulds | 17 | 3 | 20 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Grant Fowler | 14 | 5 | 19 | 0 | — | 2 |
| Neale Daniher | 14 | 5 | 19 | 7 | — | 0 |
| Alan Reid | 12 | 6 | 18 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Tim Watson | 13 | 3 | 16 | 2 | — | 2 |
| Geoff Burdett | 11 | 4 | 15 | 2 | — | 3 |
| Glenn Hawker | 10 | 4 | 14 | 4 | — | 0 |
| Simon Madden | 9 | 4 | 13 | 5 | — | 7 |
| Max Crow | 10 | 3 | 13 | 7 | — | 1 |
| Terry Daniher | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | — | 0 |
| Ron Andrews | 6 | 3 | 9 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Alan Stoneham | 6 | 2 | 8 | 3 | — | 0 |
| Steven Taubert | 5 | 2 | 7 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Stephen Carey | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | 1 |
| Shane Heard | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Michael Thomson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 |