Curse of Norm Smith

The Curse of Norm Smith is a superstitious explanation for why the Melbourne Football Club have not won the VFL/AFL premiership since 1964.

Norm Smith at the Demons

Norm Smith had been the coach at the Demons since taking over in 1952, after Melbourne finished last in 1951. He took the team to 6th and 11th in his first two seasons, before beginning an eleven year streak of finals seasons from 1954 until 1964, winning 6 premierships, with 2 seconds, 2 thirds and 1 fourth. Smith's coaching ability was always well regarded, and after his death he was an inaugural Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee, made a Legend in 2007, and was the VFL/AFL coach of the century.

The Curse

In 1965, Melbourne was attempting to reach its twelfth consecutive finals series under Smith; this would have broken the record that the club then shared with the 1901-1911 Magpies of eleven consecutive finals series (the record has since been surpassed only once, by the 1982-1994 Hawks). The season began well with Melbourne winning its first eight games. In round 9, the third-placed St Kilda beat Melbourne by 61 points, their biggest loss under Norm Smith. In the following three weeks, Melbourne lost to Essendon by 29 points, beat Hawthorn by 58 points, and lost to Richmond by 6 points. Behind the scenes, Smith's tenuous relationship with the Melbourne Football Club was continuing to deteriorate for other, non-performance reasons.

Despite still sitting third on the ladder with only percentage separating them from the top, Smith was sacked by the club, in what was the biggest and most surprising football story in history. In the following days, he publicly expressed his disappointment with his treatment, stating that the club would never recover. It was this statement which is said to have cursed the Demons.

The following week, coached by Checker Hughes, Melbourne lost to North Melbourne for the first time in 12 years. Two days later, Smith was reinstated as coach, a position he held until 1967.

Effects of the Curse

Since the curse, Melbourne have failed to win a premiership. They have also suffered a string of unlikely finals-related misfortunes in a number of seasons, the likes of which few teams have ever endured, leading to the popularisation of the curse as a superstitious reasoning.

1965

After Smith's sacking and reinstatement, Melbourne fell from the top four, and a string of losses saw them miss the finals by two games and percentage, the first time they had missed the finals for twelve years.

Finals drought

In the years that followed, Melbourne would continue to miss the finals, in a drought that would last 22 seasons, and encompass 4 wooden spoons and 14 bottom-four placings. The only time that Melbourne would come close to the finals in that time was 1976, when they finished sixth after Footscray held on for a final-round draw against top-placed Carlton to claim the fifth spot in the final five.

1987

In the final round, Hawthorn's win over Geelong and Melbourne's win over Footscray placed Melbourne fifth for their first finals series since 1964. The Demons convincingly beat North Melbourne and Sydney in the Elimination and First-Semi Finals, to progress to the Preliminary Final. The Demons led when the final siren went, with Hawthorn's Gary Buckenara needing a 60m after-the-siren goal to steal the victory. Unfortunately for Melbourne, Jim Stynes gave up a 15-metre penalty by running across Buckenara's mark. Buckenara then kicked the 45m goal, and Melbourne were eliminated in unlikely circumstances.

1988

Melbourne again ended the home-and-away season in fifth place. They narrowly defeated West Coast in the franchise's first ever final, then defeated Collingwood and Carlton to reach their first Grand Final since 1964. They were beaten by Hawthorn by 96 points which was, until 2007, the highest winning margin in any Grand Final.

2000

Melbourne has reached the Grand Final on one other occasion since 1988, in 2000. There, they encountered Essendon, who had lost only one game in what was one of the most dominant seasons in history. The Bombers won the Grand Final by ten goals.

2004

The battle for top place in 2004 was a five-way battle amongst St Kilda, Port Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Geelong. After round 18 results fell their way, Melbourne ascended to outright first place on the ladder; this was the first time that Melbourne had been on top of the ladder so late in a season since Smith's pre-curse tenure. They then badly lost the final four games of the season, failing to score more than ten goals in any game and losing by an average of 41 points, to finish fifth – still in the finals, but without a double chance. In the Elimination Final, Melbourne lost their fifth straight game, a tight battle against Essendon by five points.

2005 & 2006

In both 2005 and 2006, Melbourne reached the top two of the premiership table late in the season before fading out before the finals, just like in 2004. In both seasons, Melbourne only just made the finals. In 2005, Melbourne were thrashed by Geelong in the Elimination Final. In 2006, Melbourne looked like losing in the first round for the third straight year, before coming from behind to defeat St.Kilda. Melbourne were comfortably beaten by Fremantle in a Semi Final at Subiaco Oval.

Other Premierships

The Curse is seen to affect only the VFL/AFL seniors. During the period of the Curse, Melbourne won 4 reserves premierships, 3 under-19s premierships, 2 night series, 1 pre-season competition. Furthermore, their Victorian Football League affiliate, the Sandringham Zebras, have won 4 premierships during the period of their affiliation.

The Curse in culture

While the folklore behind the Curse of Norm Smith is well known, and often referenced in football media, the Curse does not hold the same esteem or constant discussion as the American equivalents, the Curses of the Bambino and the Black Sox. In fact, the terminology "the Curse of Norm Smith" is rarely ever used, included in this article merely because it is the most logical name to use. Nevertheless, the Curse is reported in media any time the Demons progress to deep into the finals series.