Earliest surviving Australian Rules footage: 1909 VFL Grand Final, South Melbourne vs Carlton

This silent footage from the 1909 VFL Grand Final is the earliest surviving footage of an Australian Rules game. It didn’t take long for adopters of cinematic technology to realise the crowd-pleasing potential of a footy match – and we’re still tuning in.  

The game – a tough, low-scoring contest between Carlton and South Melbourne (the Blues and the Bloods) – was played on Saturday 2 October at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of more than 37,000 fans. South Melbourne, chasing their first VFL premiership, held off a desperate Carlton, who had dreamed of winning their fourth consecutive flag. Despite being held goalless in the last quarter, the Bloods triumphed by two points.  

The footage runs to a little over 10 minutes and offers a remarkable insight into long-forgotten aspects of the game: place kicks, 'slap' passes, numberless guernseys, players chaired from the field post-match by excited spectators – relics of the past, fortuitously captured by film exhibitor Charles Cozens Spencer's production.