It’s one of the greatest individual finals performances in Collingwood’s history, but for too long it has been overshadowed by what happened in a match a fortnight later.
Half a century on, it’s well worth a re-visit.
Des Tuddenham‘s seven goals, including three late in the final term, helped to sink St Kilda in the 1966 Second Semi-Final. It was a virtuoso performance that in so many ways personified what he meant to Collingwood.
His extraordinary game on the half-forward flank elevated Collingwood into another Grand Final. Some wondered if they had seen a better leaders’ game. The Saints knew one man had cost them the game.
STORY: McFarlane's full article.
If Collingwood had won that Grand Final a fortnight later, Tuddenham’s solo effort would have remained the stuff of legends.
But heartbreak often clouds the memory, and cruelly Tuddenham’s magical Semi-Final match has been seen as a footnote to what happened next – another heartbreaking Grand Final loss, this time by the barest of margins against a team that hadn’t won a flag beforehand, and haven’t won another one since.
Let’s put aside that 1966 Grand Final for a moment, and concentrate on the Second Semi-Final, a moment that deserves its time in the sun again.
Click here to read Glenn McFarlane's full article on the story of Des Tuddenham's seven goal Second Semi-Final.
Des Tuddenham
Games: 182
Goals: 251
Born: 29 January 1943
Recruited From: Ballarat YCW
Debut: Round 6 1962 v Geelong
Honours: Copeland Trophy 1963; R.T. Rush Trophy (runner up in the best-and-fairest) 1965, 1966, 1971; Captain 1966-1969, 1976; Collingwood Hall of Fame 2005; Life Member 1971; Collingwood Team of the Century; Bob Rose Award (Best Finals Player) 1969; Most Determined Player 1967, 1970; AFL Hall of Fame 2008
